Dog Day of Summer

Thatdog has a pretty rough life. His typical day goes something like this:
* Wake up. Everyone else is still sleeping. Sniff around. Try to keep busy until the alarm goes off.
* Alarm goes off. Jump up on the bed and roll between the two people in the bed to make sure they get up.
* Go for a run with Thatgirl.
* Breakfast.
* Everybody leaves. Sleep all day.
* Thatgirl and Thatboy come home from work. Quick walk, then they hang out at home all night.

It's pretty boring. We don't do a ton of fun things with Thatdog during the week, and on the weekends we're often running errands without him.

We decided to make it up to him today by making the day (almost) completely about him.

We started out by taking him out to lunch. We headed up to Carlsbad to walk around Carlsbad Village a bit. He loves getting out of the house and getting to smell new smells. We had lunch at a hole in the wall Mexican joint, which means Thatdog gets a couple of chips/some tortilla if he sits nicely and behaves. And he was pretty happy with those chips/pieces of tortilla until Thatboy made the mistake of letting him taste some carnitas. Then Thatdog was no longer content with a piece of chip. Spoiled much?

Next we had to do a quick errand for me - a trip to the Farmer's Market. Since I worked yesterday I couldn't get over to my usual Farmer's Market, so I went to the neighborhood one instead. And this is what $30 gets you at my neighborhood market:

Then we were back on track for Thatdog's day - a trip to the beach. Thatdog LOVES the beach because he gets to run around on the sand and play with other dogs. He's not so keen on the water aspect of the beach and spends a lot of time running away as the tide rolls in.

But today the beach was full of dunes for him to run around in, so he could stay far far away from those scary waves.

We came home so I could get some cooking done and Thatdog could rest up after his big day. Right now he's sprawled out on the floor under the coffee table - his favorite "den." Thatboy and I relaxed and watched the Emmys while we enjoyed some creamy chicken and broccoli. Adding a sauce to broccoli is a surefire way to get Thatboy to eat it - true of many vegetables, and a great way to get a picky vegetable eater to eat his vegetables. Mix in some chicken and you have an entire meal! (I served this with some fried rice - recipe to follow tomorrow. Because for now I have a kitchen to clean and laundry to fold!)

Chicken and Broccoli
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk, warmed
2 Tbsp sherry
1 egg yolk
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups broccoli, cooked
4 slices of cooked chicken
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 375. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour until a paste forms.
2. Slowly stir in the hot milk and stir until a thick sauce forms. Bring to a boil.
3. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 more minutes. Add in sherry and egg yolk, stirring.
4. Salt and pepper the sauce to taste.
   
5. Spray a pyrex dish with cooking spray and place broccoli on the bottom.
6. Top broccoli with chicken and spoon the sauce over both.
7. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
   

Beach Day

Thatboy hasn't been surfing since he hurt his ankle, but he's been anxious to get back in the water. When his surfing buddy got stuck up in LA, he asked if maybe Thatdog and I would like to join him at the beach. Thatdog and I had recently returned from our morning run and it was beautiful out, so we agreed.

When we join Thatboy on the beach, I spend most of the time reading. Thatdog spends the entire time keeping an eye out for Thatboy. Because the ocean is dangerous, and you never know what could happen. I can tell when Thatboy gets out of the water, because Thatdog perks up and his tail starts going crazy.

Once Thatboy got out of the water and changed out of his seal suit, we noticed the skies getting ominously dark. We packed up and headed to the car JUST as the skies opened and the rain started pouring.

We headed to check out a new burger place, Smashburger. There are fried pickles on the menu - we will return. There is also a lime milkshake on the menu. LIME MILKSHAKE? Why hasn't someone thought of this before?

We ate our burgers in the car in the rain. Thatdog found his own little spot to curl up in. He found a box of clothing that is earmarked for donation and curled up right inside. He didn't exactly fit, but well, you take a look:

Keeping with our seaside theme, dinner is a gift from the sea, shrimp! A shrimp wiggle to be exact. Don't worry if you've never heard of a shrimp wiggle. I hadn't. A google search turned up the fact that any hot dish served on "crackers." I still don't know why that makes it a wiggle, but if any of you know, I'm all ears.

Shrimp wiggle is a creamy shrimp dish and I love the addition of the peas. Who am I kidding, I love veggies in pretty much anything.

Shrimp Wiggle (from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup light cream
1 cup cooked shrimp
1/2 cup cooked peas
salt

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Stir constantly over low heat until smooth and blended.
2. Slowly add the milk and cream, and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, until smooth and thickened.
3. Add the shrimp, peas, and salt, and cook only long enough to heat through.