Paula Deen's Grilled Apple, Bacon, and Cheddar Sandwich with Roasted Red Onion Mayo

Wow, that title is a mouthful, isn't it? How 'bout just Grilled Cheese?

Okay, I realize that to call this simply a grilled cheese sandwich is a bit like calling Multi BIS/Ch. Chudrinka's Dance In The Wind SDX by the name Breezy. But that's a really long name for a sandwich. Even it's acronym, PD's GABCSRROM, doesn't work. So, grilled cheese it is. Albeit a more flavorful, filling, delicious grown up version of your basic grilled cheese sandwich that Big pup lives on. But whatever you call it, it is heavenly.

2 slices thick cut sourdough or another hearty bread (I used wheat)
4 slices thick cut bacon, cooked crisp
4 slices of cheddar cheese
1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored, sliced thin
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup of mayo
salt and pepper
butter

Toss onion, oil, salt and pepper together on small rimmed baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove, let cool. Transfer to a blender, add mayo and pulse till smooth and creamy.

Heat skillet over medium heat. Spread 1 slice of bread with red onion mayo, top with 2 slices of cheddar, then the bacon, next the apple slices, the rest of the cheddar, finishing with another slice of bread that's been slathered with red onion mayo. Butter the outside of each slice of bread and add to the hot skillet. It's easier to build this sandwich in the skillet.

Happy 67th Birthday Daddy!

See that little boy in the middle? He grew up to be the exact opposite of a lazy dog. He knows everything and can do anything. He does have one peculiar trait that I'm glad I didn't inherit though: he doesn't like sweets. Imagine never knowing the joy of chocolate cake topped with chocolate cool whip and crushed oreos. No, that's a world I'd rather not live in, thank you very much.


When he was growing up in the 1940's and '50's, all the kids at school had to eat all the food on their plates before they could leave the lunchroom. Including dessert. And as much as he hated to, the teacher would always make him finish his dessert. Then he would go outside and throw it up. And it's not just desserts he doesn't like, it's anything with a hint of sweetness to it, like spaghetti/tomato sauce or barbeque sauce. He can tolerate an ice cream sandwich, though. But only half. Half. I could eat 3. In the bathroom. With the lights out. I have dessert issues, too.

Atlanta

A Nascar pit crew can change 4 tires in under 15 seconds. Do you know how long it takes Walmart to change 4 tires? 6 hours! WD and I learned that very expensive lesson Sunday. But onto more pleasant news....

To commemorate Jeff Gordon's Cup debut at Atlanta 15 years ago, he delivered the "Gentlemen, start your engines" command which I thought was a very cool idea. I wish he had put a little more passion into it though. Remember Matthew McConaughey 's delivery? Just like that. Although, anything is better than when they get the ceo of the company that sponsors the race. Boring.

Richard Petty starts the race waving the green flag and loses his hat in the process. It sat on the frontstretch for awhile but they didn't even let him wave a yellow for debris on the track. Go figure.

I did not have access to Elliott Sadler's in car audio yesterday but he must've had a good car. He started 10th and finished 14th. At one point he had dropped to the 33rd position and I figured it would be another one of those races. I was very happy to see him finish so well. I would have been happier if he had gotten some TV time. Maybe next year...

Another exciting finish. Denny Hamlin gambled on staying out during a caution with 10 laps to go but lost. He ran out of gas on the restart and caused a mass of cars to jumble up which took out leaders Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch. The race ended under yellow as Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s tire came off which sent him into the wall hard. It looked bad but he climbed out okay. No bow this time, though.

Jimmie Johnson gets the win, Mark Martin gets the Red Lantern, and we're in Texas next Sunday. And this time I mean that literally--WD and I are headed to the Lone Star state this weekend!

Five Dollars Richer

When I was kid, I hated when a tooth would come loose. My mother was always on me about pulling it as soon as possible so the new tooth would come in straight. I was always afraid it would hurt so I never reached in there and yanked one out. At least not for a quarter. I do remember one time Angie and I tied one end of a string around our cousin Ginger's loose tooth and the other end of the string around a door knob. Then we shut the door. Nothing happened. The string kept slipping off her tooth. I hope the pups have Ginger's brave attitude instead of my fearful one.


The other night as I tucked the pups into bed I decided to introduce the whole concept of loosing teeth and the tooth fairy. I don't think I've ever discussed it with Big pup and since he's approaching 6 I thought it would be good idea to give him a heads up before teeth start Falling! Out! Of! His! Mouth! He took the news well, especially when he learned there was money involved. I wonder, what's the going rate for teeth these days?

