Rescue, Rehome, Reward

Penelope on Payment Lake

I'm thinking about Penelope today.  Her surgery to remove two tumors is scheduled for this morning. We have been fostering this 12 year old silver Weimaraner for a week and yesterday I brought her back to H.O.P.E. Animal Shelter so they could prepare her for the operation.

Penelope & Pete at H.O.P.E.

 RESCUE

Like Callie Blu, Penelope was surrendered by her first owners after a divorce.  Life circumstances prevented them from keeping her.  One can get angry with the owners; call them unkind or irresponsible, but that isn't the way to look at it. I  don't know the couples or their troubles, but I do know that the result is that 2 wonderful Weimaraners have joined our family this year.

Asher & Penelope - First Morning Walk

Some people like to call dogs like Callie and Penelope rescues.  I think this implies some sort of tragic, abusive, neglected previous life.  This characterization doesn't apply to either dog. They are both healthy, well-trained, good-looking pets and I know they were loved.  Callie Blu was with a wonderful foster mom for a year before she joined us.

3 Dogs on a Log at Net Lake

REHOME

I like to think of the dogs as being re-homed.  They moved from one home to ours. It's as if the pups finished their "projects" at their first home and came to ours to help us.

Penelope with the World in her Mouth

I agree with Mike Dooley's writings on the subject in his book, The Top Ten Things Dead People Want to Tell YOU

". . .their presence in your life is just one more invitation for you to love as you could not have loved otherwise, even as they teach you lessons of compassion, tolerance, patience, or whatever else you stand in need of."

Penelope = Play

" Animals absorb and react to the energy of those they live with. . .as reactors, they mirror the energies they receive. . . reflecting the patience, compassion, exuberance, anger, openness and shyness of those around them."

Pete & Penelope in the Woods

"Owners can always find 'themselves' in their pets."

Callie Blu & Penelope - Our Rewards

REWARD

". . .that you 'found' who you 'found' and that they 'found' you has deep meaning and occurs with flawless precision.  The world would not and could not have proceeded even one more day on the path it was on until each of you was present for the other, to be shaped by each other's love, to lean by each other's example, to teach, to laugh and to heal."

Bread and Butter

A Loon's Spoon Post

I love French bread and I have almost got the process where I want it - thanks to the Master Recipe: Boule and directions in Jeff Hertzberg's and Zoe Francois' book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

In the morning I mix 6 cups lukewarm water, 1.5 tablespoons yeast, 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt and 6.5 cups of flour together right in my food storage container.

Then, I cover it and carry it into the Snuggery, this is the warmest room in the house and a great place to let the dough rise for 2 hours. The Snuggery is also my office and a favorite place for all 3 dogs to hang out when I'm working.  I am very careful to keep the dough away from the dogs and never leave the dogs and the dough alone - it's just not a good combination and I speak from experience.

After 2 hours or so the container is moved to the refrigerator until I want to use it.

Refrigerating the dough, for at lest 3 hours, makes it less sticky and a lot easier to work with.  About an hour and a half before I want to have warm bread I remove the dough from the refrigerator and form it into loaves.

I place the loaves on parchment paper and use perforated French bread pans that my mother-in-law, Gwen, gave me from Williams-Sonoma. Then, they go back to the Snuggery for 40 minutes to rise.  After about 20 minutes I preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place a low sided pan, I think it's the oven's broiling pan, on a low rack filled with water.  This will create a steam environment, which is GREAT for producing a crisp crust.

The dough goes into the oven for about 30 minutes.  First, I brush the loaves with tap water to help with a crusty crust.

After 30 minutes, or so, the bread comes out of the oven and is ready to eat.  WARNING: Keep it way far away from counter-surfing Weimaraners.  Again, speaking from experience, they have been know to take the whole loaf in the blink of an eye.

I love butter and on this point I agree with Julia.  Unfortunately, butter is not part of a plant-based diet.

Neither, is cream.

So, I decided to try one of the butter substitutes that have come out since my last round as a vegan.  Earth Balance products have received excellent reviews from the vegetarian/vegan communities.

I think I picked the wrong product.  I bought the sticks and they're more of a baking product.  It didn't taste so great spread on the bread.  Earth Balance offers a number of different spreads and I think that's the route I should have taken if I wanted to "butter" my bread.  

You know what? I've ALWAYS been a fan of olive oil.  Dipping French bread in plain or flavored olive oils beats butter in my book.