Strange! or Nothing! or Thrilled!

Today has been great. Early this morning I did my Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch segment on Big G's Texas Road Show on 1230 KERV AM and it was a lot of fun as it always is. His Pet of the week was Clovis. The super cool, three-year-old dog that is very smart, well-mannered and is great with other dogs, cats and kids. Seriously, Tony and I are so impressed with Clovis, we wish that someone would come out here and adopt him, so he can steal your heart, too.

This afternoon I cooked us lunch, which is always our big meal of the day. And since I enjoy cooking I decided to be creative with our lunch. 

I decided to cook some meatballs and use Julia Child's delicious sauce that she uses to make her famous, delicious Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Sauce and serve it over those delicious Ronzoni's Super Green Thin Spaghetti, along with some of Tony's tiny tomatoes, from his garden. 

Tony totally loved it and asked me what I call it, because he wants me to make it again, and I said, "I guess Cousin Nancy's Strange Stroganoff." Anyway, it really was delicious, thank goodness. And I took this picture of my plate before I ate it, so I could show it to you.

After eating lunch, while I was cleaning up the kitchen, Kinky called me. "Happy Birthday, Kinky!" I said, before he could say anything.

"Thanks, Nance," he replied. "What did you get me?" 

I laughed, and said "Nothing."

He chuckled, and then said, "Our friendship is good enough for me. That's all I really need." Then I made a funny wise-crack, that isn't suitable to print here, and that made Kinky laugh. Then we talked for a few more minutes about one of his and our friend that is thinking about coming out and adopting one of our super dogs.

Late this afternoon, Rebecca, a friend of ours called me. And the great news is she and Mark want to adopt Lori Darlin'! And this Saturday, they are going to come out to pick her & Lamb Chop up! And to say the least, we are totally thrilled for Lori Darlin' & Lamb Chop!

And I guess that's about it for tonight.

Y'all take care and keep on laughing!

I Am A Major Fan Of Jon Favreau!

Today has been great and so was yesterday, because Burma called me to give me an update on Katee Sackhoff. She told me that they added a middle name for Katee and her new name is Katee-Sioux Sackhoff, because Randy is a Sioux. She also told me that Katee-Sioux has stolen their hearts and she is one super dog and all of their dogs love Katee. And here's a picture  she took of Katee-Sioux.

Last night I watched the movie Burnt, another movie about life, chefs and cooking. It was good, but still my top two favorite movies about cooking are still Julie & Julia and Chef, starring Jon Favreau, because they both inspired me to try new recipes.

The movie, Julie & Julia, and my dear friend Cindy inspired me to make Julia Child's delicious Chicken and Mushrooms with Cream Sauce, that I serve with oven roasted asparagus, as Julia Child suggests, in her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And I am so glad that I did, because it is now both Tony's and my favorite dish.

I am a major fan of Jon Favreau, because he is a multi-talented Libra and a genius, because he wrote, starred in, directed and co-produced the fabulous movie, Chef. That our good friend and actor, Jay Pennington, got to be an extra in—playing a cowboy. 

I really love the movie Chef, because it is such a fun movie to watch. The cast of actors starring in this movie could not have been better selected for their roles. Anyway, last week, because of this delightful movie, I tried making Choi's signature Mojo Pork Cubano sandwiches, from the film, and it was totally delicious, too. And here's a link to this incredibly delicious recipe.

So last night, after watching Burnt, I went into our bedroom to get something and I caught Henry Standing Bear doing another one of his down-unders. So I grabbed my camera and seconds later, I snapped this funny picture of him, just before Little Debbie and I watched him crawl out from underneath the dresser.

After I took Henry's picture, I started Googling Egg Benedict recipes, because a few days ago, Cindy had suggested that I try making Julia Child's Hollandaise Sauce, found on page 79, in her cookbook. 

So this morning for Tony's breakfast, I surprised him and made Julia's delicious Hollandaise Sauce recipe and served him my version of eggs benedict: which is a half of a buttered muffin, topped with Canadian bacon, a fried egg (Yes, I know it is supposed to be poached, but Tony doesn't like poached eggs.) with Julia's easy to make, delicious Hollandaise Sauce. And needless to say, "He loved that, too."

In just a few hours from now, Tony and I will be taking Henry Standing Bear to his final Clicker-Training class, in Kerrville. So I am going to finish writing this and post it, because I need to go cook us lunch and then do some Clicker-Training homework with Henry.

