#

#

One might suspect him of being slightly jealous of my new godson.

(Side note: my spell check, until moments ago, thought that Frodo was misspelled and perhaps I meant Rodolfo. Of course! I’ll quit calling him Frodo immediately. How could I be so silly?)

I knew it was going to be a big investment in time and energy; obviously the schedule of my day, weekend, life was going to be tied to caring for and spending time with the dog in a way that it simply isn’t for cats. You can leave a cat alone for a day and it hardly notices; a dog will go neurotic if it’s treated like that (even leaving aside the food and elimination questions).

I’ve lived with a dog before, though not as the primary caretaker, so I knew roughly what I could expect to get in return for care and feeding: a happy and devoted companion with simple needs and an endlessly big heart. In so many words, though – it had been a long time, and I didn’t really have any internal feeling for how that was going to go; only that I had enjoyed it then and it would be worth the effort now.

Enter Frodo.

Frodo is a Papillon, a breed noted for intelligence, agility, luxurious silky fur, and big ears. He is small, but not tiny – he’s a bit over eight pounds right now, and he might get to ten or even eleven pounds. He has a protective streak and doesn’t like to hear anyone yelling at anyone else, but he’ll make friends with anyone or anything (including those squirrels, if he ever manages to catch one). He’s clever and observant, a bit needy, and tries very hard to be a good boy when he remembers to.

Nothing I knew about living with a dog prepared me for how profoundly it affected me to own one. Sure, the responsibility for an animal; I’m used to that, having owned taken care of cats for many years now. I had forgotten the pleasure and joy in coming home to a wagging tail and excited paws, no matter how tired the puppy is. However, I had not even thought about how taking him on walks every morning would affect me.

I enjoy getting up in the morning now.

It’s not that I hated it before. I wasn’t a morning person for most of my life, and getting up was a struggle, but I was always too groggy to care much. When that changed abruptly a few years ago and I started getting up at 6:30 every day, it was just a fact; I had a few extra hours in the morning, shifted over from the evening. I didn’t enjoy it, but I didn’t enjoy putting on my shoes, either; it’s just part of the day. Now, though, I feel like something is missing if I don’t get up and walk the dog.

It’s not precisely a meditation thing. The solitude is arbitrary, subject to interruption, and quite limited, and there isn’t much silence unless there was a heavy snowfall. It’s probably not about exercise; adding a thirty minute walk to my morning is nice, but not a huge plateau. It isn’t even the consistency of the ritual, really; I’ve had many morning rituals that I’ve enjoyed for years on end, and none of them have made me feel as good about getting up in the morning as this. It’s not even because he’s such a joy to walk; often he is, but just as often he’s alternating dragging his heels with charging off into the sunset.

I think it’s more likely that it’s reminding me to look at things with simple wonder now and then. Frodo isn’t complicated (he’s picky! but not complicated); he loves to go outside and smell things and look at things and walk around, and it doesn’t matter much where we go or what we do. He adores meeting people on his walks, and he loves to get to play with other dogs, but he’s just as happy to take a solitary turn around the block and go home to his comfy bed.

Being out there with him every morning helps me remember to see things the same way – enjoy the world for what it is and where I am. Look for opportunities, but don’t miss what I have for what I might have. Take every chance to spend time with friends, and make new ones when I can.

I’ll leave the whole “licking myself in the middle of the park” thing to Frodo, though.

Start with:

• 2lb. duck legs, still frozen

Roast in tinfoil at 400° for about 45 minutes.
Pick off meat and chop coarsely.

Break long bones in half. Place bones in stock pot along with:

• 2 gal. water
• 2 cups chicken broth or stock (optional)
• Several stalks of celery, with tops if available, whole
• Several carrots, with tops if available, whole
• Several large sprigs of rosemary (6″-8″)

Bring to a boil, and maintain a high simmer or low boil for a couple of hours.
Strain and discard solids. Replace liquid in pot, along with:

• Chopped duck meat
• Lentils (to taste – 3 cups-ish)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• Several stalks of celery, chopped
• 2 medium cans of crushed tomatoes
• Lots of salt

Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and simmer until lentils are done, about 18 minutes.

It gives me a measure of peace to know that someone else did that, so I don’t have to learn to write sonnets.

Not Onion Soup

(Also not for the faint of heart or those who don’t like onion or garlic)

Slice thinly:

• 1 large onion – Vidalia by preference, yellow otherwise

Chop coarsely:

• One medium shallot
• As much garlic as you can imagine possibly wanting (or one clove)

Melt in large saucepan but do not boil:

• 2/3 stick butter

Gently simmer the onion, shallot, and garlic in the butter until all are brown.

Add:

• Between 1/4 and 1/2 cup heavy beef broth or stock – Not too much, or you’ll accidentally make soup
• 1/2 to 1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
• 1 tsp Soy sauce
• Pepper, oregano, thyme, sage to taste

Bring to simmer, remove from heat. Pour into a small, shallow stoneware bowl – large enough to get a depth of about 1/2″ or thereabouts.