Happy 88th Birthday Granny H!

This is a picture of my grandmother, Edna, taken in 1944 with her husband and 2 (of 3) pups. Just 25 years old with 3 kids and a husband in the war. Know what I was doing when I was 25? Sleeping till noon on Saturdays, eating dozens of blueberry muffins slathered with butter, catching up on a weeks worth of Days of Our Lives on the vcr. Yep. It was rough.

The other day we were sitting on her front porch, watching Little pup play with the kittens, when she started telling stories of what it was like growing up in the 1920's and 30's. I learned how they stored their meat in a smokehouse while the milk was lowered down into a well to keep cool. And although she enjoyed churning butter, making soap was her least favorite of all the chores. They raised cattle and hogs for meat, chickens for meat and eggs, grew all their vegetables and fruit. Occasionally, they would hitch up Jeff (their favorite horse) to the wagon and head to Bangert's store where they would trade or sell some of their goods for things like sugar or flour.

But my favorite story and Granny's favorite memory involved doughnuts. Every once in a while, Granny's mother would make a huge batch of yeast doughnuts that filled a dishpan right up to the top. Granny, her 4 brothers, and all the kids in the neighborhood got together and ate doughnuts, drank lemonade, and played games. And by the end of the day, the dishpan would be empty.

Mmmm...doughnuts. Yeast doughnuts. Light, airy, Krispy Kreme-like doughnuts. Which, by the way, was founded in 1937. But to hear Granny talk, Vernon Rudolph had nothing on her momma's doughnuts. And although I don't have her exact recipe (I believe it involved the use of hog lard), here's one that's a Krispy Kreme knock off that sounds pretty good. Someone needs to fix me up a dishpan full of these!

Happy 8th Birthday Lexie!

Early 2000, I started searching the internet to find another Siberian Husky. As people with dogs know, they are like potato chips, you can't have just one. Plus, Howard was almost 2 years old and needed a playmate. We didn't check the newspaper for breeders. We had done that with Howard and had since learned more about the unethical business of "backyard breeders." With so many unwanted dogs in shelters and rescue groups, we were sure there was a young, red and white, female Siberian out there just for us. Unfortunately, searching Arkansas' shelter websites left us empty handed, so I decided to check out some Siberian Husky rescue groups in the surrounding states.

One such group, Husky Haven, is located in Houston, Texas which was about an 8 hour drive from where we were living. I didn't think it was too far to drive for a dog so I clicked on their website and there she was! A 4 month old, red and white, female named Sadie. I immediately sent them an email. Several days passed and finally, on Valentine's Day we got a call telling us to come on down and get her. So the very next day we drove to Houston and I was in heaven. Huskies everywhere! I kept saying to WD, "she's perfect! she's so perfect!" We brought her back to Arkansas, changed her name to Lexie (after the wrestler Lex Lugar), and she quickly adapted to our family, letting Howard know early on that she's the head Siberian.

A couple of month's after we brought her home, I sent a letter on Lexie's behalf to HuskyHaven. It's towards the end of the page--8th from the bottom. It brings back a lot of memories. And although I don't spend as much time with her as I did before I had children, I still think she's perfect.

Big Pup's Big Break

This is the story of how Big pup broke his arm. Aka DHS case #571124.


Saturday night (10-13-07) we were just sitting around, flipping channels, watching Elliott Sadler lose on ABC and watching Arkansas lose on ESPN. The pups weren't interested in either one. They wanted to wrestle. So WD obliged. As WD and Little pup wrestled on the floor, Big pup decided to jump over WD. 1st jump? No problem. 2nd, 3rd, 4th jump? Still no problem. 5th jump? Big problem. Big pup didn't quite clear his daddy, tripped, fell, and landed awkwardly on his right arm. He immediately reached for his elbow and started crying. He was in a lot of pain. He held his arm close to him and had to be carried from couch to bed, bed to couch, all night. He woke up every hour and was popping grape Tylenols every 4 hours but nothing seemed to help.


Sunday morning he was still in pain and his arm was still swollen so we took him to the ER. We were hoping for just a really bad sprain but the x-rays showed a break at the elbow. More specifically, a type 2 supracondylar humerus fracture. He was actually very good. He cooperated with the nurses and didn't even cry when they wrapped his arm in a splint. I wish I could say I behaved as well as he did. I felt so lightheaded and thought I was going to be sick. The doctor had to move Big pup over so I could lie down next to him on the hospital bed. So embarrassing. The doctor turned to WD and said, "Don't you wish you had a picture of this?"