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing! 

Home Grown Tomatoes!

Today has been great, even though I spent all my morning, outside, pushing a lawn mower around and then, after lunch, I had to spend over three hours doing ranch paperwork, to get caught up with everything.

Speaking of lunch, today I had a lot of fun in the kitchen cooking a new Oven-Roasted Asparagus recipe with olive oil, garlic,salt & pepper, grated Parmesan and lemon juice, along with Tony's and my new, all time most favorite dish: Julia Child's Supremes de Volaille aux Champignons (Chicken Breasts and Mushrooms with Cream sauce.)

Seriously, I encourage all of y'all to cook Julia's inexpensive, easy to prepare, delicious recipe and now I am also recommending that you try All Recipe's delicious  Oven-Roasted Asparagus, which is simple and simply delicious. And if you don't believe me—just ask Tony, who has never been a really big fan of asparagus.

I took two pictures of our lunch, today, just to make your mouths water and if you click on the photos they will take you directly to the delicious recipe.

This is a picture I took, after preparing the asparagus and before I shoved it into the oven, to bake for only fifteen minutes. (I added the tomatoes to the recipe for more color and because we both love home-grown tomatoes.)

And here is a photo of our lunch, before we happily devoured it.

And that's about it for today, because I need to go get ready, because tonight Tony and I are going to the school's art show, in Medina. 

Y'all have a great evening and keep on laughing and give these recipes a try!

Julia Child!

Thank goodness that Lisa and John picked up Julia Child at Hoegemeryer Animal Clinic this morning for us! Yesterday she was spayed and got all of her shots and she was ready to come home, but Tony and I couldn't take off today to go pick her up, because of our open house!

At six o'clock tonight, Angie, a very nice woman, signed off on Julia's adoption papers and then she put Julia into her car to play with Bitsy, her little one eyed Therapy dog, that makes regular visits to nursing homes!

Julia Child has a new name, Frauline, and she has found her fantastic forever home in Fredericksburg! I hope that she likes German food!

Y'all have a great evening!

I've Also Got Ben Here For Back Up!

Because of Tony I had the hardest time this morning doing my six mile walk inside the trailer with Leslie Sansone, because I was laughing so hard! Right before I made the two mile mark, Mama and Abbie started barking, which always means something is going on outside and we need to check it out.

I was doing knee lifts when I looked out the window to see Tone run by, the outside of our front yard, like he was chasing something! A minute later Tony came inside the trailer and he was out of breath, "Princess dug out, again and she won't let me catch her like she usually does! She's turned it into a game, now!" Then Mama and Abbie started barking, again. We looked out the front window and watched Princess do a run by. She looked like she was laughing and having a really great time! I loved it!

For the next two miles, as I kicked and stomped with Leslie in the big room and the kitchen, Tony and Princess kept running back and forth in front of the trailer! And, every time that they would run past the window it would cause me to laugh even harder.

By the time I finished my six laughing miles, my back was hurting from laughing so much, and Princess was finally back in her pen thank goodness!

While Lisa and Matt walked our dogs, and Ben placed (h)uge rocks around the outside of Princess and Marlin's pen to hopefully keep them in, I cooked lunch for Tony, Ben and me, and that is when I decided to try to make Julia Child's recipe "Potage Veloute Aux Champignons" (Cream of Mushroom Soup) on page forty in her book, for tomorrow's lunch, because it seems to be one of Julia's less complicated recipes, and I already have most of the ingredients, and I've also got Ben here for back up if I need his help!

This afternoon after lunch Tony and I took Julia Child to Hoegemeyer Animal Clinic to get her shots and to get her spayed, because no one in Medina has claimed her. I guess she was dumped. Then we swung by H.E.B. to buy several fifty pound sacks of dog food for our rescued dogs, because our source for free dog food that we used to get has seemed to have dried up, and is no longer available because of the economy.

I went over to the Lodge to see Kinky around four o'clock and I had a fun visit with him and Copper Love, the talented artist who beautifully illustrated Kinky's latest book Heroes of A Texas Childhood!

Y'all have a great evening and please wish me luck with my first and probably last Julia Child recipe! I might get Tony or Ben to make a short video clip of me preparing it.

Julia Child Just Showed Up!

While I was posting the last blog, two women showed up from Medina. Tony went outside to talk to them. 

