This is Charlie the Wonderdog. He says "rowf!" Actually this picture is kind of old (in it he was four or five months old and he's now 10 months) but it's a fairly accurate representation of what you can expect to see him doing at any given point in the day, including now. Good Lord that dog sleeps!
In other news...
Talented Hubby has been working so hard lately. He's had a lot of difficult (emotionally, professionally) situations at work lately and that can get a person down after a while. But he handles it well - far better than I, that's for sure. I'm very proud of him...and we're both looking foward to getting away in a few weeks.
I made a Shepherd's Pie last night. While not a disaster, it certainly didn't knock my socks off either. For some reason, Shepherd's Pie/Cottage Pie escapes my culinary repertoire. You would think it would be easy, right? It's just beef mince (ground beef), spices, thickening-something-or-other (usually flour) and vegies. But I've never found one I'm entirely happy with. One day...
No garden this year :( I'm quite disappointed about that but will save up my pennies and plant next year. I was really looking forward to fresh tomatoes too, darn it.
Did I tell you all I succumbed to my inner fifteen-year-old and purchased Seasons 1 & 2 of Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman? I didn't? It's kind of funny, and I'm copping a fair bit of good-natured ribbing from most of my relatives, but I am loving it. I remember sitting down to watching this show as a teen with my mother - I believe it was on a Saturday? - and now Moo is sitting down with me watching it (co-incidentally, I did the same thing with Jane Austen movies, just like my mother did with me, and I'm happy to report I have a cute little Darcy-swooning daughter on my hands, LOL) We talk about 'girl business', like how romantic it is that Sully followed Dr Mike all the way to Boston, or what prejudice is (Native Americans, African Americans, migrants are all covered). Okay, so that last part isn't specific to girls and in actual fact Boof (who is 9 and far more worldly in his own eyes) has frequently provided some good debating material along these lines, but I'm quite enjoying it all. There are certain parts I'm not so crazy about - the girls in the saloon (although less because of what they do - as that is never really elaborated on - but more so because of the 'W' term used to describe them. I don't allow her to watch episodes that have Myra - saloon girl - as the focus) and there was one episode that focused on the racist exploits of the 'clan' (don't want to use common term as I don't fancy weeding through the Twitter spammers later, sigh). But most of the time the show is tame and sweet, and at least tends to paint the questionable aspects in a moral light (for example, they had an episode about gambling, but the character in question had a deserved fall from grace because of it).
Moo and I have particularly liked watching the budding romance of Dr Mike and Sully. I remember being completely enamored with Joe Lando when I was a teen and there may even have been a teen mag-style poster of him resplendent as Sully adorning my ceiling at one point -- but we won't mention that again, 'kay? LOL. I'd forgotten how cute it is to watch a romance blossom naturally on screen as it did back, well, before the internet really took off and TV had to ramp up the sexual material to compete. As old-fashioned as this might be, I'm glad Moo's being exposed to a romance - yes, even this young (she's 7 ½) - that focuses on things like courting and protection and old world charm.
I'm nothing if not a tragic romantic, LOL.
The only downside? Of the 6 seasons (150 episodes, plus 2 TV movies - and yes, I 'Wiki-ed' it because hello? That's how tragically and geekily involved I am :P) only 2 are so far available on DVD down here, with the 3rd coming in October and gosh-knows when for the remaining three. I've already used up all birthday and Christmas presents for this year when I bought this, so I'm going to have to raid the change jar when the time comes!
You may all laugh at my television viewing choices...now.
3 comments:
Shepherds Pie:- I thicken mine with gravox mixed to a paste with water with a full sachet (two tablespoons) of tomato paste mixed in and a dash of worcestershire sauce. Brown the mince, set aside to drain off fat. Brown chopped onion and carrots, put the mince back in the pan, add enough water to just cover. Simmer for a minute, thicken as stated above, put into a casserole dish, top with mashed potato, dot with butter, bake until top is golden brown. Always use the best quality mince such as 5star, the cheaper 3star mince just has too much fat in it.
Being that I own the entire series of "Wonder Years" I won't laugh. Also, a few months ago, I watched Doogie Howser, M.D. from first to last episode on Hulu :) Sometimes it's nice to just reminisce like that.
As for the shepherd's pie - The easiest and tastiest way I've found is to melt (I use 8 tbsp) butter in a sauce pan, then add an equal amount of flour, making a nice smooth rue. Slowly stir in beef broth until it's a desired consistency and flavor, then pour directly over the ground beef and veggies already in the pie plate. **I have WAY too many times covered the pie with the mashed potatoes and then realizing I forgot to add the liquid first. A chopstick or skewer to make holes into the potatoes to pour the liquid into fixes that :)
shepherds pie: brown meat&onions. make doublestrength oxo - one serve water, 2 cubes. add oxo to meat. add flour - 1-2tbsp, depending on how thick you like it - and mix it in so you gots gravy. dump into casserole dish of some sort. add frozen vegies (we use a bag of carrots peas and corn) and mix up. top with mash (and CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE. or not. we like cheese.) bake till brownish. tada.
also, your dog is adorable. i cant wait till we finally find a house and can get a dog.
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