Dogs are such creatures of habit. They all seem to have their particular rituals - things they just have to do all the time, the exact same way. When Madddie goes out the front door, she veers to the right, potties, and then trots around to the north side of the house, and commences to bark in the general direction of the house where the old rottweiler lives. Our previous Sheltie, Tess, used to go flying out the back door like a bullet - running clear to the property line. That's where she skidded into a skunk one night. Bonnie, the Barbarian, exits, pauses on the front step, then trots to the left side of the driveway and begins to bark.

Bonnie likes to sit on the heat register in the winter. Maddie lays on my rugs - not the one that is under the side chair in the living room , that was placed there for her use - no, not that one, the other rugs, located in strategic places like at the top of the stairs and in front of the stove - where people will have to step over her. Yeah, dogs are creatures of habit. If they went to church, I bet they'd always sit in the same pew.

The small appliance du jour appears to be something called a cupcake maker. It sits on your counter and you use it to whip up cupcakes in minutes. I guess you need this because "sometimes you just want a cupcake. You're not dressed nicely and you don't want to get dressed nicely to go out to one of those fancy bakeries just to buy some towering buttercream priapus for $3.50 when you can make your own at home." I found that quote online - written by somebody who was making fun of this appliance - which is what I'm also doing here.

Who would need this appliance? Kids in college dorms? I don't think they're supposed to be plugging such things into the walls. People in hotel rooms? People who don't know how to turn on their OTHER CUPCAKE MAKER - the oven?

When I was checking out sunflower seeds at Rural King on Sunday afternoon, I saw a Cheese-making magazine that was promoting, on it's cover, an article entitled "Make it your Whey!" Ha-ha. which is a good segue to the Recipe of the Week -Great dinners made quickly - No Pressure!

I am lovin' me some pressure-cooking. I did another chicken recipe in the pressure cooker a couple of weeks ago, and then last Saturday, I made a pot roast that was delicious!. Great gravy- great leftovers. I hope you'll give it a try. I'm going to make it again, very soon.

Pressure Cooker Pot Roast

1 pot roast, rump, sirloin tip, etc., about 4 pounds

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 large onion, chopped

1 cup red wine

1 & 1/2 cups beef broth

2 carrots, coarsely chopped

8 small potatoes, halved

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons cold water

Brown meat in oil in the pressure cooker. Add the salt, pepper, onion, broth, and 1/2 cup water. Cover and bring to full pressure. When steam appears, reduce heat to low and cook for 25 minutes. Reduce pressure completely and add the carrots and potatoes. Cover and simmer (not under pressure) for 20 minutes, until tender. Remove meat and vegetables with a slotted spoon and skim off excess fat.

Combine flour and 2 tablespoons water until smooth; stir into the simmering brother. Continue simmer, stirring, until broth is thickened.

Here it is, January 9th, and I've yet to properly blog about Christmas or New Year's or resolutions, or anything - so I'll try to cover it all quickly. The kids got here on Christmas Day in time to enjoy a late beef tenderloin dinner. Our dear neighbors also joined us for the meal. Later, we played some cards. Here's a picture of Lindsey, trying out the new chair in the library....

...And here's Rob in the church pew...where he belongs.

One of my gifts was the publication of season II of this blog, Bob and Big Lou, Livin' the Dream. I just love it.









Bob and I went up to Shipshewana's Ice Festival and watched the ice carving competition. It was a pretty warm day and they were definitely struggling with some of their artwork.


I believe they must have commissioned one of the artists to do this grand piano, and the nativity below, as they weren not part of the competition.












This dragon got third place.












And here I am, posing with an ice nativity.















On New Year's Day (we did nothing on New Year's Eve) we went down to Bub's Burgers and Ice Cream in Carmel with Brent and Lindsey. We were anxious to sample one of Bub's Big Ugly Burgers that was featured on Man Vs. Food. The Big Ugly starts out as 22 ounces of ground beef, but it cooks down to about 16. If you eat one, you get your picture on their wall - two, a larger picture - three, even bigger - four, a life-sized cardboard cut-out of your own bad self. Adam Richman, the host on Man Vs. Food, vowed to eat four of the Big Uglies when he visited Bubs last summer, but he only managed to conquer two and one quarter of a third B.U. On the show they said that a stick of melted butter was brushed on the buns of each burger.


Well, Brent already had his picture on the wall. He ate one and considered taking on another. He was pretty sure he could do it, but didn't really want to. Bob ordered one and cut it into fourths and I enjoyed one. Very tasty, but I doubted that a stick of butter was on the bun. We asked the young waitress who agreed with us. She thought they just brushed the bun with melted butter. So, I don't know if they just did that to Adam's burgers when he was in their establishment, or if there was some embellishing done or what, but anyway, it was a really good burger, considering its size.