Monday morning we met with an orthopedic surgeon. He explained that because of where the break was at, 2 pins would have to be inserted to hold it in place for it to heal. Surgery was not what we were wanting to hear. It seemed like the news was getting worse and worse. We went from the orthopedic clinic to the hospital and completed the admittance paperwork and then we went to the Catholic church in that city and had the parish priest bless Big pup's arm.


Tuesday morning came quickly. We had to be there at 6 a.m. for surgery at 7:30 a.m. When we got there they put his hospital gown on, checked his temperature and heart rate, and gave him some very bad tasting medicine to relax him. And relax him it did. He was a little goofy and kept asking everyone their name. The nurses were very nice and gave him a toy monkey to take home.


At 7:30 a.m. they wheeled him into the OR, but not before I gave him about 5 kisses--he said he wanted a million (awwwww!) The procedure didn't take long at all and it wasn't long before they were wheeling him back into his room. They wanted us to go ahead and start trying to wake him up but he was out like a light. Eventually, he started coming around and they brought him some Sprite. He did get a little upset when he saw his other arm was wrapped up too and said "They gave me 2 casts?!" Actually, it was holding his IV in place. The nurse removed it and we got him dressed and said our goodbyes. He slept on the couch the rest of the day, waking late in the evening for ramen noodles, sprite, and pain medications.


Wednesday, he was up and around, playing with toys, even making a trip with WD to pick up his homework from school.


Thursday, he went back to school and everything is back to normal. Thank goodness. It was a long week!

Martinsville

Well, let's hope that this week is less hectic and eventful than last week. And let's hope that Elliott Sadler can recover from his dismal finish at Charlotte with a top 10 at Martinsville! Okay, that may be too much to hope for. How about a top 20? Again, too much. Top 30? Uh....no. Elliott finished 40th. He started in 14th position and ran good until lap 90 (of 500). His teammate, Scott Riggs, ran into him and sent him to the garage for repairs. When Elliott finally made it back on the track he was over 100 laps down with no way of catching up.


This race set a record for yellow flags. There were 21 cautions and I think Martin Truex, Jr. was involved in all of them. Okay, maybe only 5, directly, but still, that's a lot for 1 driver.



Now for a few questions:
Does Jimmie Johnson get tired of winning all the time?
Does Clint Bowyer ever get mad?
Does Rusty Wallace ever get tired of talking about how great a racecar driver he was?
Does anyone really order raisins instead of chips at Subway?
Does anyone watch Caveman on ABC?


Jimmie Johnson gets the win, Aric Almirola gets the Red Lantern, and we're in Atlanta next Sunday.

Little pup had another bout with croup last night. It lasted from around 2-4 a.m. Is it wrong that I'm so tired of buying medicine I didn't get his prescription filled? We alternated between steam, the humidifier, and sprite.
Big pup did great in school yesterday and we're all looking forward to today. TGIF!

When it rains it pours....
Little pup woke up late last night crying, coughing, and wheezing. It sounded like the croup because it was more like barking than coughing but we wanted to be sure so WD took him to the ER last night. They confirmed that it was the croup and gave him some medicine that would help clear his airway. He finally went to sleep around 2 a.m.
Big pup seemed in such good spirits yesterday that we're going to try going to school today. We will see how that goes...

Big pup is doing much better today. He finished his pancakes this morning, took his medicine, and has been up and playing with trains, cars, and video games. I think he'll go back to school tomorrow. Thanks for all the well wishes!

No cast yesterday. Big pup's having arm surgery this morning to insert a couple of pins to hold everything in place. Poor Big pup....

Charlotte

What a weekend we've had here at the home of the lazy dog. Little pup and I both are sick and Big pup broke his arm Saturday night. We have an appointment at 8:30 this morning for him to get a cast. I'll try and get some pictures up tomorrow.



So, needless to say, there's not much of a Nascar report this morning. Elliott Sadler started 16th and ran terribly throughout the whole race. He crashed on lap 175 (of 337) and spent a lot of time off the track for repairs. He ended up finishing 41st. By the way, what was up with turn 4? It would be interesting to know how many cars were taken out by that turn. And, I may have mentioned this before but doesn't it seem that ever since Tony Stewart and ESPN had their little spat, Stewart isn't getting very much air time these days?

Jeff Gordon gets the win, Ward Burton gets the Red Lantern, and we're in Martinsville next Sunday.

Wake Up!

