Chewbacca Eats Ewoks

 Here’s a short quiz. 

When is the best time to clean and organize a garage and install a doggie door? 

A.  When it's warm outside and the sun is shining brightly.

B.  When you've recently had three inches of snow, the temperature is 21 and the wind chill is seven.

You’re sure?  A is your final answer?  Wrong!  The correct answer is B.   

 

Where’s the challenge in picking up nails, screws and tiny bits of wood if you can actually feel your fingers?  Why would you want to risk damage to your flip flop exposed toes when you can protect them with heavy wool socks and clown-sized insulated boots?  Besides, leaning over a door held up by an cabinet part on one end and a wooden table on the other, as I pressed down on the doggie door with frozen hands so Dean could mark exactly where the screw holes needed to be drilled, all the while not allowing any snot to plop onto the surface, well, that was a triumph which could never have been achieved if it was warm outside.

Okay, since you’re feeling so bad you chose the wrong answer above, here’s another chance.  This one should be a no-brainer for you. 

What’s the most common use for a chain-link dog kennel?

A.  To keep a dog inside.

B.  To keep a dog outside.

I’m shaking my head in disbelief.  You really chose A?  Again?  In a quiz from MY blog?  I really didn't think you'd fall for that photo.  Seriously.  You need to think these things through before you so rashly mark you answer.   

Holy cow!  I might be able to park in here!!

The answer is B.  Keep a dog outside.  Or, more specifically, keep a 60 pound puppy outside.  A puppy whose favorite pastime is chewing and whose favorite chew toy is wood, cardboard, stuffed animals, plastic milk jugs, plastic flower pots, paper, cardboard, kitty toys, sticks, grass,  weed barrier cloth pulled out from under gravel pathways, everything.  

In training.

 Alright.  Here’s your final chance to redeem yourself.

Who is the one being trained in the following photo?

A.  Angus

B.  Dean

Good job.  I knew you’d finally get one right.

 

 

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Chewbacca Eats Ewoks

Which Way To The Beach Boys?

I baked Pumpkin Apple Streusel muffins today because Angus has a bladder the size of a beach ball and Dean is clumsy.   

It didn't call for them but I added some walnuts to the recipe because I add nuts and raisins to just about everything I bake.  I'm not sure why I didn't add raisins to these muffins. I'm still trying to figure out why I didn't.  I hope that doesn't mean I'm getting sick.  Sometimes illness can cause bizarre behavior.  Like not adding raisins.  

I don’t usually put the streusel on top of muffins when I bake them because I’m lazy that part is usually filled with calories and fat.  But I added it this time because when I added nuts to the batter I let myself pretend like I was baking something healthy.  Mmmm....that streusel was well worth adding.  Dean actually said “tasty!”  

 Here’s the recipe if you want to give them a try.

PUMPKIN APPLE STREUSEL MUFFINS

2 ½ cup all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon pumpkin spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup pumpkin

½ cup vegetable oil

2 cups peeled, finely chopped apples

Streusel Topping

In large bowl, combine the first five ingredients; set aside.  In medium bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin and oil.  Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients; stir just until moistened.  Stir in apples.  Spoon batter into greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling ¾ full.  Sprinkle Streusel Topping over batter.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Serves 24.

Streusel Topping:    In small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, ¼ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon.  Cut in 4 teaspoons butter until mixture is crumbly.

I could have said I baked them because I had four halves of baked pie pumpkins in my kitchen, a basket filled with apples generously shared by a co-worker, and I had an extra hour of time to fill.  I wouldn’t have been lying.  Those reasons did figure somewhat in to my decision to bake this afternoon.  But in addition to the two reasons I previously stated, the ultimate reason I chose to bake muffins today was because I mopped my floors yesterday.  I mopped two bedrooms, a den, a kitchen, two bathrooms, a living room and a dining area.  Gosh, it feels so good to have a clean house.

An hour after I’d finished mopping, Dean dropped our container of kitchen scraps onto my freshly mopped kitchen floor.  It holds about half a gallon and was about half full of rotting apple peels, onion skins, pepper seeds, tomato parts, coffee grounds, and other future compost garbage.  He was not happy.  I knew he wasn't happy because I heard him very distinctly ― over the sound of my vacuuming ― yell something I probably shouldn't write.   I think the neighbors heard too.

A couple of hours after that, while Angus was chomping down his dinner, apparently he heard the call of nature.  One second he was intently emptying his bowl and I was blithely filling the dishwasher, and the next second he had unobtrusively left headwaters next to my foot.   Dean and I followed the trail of the river which meandered around the kitchen, the living room and the front entryway.  I was torn between disappointment that Angus didn't let us know he needed to go out, and pride  in his ability to do more than one thing at a time even though he's a male ― chomp, walk and piddle. 

While Dean grabbed a towel and started wiping, I grabbed Angus and headed outside intending to return immediately and help with the cleanup.  I didn’t think there could be anything left in the boy since he had already left a river in the house but I didn’t want to take any chances.  Ho ~ ly cow was I wrong.  The peeing continued outside for a solid 45 seconds.  He did his best to turn our house into lake-front property.

So that’s why I baked muffins this afternoon.   Within approximately three hours after I had mopped all the floors, they had been covered in kitchen waste and dog urine.  I sometimes drop a bit of flour on the floor when I’m baking but after yesterday, I figured I could dump a whole bowl of batter and it wouldn’t much matter. 

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Which Way To The Beach Boys?