Meet DoD MWD Nnicholas

Good Monday Morning readers!

My Monday was a tad bit more difficult than most today. On Friday, we got to meet our DoD Military Working Dog Foster Nnicholas - two n's not a typo! He is a Belgian Malinois puppy about nine weeks old and you know, puppies are cute... as seen in the picture below of Nnicholas.

Nnicholas learning how to "sit".

So he's pretty cute and looks so innocent, but boy do you forget how annoying puppies can be at this age! Constantly crying and barking throughout the night, peeing all over the place, making messes, tearing things up... he is getting the hang of that word, "no", though! He knows when I have a water bottle in my hand that if he tries to eat my shoes he gets a nice shot of water in his face! He kind of looks at me now as he wanders over to my shoes and sneaks a look up like "maybe if I move slow she won't see me!"

He's a quick learner, though. Except for the sleep through the night thing. That's annoying. First night = 0 sleep. Second night = 5.5 hours of sleep before he was up for good. Last night = All in all about 7 hours I suppose... I woke up every three to let him outside and he STILL made a mess when he came back inside. He's catching on, I think. He knows his own little spot in the yard now. Plus, he caught on to the sit command quick!

Our dogs don't like him very much... I think they are still on the side of "he's annoying".

Looking glum because the other dogs don't like him. Poor puppy.

He'll be joining us for Thanksgiving, so maybe I'll mix him up a special recipe so he can have a Happy Thanksgiving too!

Thanksgiving Food Plans

So, if you know me, you know I am totally obsessed with the holiday season - starting from Thanksgiving and lasting until New Years, that's approximately my favorite time period of the entire year. Halloween... meh. Not so much. But I LOVE everything after that. It means pumpkin everything, cranberry sauce, and tons of other delicious food. So, with Thanksgiving next week, I figured I'd start early with my planning! I've already got my menu planned out. It will be my very first Thanksgiving hosted for a large group! Exciting!! I have about nine people on the guest list - quite a jump up from my previous record of four. If you count our dogs that makes 11 this year, though. ;)

So, what do I make for Thanksgiving?

First we start with delicious appetizers which incorporate my absolute favorite home-made cranberry sauce.

Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce.

If I had it my way, I would definitely put that cranberry sauce inside the bread with the cheese like this person did, but unfortunately, Steven has a thing against fruity tasting things that aren't really fruit. So, I put it as a side and pretty much hog it all to myself because it's so good. 

Homemade Cranberry Sauce.

I don't play nice with canned cranberry sauce. I think it's fake and gross. So, I make my own, which I learned to do from my mother, actually! These pictures are definitely not taken by me, because I'm bad at taking pictures of food, but it gives you a general idea of what I'm making AND it probably makes you hungry, like me. 

Wine.

This is so necessary for our newly formed family that it counts as an appetizer. And side. And probably dessert. Just kidding, we're not alcoholics, we just enjoy our wine.... and can't wait to tour Italy tasting some more one day!

Turkey.

By the way, ours never looks this good when we serve it. We value taste instead of presentation on this one, so we usually shred it and cook it in the juices toward the end of the cook time to ensure delicious, moist turkey that is easily grabbed out of the pan for dinner.

Mashed Potatoes.

I do enjoy spicing up my mashed potatoes with unhealthy things like cheese, Italian dressing, more cheese, and chives. It's so good and Thanksgiving is one day a year! I can work out tomorrow......

Green Beans

Fresh of course - I vary the recipe from year to year, but in the past I've done a lemon almond pan fry, asian inspiration, and this year the lemon/dill combo is looking appetizing!

Sweet Potato Casserole.

Marshmallows are vital. This is also one I try to hoard to myself on my side of the table. And I'll probably hide half of it in the kitchen too so I can say, "Oh no! We're out?" >:)

Bread.

Everyone likes bread. If you don't, that just means I can eat more of it. 

Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving staple in my life - did you know that it apparently helps with depression? I'm pretty sure I read that in some form of research somewhere... see? It's healthy. 

Vanilla Pudding with Nilla Wafers

Ok. Minus those gross bananas (I hate bananas). I get to use my brand spankin' new trifle dish for the first time since our wedding! Yes! And people will get to see it? Even better. 

Mystery Dessert #1

What will it be? Stay tuned to find out - even I don't know yet.... 

Possibility of Mystery Dessert #2

Yeah... I like dessert. 

So, I suppose you could also stay tuned for how my own pictures turn out - I'm sure they won't look nearly as appetizing as these staged ones do! I'll try my best. Have a wonderful pre-Thanksgiving week!

Well Hello Again - Time for Salmon

I am a terrible food blogger... Jeeze. I just want to apologize for how terrible I am at this! I'm starting up a new handmade invitation company in the San Antonio area with my new husband, Steven, and it has consumed my life! 

Our company's name is Wildflowers and Lace Invitations and we have our own little blog that keeps up with our progress. One day we hope to have some informational videos as well on how to operate some paper crafting machines, how to make things, DIY kits, etc. We aim to do great, personalized work for anyone who is having a major event coming up! We specialize in weddings, but do many other events too! We've been keeping busy with that and the orders that have come in, but I wanted to take a side note and update this here blog about a nice, easy meal that I have learned to cook ALL BY MYSELF! That's right - NO RECIPE! Ha! It's become a nice newlywed staple for me when we want to have a nice meal.

It involves salmon.

And two bread pans.

And a fun foil boat.

So, to start off with - I'll show you a picture of how it turns out:

This is so delicious too. That's why it's close up... because it's that delicious.

So here is what you'll need tool wise:

1. Two bread pans (or baking pans- just anything that will hold foil boats and any leaking juices really)

2. Nonstick foil

3. Bowl for your delicious homemade sauce

4. A spoon for spooning that delicious sauce over the salmon.

And here is what you'll need ingredient wise:

1. Two salmon fillets or steaks - I've been making it lately with those huge fillets sold at our local restaurant HEB - probably about 6-7" long and 4 1/2-5" wide... I know I should be giving you ounces but hey I'm at work and I judge sizes with my eyes, not the spare food scale I carry around in my purse..... Steven eats a lot so I go with big salmon fillets!

2. 2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise

3. 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

4. 2 TbspWorcestershire Sauce

5. 1 tsp dried Basil

6. 2 cloves Garlic, squished flat

7. 1 Tbsp dried Parsley

8. 6 Tbsp. Olive Oil + extra for the bottom

10. 1 tsp pepper

Preheat your oven to 375.

In that bowl, mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, pepper, basil, and parsley and mix well with a fork to make a delicious baking sauce. It will probably won't look the smoothest, but it will taste great.

In your two bread pans (I use glass bread pans), line the bottom and sides with your nonstick foil, leaving a little extra over the top to seal it all up when you're done with the salmon seasoning. You are building a foil boat for your salmon.

Then, pour a little extra olive oil in the bottom of each foil boat and place your fillets in each boat - one per boat. In the extra olive oil in the bottom, place one squished garlic clove in each boat. Then, spoon your homemade sauce over each salmon fillet, making sure all of your salmon gets to sit in a little sauce! Seal those foil boats up, and bake for about 45-55 min. depending on the size of your salmon fillets. 

You will know your fillets are ready when they flake easily with a fork - some of the most tender and delicious salmon I've had! 

To pair with this salmon, I usually fix Basmati rice and a nice vegetable - usually summer squash, zucchini, or asparagus cooked with a little splash of lemon as well. They work pretty nice together. Healthy, tasty, and pretty easy actually. You don't even have to baste it while it's baking - put those little guys in the oven and watch a show! 

Hope you can all enjoy some delicious salmon sometime soon. See you next time!