Puppy Preschool and Slammin' Shrimp Tacos

I have been so excited for the past two weeks. I signed Cooper up for puppy preschool and he starts tonight. The class is for puppies 8-16 weeks old. Cooper is 15 weeks. I hope they don't make him do too much leash walking because he hates it. It is like pulling a donkey, Frenchies are so stuborn. So two weeks ago I made Rob dinner and it was really easy and delicious so I thought I would share. I made Grilled Shrimp Tacos. You need corn tortillas, 2 lbs of shrimp, cabbage shredded, pico de gallo (they didn't have it so I bought storemade brucetta topping), a spicy sauce (I used chipotle dip but you can also buy Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch dressing) and shredded mexican blend cheese. I marninaded the shrimp in World Habors Mexican Style Fajita sauce, put them on skewers and Rob grilled them. You heat the corn tortillas in a dish towel in the microwave to make them soft then put in the spicy sauce, shrimp, cabbage, pico de gallo and a little shredded cheese. So good and so easy!!!

Big Trouble in Little Condo

I have been having a dilemma the past week. My 15 month old Frenchie Stains has been coming to work with me every day since Rob and I got her for Easter 2008. Well, last week my boss told me that his dog Rufus has a sore on the side of his face from Stains bitting his cheek. He asked that I get her a muzzle or no longer bring her to the office. She is now left home for 9 hours by herself, 5 days a week. Cooper also stays home but he is locked in the bathroom. I keep my bedroom door closed so they don't bark at each other through the baby gate. Well, yesterday Rob gets home and Stains has pulled our carpet up from the tacks by our front door. It looks horrible but I can't punish her because I know she did it out of boredom. I feel so bad about it, I don't want her to be upset! I was hoping once Rufus healed my boss would let her come back but yesterday he made me take her bed home. I am misserable! I don't like my dogs being sad but what can I do?

High School Reunion

My 10 year high school reunion is coming up in 6 months. I have been very excited to go to this event because I find it so interesting what people have done with their lives. I went onto the reunion website because they have a bio book that we are supposed to fill out to let people know what we are up to. I started to fill mine out but I had a moment out of Romey and Michelle's High School Reunion. If you haven't seen the movie these two girls get invited to their 10 year reunion but realise that their lives are boring and come up with this lie so their classmates don't think they are loser. Well, first it asked my occupation. I am an administrative assistant now but I am on the list for my county to become a 911 dispatcher. I am hoping that will be my career in the next 6 months. It asks about family. I have been with my boyfriend for 4 years this June with no ring on my finger. I want to go to the reunion a 911 dispatcher, engaged and 117 lb. I lost 30 lbs on Jenny Craig in 2007 but have since put 18 lb back on. This will be the easiest of the three goals. The other two are out of my hands. It is stupid because no one is going to think I am boring but on paper it feels that way. If they made a movie about it then I guess I am not the only one who feels that way.

Dog and Hog Blog

I am feeling a little depressed today. I am sure it is hormonal though. From the first day I got Stains I have brought her to work with me. As of Wednesday she has had to stay home because she is using my boss's dog as a chew toy and he has the scars to prove it. This morning when I left I put Cooper in the bathroom where he will stay when I am not home until he is potty trained. He was crying and I felt horrible. As I was putting my shoes on Stains was looking at me and looked really sad. I patted her on the head, gave her a kiss and walked out the door. When I drove past the house she was looking out the window to see where I went. That bummed me out even more. I still wish I could run a doggy daycare so I could spend all day every day with them. Last night Rob cooked dinner. We had hot wings, ribs and macaroni and cheese. It was really good. I wanted to post another of my favorite recipes. There is a restaurant in Brea, California called The Summit House. They have a recipe posted on their website that is one of the best ever, "Classic Creamed Corn au Gratin". Here is what you will need...

12 oz whipping cream
1 lb. Frozen Kernal Corn
1 1/2 T. melted butter
1 1/2 T. Flour
2 T. Sugar
Pinch White Pepper
3 T. Parmesan Cheese

Combine corn, cream, salt, sugar and white pepper in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes. Make roux from butter and flour, add to corn, mix well and remove from heat. Transfer corn mixture to casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and brown under broiler. Serves 6

This recipe is so unbelieveable. I make it for special occasions. Enjoy!

I should start out about introducing you to the two things in my life that bring me so much pleasure. The first is my 2 French Bulldogs: Stains and Cooper and the second is cooking. I graduated from culinary school in 2005 but I am too laid back for the fast paced careers of the food industry so I use my skills at home.
My Frenchies are very much like my kids. They are very demanding of my attention and I am consumed with guilt if I cannot provide that attention constantly. I was trying to decide what made me this way and there are three incidents that stick out in my mind. The first was when I went to the park with my Grandma and Grandpa as a kid. There was a duck pond and one of the ducks had a fish hook coming out of his neck. He was sitting on people's laps because the other ducks would violently attack him when he got near. I begged my grandpa to take him to the vet to get the hook removed but he refused. I was so mad at him. Then another time I was riding with my mom and we picked up two dogs that had been left to wander on the side of the road. We had them for 4 days but one was very aggressive and my mom worried about her bitting a neighbor or one of us so she brought them both to the pound. It broke both our hearts. The last was I had an irresonsible boyfriend who adopted a puppy from the pound and decided he didnt want him anymore and left him at the pound. These three incidents have made me want to give every future pet I get the best life they can possibly have. My Frenchies were not rescue dogs they are actually both from expensive pet stores but that doesn't mean they can't have all the love I can offer them. They sleep in bed with me and my boyfriend every night. They eat people food and have clothes and leather collers and go to the Bark Park. Maybe the love I give my two dogs makes the world a little better, or at least I like to think so.
In terms of cooking I like to expierement with different recipes but today I am going to talk about ribs that fall off the bone and are so delicious. I only use baby back ribs, I find spare ribs too fatty. I fill a stock pot with beer (usually Bud Light or Papps Blue Ribbon), water and chicken broth. I season the ribs with salt, pepper, garlic powder and chili powder and boil in the beer mixture for an hour. I then coat them with BBQ sauce (I like Q Teryaki BBQ sauce) and my boyfriend throws them on the grill on high just to make the outside crispy. They are so delicious and are even better if you make some macaroni and cheese. For the love of Frenchies and Southern BBQ, bye bye for now.