I'm not making any resolutions this year, but I, and the ladies in my step class (Step Sisters) have (once again) taken on the Big Loser Weight-Loss Challenge. We've all weighed in and we all have our goals. We'll weigh in each week for eleven weeks. The competition will end the week before spring break in March.


Speaking of weight loss, Maddie, the Amazing Barking Dog has really been enjoying the Good Dog Cookies she got from Santa. She could use a little exercise herself, but then, she is getting up there in years - she celebrated her 11th birthday over the holidays.









Recipe of the Week: Is for Maddie's Good Dog Cookies. Enjoy.


Good Dog Cookies

2 & 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup nonfat dry milk

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup oil

2 beef bouillon cubes

3/4 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Dissolve bouillon cubes in boiling water and allow to cool. Combine the flour, dry milk, egg, oil, beef broth, and brown sugar. Mix well and knead dough for about 1 minute.
Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut out bones. Bake on a cookie sheet for 30 minutes.

Book Babes Make Merry in Hickory Hill Hood - Here are just a few pics from the Book Babe Christmas Dinner held here on the 22nd of December: Since we were having sixteen for dinner, we needed to extend the table, and as luck would have it, Rural King was having a sale, so we purchased a six foot table to add on to our existing one.

Here's a shot of the Babes and their menfolk from one end of the table....

...and from the opposite end

After dinner, we played "Two Truths and a Lie," and Fred was the winner.

Great nephew, Landon, insisted that he saw a man dressed in a Santa suit in the backyard when they arrived at Maw-Maw's on the Sunday before Christmas. He was right. Landon was not intimidated by the "man dressed in the Santa suit" at all and he talked his ear off, telling him what he wanted for Christmas and what he had already received, and commenting on upcoming sporting events and North Korea's nuclear ambitions.






Little brother, Grant, (the G-Man) didn't mind having a sit-on-Santa, either.......

...and neither did the Tiny Terrierist, Bonnie the Barbarian

Merry Christmas Blog Readers! We, like most of you, have been busy with holiday visiting and merry-making. I ended up ringing the Salvation Army Bell on Christmas Eve, in fact, I was the last ringer of the season. The store was crowded and people were generous. I chased one man outside because his milk had fallen off the bottom of his cart and he gave me a hug right there in the parking lot. Anyway, I was having a good time and didn't even want to stop, but Skip came to pick up the bucket and close up shop, so I went home and baked dog cookies for The Amazing Barking Dog and The Barbarian, and they seemed to really like them. More Christmas info to come......

I rang the Salvation Army Bell with Santa this afternoon at Wal-mart. Mercy me, was it cold and windy outside. Bell-ringing volunteers who have little kids with them always rake in a lot of dough. I don't have any small children to help me, so I thought the next best thing might be to ring with Santa. We also gave out Tootsie Roll Pops to the kiddos. It was cold, but it was fun, and Santa got some hugs

This is the "quiet bell" I made last year, so I wouldn't irritate anybody inside the store. I used it this afternoon to push the folding money down into the kettle, and to occasionally smack Santa on the behind.

Here are a couple of photos from Thanksgiving.

The table, set and ready...

...The guests at the table, Brent, Lindsey, Rob, Bobalicious, Jeff, Lori, Baleigh, and Maw-Maw. We ate, we played cards, we Black-Friday shopped.

Recipe of the Week:

Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 medium Spanish onion (I used a plain yellow onion - did not see any onions from sunny Spain)

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour

7 cups chicken brother, homemade or low-sodium canned

3 sprigs parsley

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 & 3/4 cup chopped chicken

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 & 1/2 teaspoons dry sherry

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook, covered, stirring occasionally until soft, about 12 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes more.

Pour in the broth and and bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Tie the parsley sprigs, thyme, and bay leaf together with kitchen twine and add to the soup. Lower the heat ans simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in the chicken and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Whisk the heavy cream, sherry, and salt into the soup and season with pepper to taste. Remove and discard the herb bundle. Divide in bowls and sprinkle the top of each with the flat-leaf parsley.

Here's an interesting tidbit, dear blog readers: About three weeks ago, a producer from the Oprah Winfrey Show called one of the Book Babes (Megan, who had written her a funny letter back in August) and asked for information about our book group. She wanted us to send a photo, a group biography and individual ones, as well. She also asked if any of us had read the book, Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen. Well, we sent everything they asked for and then we ran out and bought that book and started reading it, but....we haven't heard anything back from them. They discuss the book on the December 6th show, so.....I guess the Book Babes won't be on that day.

We meet on Thursday night to discuss our scheduled book, The Glass Castle, and probably the book, Freedom, and also, most likely, reasons why Oprah has not gotten back to us.