Breakfast Was Mistimed

So tonight Momma and Daddy had breakfast for dinner! How weird is that?

Since they moved, it's been tradition to do brunch on Sunday mornings. Daddy gets up first, and beings to make a mountain of fluffy scrambled eggs, omelettes, juice, and fruit. Sometimes Momma gets up first, and she does her workout while Daddy cooks, sometimes they get up at the same time. Either way, they eat a hearty brunch, and head to their local comic book store to hang out with people there for a bit. Sometimes they go to a Vietnamese bistro next door, and last Sunday they went to see Shrek Forever After. They've missed brunch the past two weeks though, and so they decided to make up for lost time tonight.

Daddy started with bacon from Trader Joe's, and it was fantastic! It was really savory and bacony, with lots of smokey taste and smell. It was a huge bacony success.

Usually Momma has scrambled eggs, but she wanted a change of pace tonight, and so Daddy made her some of his special fried eggs.

He learned to make them from a friend's mom, and showed Momma. She makes pretty good eggs on her own, but she thinks Daddy's are the best there are, which is why he's the brunch man. It just tastes better when he makes food! I agree, his scraps taste better than Momma's. She looks a bit insulted when I type that.... maybe I'll keep that opinion to myself!

The final component of brunch for Momma were two slices of GF bread, which is way denser than normal bread. This makes it perfect egg yolk soaking material. It sponged up all the goodness. Daddy ended with a cinnamon raisin bagel topped with cream cheese and scrambled egg with cheddar. Not the most Kosher of meals, but super tasty!

I hung out under the table, which is where Momma got this shot of me! I was surprised!

Crispie!

Momma had another work event tonight, so when she came home today Daddy surprised her with this lovely present! These are brown rice crispie marshmallow squares! They were fantastically gooey and sweet, but the bright crunch and earth taste of brown rice. It has a much cleaner flavor than white rice, and is less weighty in the long run. Momma's pasta is all brown rice, and while it means longer cooking time, it also means that her pasta hold up well to most sauces and over long lengths of time.

Anyway, humans cannot survive on rice crispie treats alone, so Momma and Daddy had to make some sort of dinner.

Dinner tonight was chicken korma, not the usual use for korma, but as tasty as lamb korma in the parental's opinions.

The korma Momma and Daddy used smelled strongly  of coconut, which was odd for Daddy. It tasted like a good korma should, not too much curry, not too much coconut, but a perfect mix of the two.

To top off the meal, Daddy also heated up some green beans. They were super tasty as well.

I am adjusting well to the sounds here, I bark a lot less than I used to, which makes Momma and Daddy VERY happy! Here I am at Gma Liz's house in NYC. I barked a lot there!

But Wait... It's Not Thanksgiving!

Tonight was another major step for Momma, turkey on a day that isn't Thanksgiving! Momma is notorious for only eating turkey on Thanksgiving, and getting all het up about people who offer her turkey on days which aren't Thanksgiving. Today, Momma had to totally change her views, and it was all because of Daddy.

Daddy really like Bolognese. Like, walk across a pit of fire for some. Like, stand in freezing cold water. Like, eat a spider. I hate spiders. Momma hates spiders. Daddy has to kill a lot of spiders, so it's only fair he gets Bolognese with turkey.

Turkey is a nice lean meat, and for some reason it doesn't make Momma feel icky the same way ground beef does. Thus, turkey was the meat of choice! And doesn't it look pretty in that pan, all bubbly and pink and tan. It was super good too! The picture in the sauce is a bit blurry, which Momma is all sound about.

The sauce was from Trader Joe's, and it was fantastic. It had a lot of easily identifiable herbs and spices, and the tomato was rich and creamy. So far everything Momma and Daddy have gotten from Trader Joe's has been superb, I think they don't intend on shopping anywhere else unless it's Whole Foods when it comes to things that require some degree of finesse and specialization. Standard groceries= Kroger though.

There is one place Mom likes to go to get GF stuff though, Meijer. Meijer carries Schar products. Schar is a European company which makes GF pasta and cookies that taste exactly like normal pasta. This is what their fusilli looks like:

Looks like real pasta, right! It tastes like it too! Daddy made pesketti, and he used this handy device from Uncle Hiram to measure a perfect amount:

The sauce was meaty and rich, with hints of cream and the turkey. It soaked up all the flavors and really tasted like much more than simple turkey. All in all, success!

I will end with a picture of what Daddy did to me yesterday, there were lots of stickers!

When The Fork Stands Up, It's Done

Two posts in one day! Momma is very proud of me!

Dinner tonight was a delicious variation on a previous dinner. Daddy marinated chicken in Chipotle Lime sauce and man did they look tasty! The nice thing about marinades is they can be a "set it and forget it" kinda deal, at least for a day. Daddy let this one soak about 24 hours, and all that meant was the chicken fully absorbed the lime and chipotle, which lead to a piece of chicken with was tart and hot all at once. Momma love Chipotle, and Tabasco Chipotle sauce, so dinner ranked high for her tonight!

 It turns out this kind of chicken dish pairs really well with one of Momma and Daddy's favorite food, smashed potatoes! They don't eat them very often, but they are definitely a favorite! Daddy used a powdered potato this time, it's a lot of work to make them from scratch!