At three-thirty, Tone walked inside the trailer and said, "We've got a new little dog. Clare and her friend found her running around Medina. I'm sure she belongs to someone in town."

Let me go take a picture of her, so you can post it on the window at the Old Timer tomorrow morning." I grabbed my camera, and we took off in Kermit. She is real sweet and friendly, definitely someone's best friend. She has a collar, but no tags. Fortunately, when T. held her up, I shot her on the first shot. Please meet—Julia Child! I hope her owners can pick her up tomorrow! 

P.S. Julia was unexpected, and she is not who is coming out to the ranch this evening.

Julia Child!

Today has been a good day. We received another quarter of an inch of rain overnight, and things are starting to turn green, at last!

This morning, I decided not to walk the walk, because my back is still hurting a little bit, so I returned e-mails and phone calls. Then I went over to the Lodge to see Will, to ask him to help me with the new weather app, for my iTouch, but he was gone. I had forgotten that he had told me yesterday, that he had to go to San Antone today, so he could be fitted for his new kilt that is being custom made for him.

As you already know, Will is a handsome golfer, and he has never been seen wearing a kilt out here. As soon as he told us about getting his custom made kilt, I teased him, and asked him if he was going to be wearing it in his golf tournaments. After Tony, Will and I stopped laughing, Will said, "No Nance. My dad is getting married soon, and he wants his sons wearing kilts at the wedding."

"That is really cool, Will! Are you going to have to shave your legs?" I asked.

"No," Will said. Then he jokingly swung his golf club at me.

Since Will was gone for the day, I returned to the rescue ranch, and took care of some more paperwork. Around twelve-thirty, I called Kinky on his cell phone. "Hi Kink..." We talked about The Friedmans, the rain and my back going out on me. Then I said, "I don't know if it is because of Mercury in retrograde, but I am feeling sorta down today."

"Nance," Kinky said. "Me, too. For some reason, I woke up mildly depressed. Nance, you've got to cheer up! That's what we both have to do. Remember, we are the only two members of 'The Undepressables Club' and we can't be depressed!" Then he started laughing. I didn't laugh, because of my back, but he did make me smile.

"Okay," I said. "I certainly don't want to get kicked out of our club. I'll be fine. Don't worry..." By the time our conversation ended, I was feeling better, smiling and lightly laughing. To further improve my mood, I cranked up my iPod, and listened to James Taylor sing the songs from his new album, 'Covers.' That album will lift any one's spirits and I will guarantee it.

Early this evening, I returned a phone call to Lisa Watson. She has the website: Hill Country Visitor Guide Online, and she wanted to know if she could put a link to us, because she loves animals and wanted to help us. Of course my answer was yes! Lisa and I had a nice visit, and by the time we said our goodbyes to each other—I had found a new friend, and I was no longer feeling depressed! I was happy!

After we got off of the phone, I went outside to my writing cabin, to take a picture of the antique table, that Cindy had given to me, before moving to New Mexico. I wanted to send her an e-mail, thanking her, again for the table, along with a picture of it.

The table that she gave to me is the one on the right, with the cobalt blue bottles on it, and with the fake fawn standing underneath it.

My good friend, Pete Hartje, down in Port Aransas, sent me the funniest quiz! I took the quiz, and was totally astounded! So I copied it! I hope that all of you will take it. It is real short, and it takes less than a minute. I hope that it astounds you, too, with its accuracy! Here's the quiz he sent to me:

WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL?

Be sure not to peek! You don't want to skew your answer.
Try this - it's really neat. Don’t look at the answers

1. Pick your favorite number between 1- 9

2. Multiply by 3 then

3. Add 3, then again Multiply by 3--I'll wait while you get the Calculator....

4. You'll get a 2 or 3 digit number....

5. Add the digits together

Now Scroll down...

With that number, see who your ROLE MODEL is from the list below: 

1. Mahatma Gandhi
2. Tiger Woods
3. Kinky Friedman
4. Mother Teresa
5. Bill Gates
6 . Eleanor Roosevelt
7. Bernie Madoff
8. Rosa Parks
9. Cousin Nancy
10. Julia Child

I know....I just have that effect on people. One day you too can be like me. Believe in yourself!
 
P.S. Stop picking different numbers!  I am the person you subconsciously most admire. Deal with it!

Y'all have a great evening!