Cube or slice into 3/4″ pieces:

• Enough french or sourdough (or to your taste) bread to cover bottom of the dish

Cover onion-broth-bread generously with:

• Slices or grindings of your favorite white cheeses (I prefer provolone with a sprinkling of asiago)

Bake at 350 degrees until cheese begins to bubble and brown. If you like, broil briefly to brown the rest of the cheese.

Serve hot, carefully.

Beef Stroganoff

1 stick butter (do not use unsalted butter)
1 pound tender cut of beef (tenderloin or tri-tip)
2 cloves garlic if desired
8 to 10 ounces white button mushrooms, washed
1 large white onion OR 2 medium shallots, (or similar weight in boiler onions)
1 1/2 cup beef broth (strong, if avaliable)
1 cup sour cream (may substitute 1 cup heavy whipping cream)
Approx. 1/2 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp dijon mustard or 2 Tsp mustard powder
Salt, pepper, paprika to taste

Optional: 1/2 cup white wine
Optional: 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Peel onions or shallots. If using boiler onions, chop larger onions in half. Otherwise, dice onions coarsely. Peel and mince garlic. Chop mushrooms; I like to chop them in quarters.

Clean beef and slice into strips; the thinner the strips, the quicker they cook. I use strips between 1/3 and 1/2 inch thick. In large skillet, melt approx. 1/4 stick of butter; brown beef on high heat. Set browned beef aside and keep warm.

Add remaining butter (no, this isn’t a healthy dish, particularly) to leavings from browning beef and melt. Into melted butter, add garlic and onions. On medium-high heat, sautee until onions begin to turn transparent; add mushrooms and sautee until mushrooms darken.

Add vinegar, if desired, and cook uncovered until nearly dry.

Add wine, if desired, and cook uncovered until liquid is reduced by half.

Add 1/4 cup beef broth, cover, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for five to ten minutes, or until onions are mostly limp.

Uncover. Add mustard and stir. Add the flour slowly, stirring well, until all flour is absorbed. The liquid remaining in the mixture should be the texture of thick gravy; if not, use additional flour a small spoonful at a time.

Return heat to high. Add remaining beef broth and browned beef. Bring to a brisk simmer; season with salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. I recommend:
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp paprika
but your tastes may vary.

Cover and cook until beef is desired doneness; ten to twenty minutes depending on altitude and thickness of beef.

Uncover, reduce heat to just below a simmer. Add sour cream or whipping cream, stirring carefully. Do not allow mixture to come to a simmer. Once cream has been added and brought up to temperature, remove from heat.

Serve over noodles or rice. This is a rather heavy dish, so light vegetables go well with it, as does a nice light salad.

Chinese Scallion Pancake (Buchu jun)

Ingredients:
7oz Scallions
1 green bell pepper
½ red bell pepper
1 egg
1 cup of flour
Large pinch salt
1 splash sesame seed oil
oil for frying

Directions:
Clean scallion and cut them in 1 inch length.

Cut bell peppers into 1 inch length strips. Ignore the bell peppers. It’s better without them.

Mix an egg and flour in a large bowl, gently but completely. Add and mix in the scallion slices; add sesame seed oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Mix well.
The mixture should be a bit watery. If you think the mixture is too dry, pour a little bit of water. (This will take some experimentation to get right – depends on the flour, the egg, the altitude…the phase of the moon…)
On a large frying pan, add a good amount of oil (to cover the bottom, say) and put several spoonful of mixture and spread thinly. Wait until the color turns into light brown and flip. Don’t burn!
Cook until both sides turn light brown.
Cut into desirable size.

Serve with soy sauce. SO MUCH SOY SAUCE!

Rice flour may be substituted for wheat flour. Going farther in the ‘coarse’ flour direction will likely taste good but not cook as well.

Curried Split Peas
Serves 7-8

Soak 3-4 hours or bring to boil, remove from heat, and let stand covered for 1 hour:

1 c. dried split peas or mung beans
2 1/2 c. water

Add:

1 t. turmeric
1/2 t. cayenne red pepper
1 t. salt

Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover partially, and simmer 20-30 minutes. Peas should be tender and beginning to disintegrate. Add additional water if needed to maintain thick gravy consistency.
Saute in small frying pan:

3 T. butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 t. whole cumin seed
10 whole cloves
5 whole black peppercorns

Fry until onions are well browned (10-12 minutes). Add onion mixture to cooked peas and set aside until near mealtime. Reheat before serving. Serve as a sauce over rice.

Recipe from the More-with-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre, ISBN 0-8361-9103-X

I added 1 T. chopped garlic and the juice from 1/2 large lemon to the onion mixture, added the cooked onion mixture to the peas, and cooked for an additional 10 minutes on low heat.