They knew the potatoes were done when the wooden spoon stood straight up, which always makes Momma giggle. Daddy enhanced the mix by adding butter, milk, and a bit of salt. It was delicious, according to Momma. All in all, dinner was a huge success, as was the combination of nice dinner conversation, music, and me taking my place under the table.

I like sitting there, it's warm and I can see where they both are, and sometimes I can lick their feet til I get a belly scratch. They both give great belly scratches!

Momma and I got to play like dogs today! Daddy and I do it all the time, but Momma never plays like that! She and I hunkered down and jumped all over the floor. I think the Wii Fit has made her feel like she's back in Fencing form, which is great for Momma! Maybe we'll start going for runs!

Not likely, but at least she can still do a mile in under 10 minutes!

Anyway, I'm all tired now, so I'm gonna sleep! I have a busy day tomorrow ;)

My Day in a Nutshell

Here is my day! Here is my day in a nutshell: Hi! I'm Burke's day in a nutshell! Let me out, it's cramped in here!

Okay, now that Momma is done being "clever", I thought I'd give you all the skinny on how my Corgi day works!

I have my own room, it's a lovely room! Momma  and Daddy also store their prized washer/dryer in it, so sometimes I have to deal with that making noise. I hate those machines! So loud, so intrusive, so unnecessary for Corgi living. The advantage to these machines, however, can be seen in the left of the photo. That's my bed! I dragged it there myself! I like the warmth and the hiding. When we lived in the other apartment, I liked to conk out in kennel with towels covering me, it turned me into Crouching Burke, Hidden Corgi!

So anyway, my day starts here. I go to bed about 10 most nights, longer depending on how tired I am. I get a bit jumpy when I'm super tired, and that's usually Daddy's cue to gather up my toys and put me to bed. Some nights I get to take a nap with Momma til Daddy goes to sleep, but not as often now.

Daddy usually wakes me up at 11AM, and we go for my morning walkies! I like to have a walkies first thing in the morning, cause I get to stretch and jump and play for a bit before Daddy (or Momma on the weekends) feeds me. I get 2 1/2 cups of food a day, which is perfect for a fat butt like me! The Wii Fit says I weigh 34 lbs, which is a bit much for a Corgi, but I just say I'm big boned. Beefcake!

During the day I like to spend my time one of two places, either conked out on the couch with Daddy, or out on my awesome patio! This is my patio, and that's Uncle Dave's penguin. It's one of Momma's most prized possessions. That's my big bone too, and my water bowl. I haven't wanted to go outside so much recently, it's been really hot and I have a fur coat on, so who want's to be out there in all that? Crazy people, that's who. Crazy!

If I'm not chilling on my patio, I'm in the living room with Daddy. I like to play fetch, tug of war, or just massacre my rawhides during the day.Some days I go back and sleep in my room, some days I crash on the couch next to Daddy. My favorite days are the ones when Daddy goes and reads in the room, and I get to curl up next to him.

Most times when Momma gets home, that's where I am, usually asleep. I know what her car sounds like though, and the second she locks the door, BOOM! Corgi at the front door, waiting! Momma calls me her Itty Bitty Corgi Greeting Committee. She takes me for a walk, and I get to spend the rest of the night cuddling with her, or playing with my toys.

When she and Daddy are ready, one of them makes dinner here. I like to sit at the cook's feet and wait for food. They are pretty good about not dropping it though, which means most night's I'm disappointed. They sit and eat, and Daddy usually puts on music for them to listen to during dinner. It's fairly civilized, which means I get no food at all during their dinner time!

After dinner, Momma washes the dishes, and she and Daddy sit down to watch something on TV. This is when I usually get to sit on the couch and flail around for a bit. This is also when our neighbors come home and I decide to start barking, just in case Momma or Daddy doesn't notice that their are people doing things outside the apartment. This usually doesn't sit well with Momma or Daddy, and then I have to look all sad, even though I know better than to bark. Silly parents, I'm almost 2! That's like being 14 dog years, I'm all about rebellion. Maybe I should get a spiked collar!

At 10, Momma and I go to bed. Momma sometimes stays up later, but she always regrets it in the morning. And that's my day! I'll leave you with a picture of me on Daddy's favorite blanket, which is the comfiest thing in the whole house!

Ritual Meals

For some people, mac and cheese is comfort food. For other people, that comfort food is pancakes. For Momma and Daddy, that comfort food is Chinese cuisine.

Daddy was away last night, and they only set the chicken to marinate for tomorrow, so it was the perfect night to reconnect over some comfort food.

This was their spread:

Look at that spread, and look at that table! It was great, Momma and Daddy sat down together, they talked about their days, they discusses their plans for the rest of the week, and I hung out under the table! I sat on Daddy's foot, and then I sat on Momma's foot, and then I sat next to the table, and then I sat in my room cause I wouldn't stop barking. 

Daddy had bourbon chicken, egg rolls, boneless spare ribs, and tasty pork lo mein. Momma had Hunan bean curd and a spring roll:

MMmmm, tasty!

It was a lovely dinner, full of reforging connections, rawhide, and Wii Fit! But more on that last one at a later date!