Happy Birthday, Sadie!

Nine years ago to the day, I was driving in SE Washington, DC and saw a dog wandering along the side of the residential road, without a collar or fence.
After about an hour of baiting her with expired beef jerky (that's another story altogether!), I had a scared, dirty, malnourished, adorable, bat- eared dingo in my car.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
The vet assumed Sadie was nine months to a year old, thus her finding day is also her birthday.
In her previous "home", she'd been through more than I ever want to know. Signs of fight training. Beatings. Starvation. 
To this day, she is still frightened of people walking with canes or umbrellas. And older women in long skirts. And has a reoccurring limp.
I will never know what the first year of her life was like- though I imagine the worst. And want the person or persons who hurt her to suffer more than anyone ever should.
In the past nine years, she has changed my life. For the better. She makes every single day awesome. 
She is smart; easily counting to 6 when treats or toys are involved.
She snores. Loudly. Every single night. Often while pressed against my lower legs.
In fact, she is lying on the floor of my office and snoring as I type this. 
She steals my yoga hat on a regular basis. While I'm using it.
She's the only dog I know who doesn't like peanut butter. She'll suck it off of apples or carrots and spit it on the floor, choosing to only consume the fresh fruit or veg.
She begs for bell peppers, seedless cucumbers, romaine lettuce hearts.
She loves to be cold, and roll in the snow. It's delicious!
She bosses around my other dog and cat as if they were her wards. And they let her.
She is technically a Labrador, Boarder Collie, Poodle, miniature Schnauzer mix. And that must have been one hell of a party.
Speaking of which, we're off to Five Guys for her yearly, celebratory bacon cheeseburger. Yeah, I'm that person, and I don't care who knows it.

Grandma Lee's Apricot Kugel Recipe

This is my grandmother's kugel recipe. She was very pleased when I asked for it years ago- as I was hosting my first Seder and wanted to wow my mostly non- Jewish friends. They were thrilled with the kugel, and miffed by the frozen Boca Burger on the Seder plate. I was vegetarian at the time and would not visit a butcher for a shank bone.

It has been on the menu for nearly every event since. Requested for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's brunch, Ides of March brunch (togas optional), April Fool's brunch, and so many other festive, food centered events.

I'm probably breaking some sort of unwritten code for good granddaughters by posting this recipe, but you'll thank me.

What is kugel?

For the uninitiated, it's a slightly sweet, dairy laden noodle pudding. Now stop drooling.

Ingredients:
16 oz package medium egg noodles, cooked
6 oz Philadelphia cream cheese (Grandma specified! A block is 8 oz- feel free to use the entire thing. I do.)
6 eggs
1- 1/2 sticks of meted butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups milk
2 cans of apricot halves, drained (I buy the ones in fruit juice)
1 can (at least 12 oz, 16 is better) of apricot nectar (in a pinch, peach nectar can be used- it's usually easier to find)

Optional topping ingredients: (I forgo this step because the kugel doesn't need it. Though tasty either way.)
3 cups crushed corn flakes
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 stick melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
mix together and set aside

Directions:
Grease a large casserole dish- using the empty butter wrappers works perfectly.
Put cooked and drained egg noodles in buttered casserole, pour and stir in melted butter.
Cream the cream cheese with the sugar.
Add the beaten eggs and thoroughly mix together.
Add the milk and apricot nectar to the mix, pour over buttered egg noodles.
Arrange the apricot halves on the top.
Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon, or the corn flake crack mixture, or both.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for at least 1 hour, up to 90 minutes or so- based on the shape of your dish.
If given a gentle shake, the pudding should be set. The top will brown slightly.

Honestly, it's the perfect comfort food. Chock- full of carbohydrates and fatty dairy, with a pleasant fruit flavor. Wonderful with turkey, garlic confit brisket, pot roast, even pork roast. Not to mention at any temperature as leftovers...

Signage Now!

This past Friday was the 48th Annual Delaware Antiques show, so I decided to play hooky and peruse pieces I had no intention of buying.

Once I stopped drooling on the Deco jewelry - and that took quite a while - I explored the other booths.

Many of my favorite finds of the day were antique and salvaged signs. Of course, I'm at the "I don't need more furniture, but wouldn't mind more artwork." stage of decorating my 1961 ranch house. At least until that next piece of Mid- Century furniture is unearthed...

Some of the dealers looked like they'd strangle you if you attempted photography. At other booths, the lighting was less than helpful.

Enough blathering. Signage now!

 Yeah, it's a mirrored sign. That I could look at every single day.

 Subtle Deco Era perfection. This would look amazing in my kitchen.

 With this sign hanging immediately below it.

 The eye is eerily beautiful. And "At Dinner" just rocks.

 This screams "loo" to me, but could work in any room.

 Some charming smalls.

 Maybe over a kitchen window? Not too near the Deco GIN sign, obviously.

 A bit rustic for my taste, but still lovely.

 The one sign that took my breath away. This would look amazing hanging over the bar cart in my dining room. At $900, I will keep looking for the perfect piece of art.

A rather large glass sided display box. For storing stuff. And things.

So. Pleasing.

As an aside, it took me less than a week to get this post written and posted. Which might be some kind of record. Granted, it's my first blog post in over 3 weeks. I blame the cuteness of George and Vlad.

See? It's insanely hard to concentrate on anything else.

Enjoy the rest of your week!