Good morning! It's Poetry Friday! Last week I wrote ad nauseam about the moon. Now let's talk a little about the sun shall we? Today's poem is A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island by Frank O'Hara. I've always loved this poem. It's so light and fun and then it takes a turn at the end and becomes dark, ominous, and mysterious. I just love it when poems do that. There is a bit of controversy surrounding the authorship of this poem. Some find it a little too prophetic at the end. You see, poor Frank was run down by a dune buggy at Fire Island and this poem was found after his death. So while most do attribute it to O'Hara, some think that it might have been penned by Kenneth Koch. However, if you ask me, it has Christopher Marlowe written all over it.

A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island by Frank O'Hara

A Sad Clown

See this clown? He's not happy. Look past those floppy shoes, that big, red nose, the cartoonish clothes and make up and you'll find one disgruntled clown. I'm guessing he's 30% Bozo, 30 % Emmett Kelly, 25 % Homey, and 15% Pennywise. Sunday, as we stood in line for the circus, he went up and down the line juggling and twirling his hat for the kids. In the meantime, he was complaining to any adult that would listen how they're being worked too hard, they had to travel 150 miles in 1 week, it's too hot, they can't set up the bleachers in time for the first performance, he has to share a dressing room with the poodles. Okay, I made that last one up. Everything else? True story.



The circus got mixed reviews by the pups. Big pup really enjoyed it, anytime he gets cotton candy is a good time. Little pup did not like it at all. He thought everything--the animals, the acrobats, the clowns--was very scary. So, of course, I forced him to have his picture made with a clown. I'm sure I've scarred him for life.

Sick As A Dog

Big pup has the flu. Wow, that kid can vomit. He's always thrown up at the drop of a hat though. Little pup, on the other hand, has never, ever thrown up. Food coming out of his mouth? It just goes against everything he believes in. So, we're all suffering from a lack of sleep here. And a lack of creativity as well. Hence, another post of text messages.

I'm full of butter and not in a good way.

Sadler is leading!

The ops manager stabbed himself in the nose with a screwdriver.

Free range organic eggs. 3.26. Got em.

Centurytel. A thousand curses!!!

I was selected for a pee test but they didn't tell me until I came out of the restroom.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Before you click on the video, a story...

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I recently had a panic attack. It was late at night, I was by myself, Spanglish was on TV, and all of a sudden, I started getting those first little feelings of an attack: a feeling of uneasiness, the pressure building up in my head, my heart rate starting to rise. A lot of times I'm able to stop it at this point. Something as simple as a change of scenery can work for me. For example, if I'm inside, I go outside or if I'm reading a novel, I'll switch to a cookbook. If that doesn't work then I start feeling lightheaded, the anxiety increases, my throat feels like it's closing up, and my heart continues to beat faster and faster. This is when I call WD to talk me down. Unfortunately, that night he was dealing with something involving drunken Mexicans, a chihuahua, and a car threatening to fall off a mountain. So he didn't exactly have the tme to deal with his crazy wife. Eventually, the panic subsided and everything was back to normal.

I'm not sure what brought it on. Maybe it was the fact that I was all alone in the house late at night. Maybe it was watching Adam Sandler take on a dramatic role as a successfull chef. Who knows. As long as I don't have a heart condition like the guy in the video. Roll tape.

Talladega

The good thing about pre-race shows for Talladega is that you can always count on an interview with Elliott Sadler talking about his crash/flip/wreck that happened there in 2003. The bad thing about pre-race shows for Talladega is having to watch footage of his crash/flip/wreck. Scary.


Michael Waltrip is on the pole! Happy face! And leads only 1 lap. Sad face. He actually ends up leading a few more laps throughout the race. Oh, here's a funny story about him. We saw him at the track in Texas a couple of years ago and he was surrounded by several scantily clad buxom women and I said to WD, "Michael Waltrip is such a big star he doesn't need those girls around him to bring in fans." WD looked at me for a few seconds and finally said, "You do know those are the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, right?" Um, whatever, he still didn't need them.


Back to Elliott. He starts 10th, leads some laps, and does good. Really good. Until the "Big One" at lap 145. He runs over some debris and starts to struggle. Late in the race, Waltrip blows a tire and takes out Elliott. His day is done and he finishes 24th. (Talladega ends up taking 18 cars out of the race).


With only a few laps left there was a line of Dodges on the outside led by Ryan Newman and a line of Chevrolets on the inside led by Jimmie Johnson. Will it be Newman or Johnson? Neither! Jeff Gordon passes Johnson on the final lap and takes the checkered flag. He also takes a lot of trash thrown at him from the stands.


Jeff Gordon gets the win, Jeff Burton gets the Red Lantern, and we're in Charlotte on Saturday night.

Meow!

Speaking of moons...again...

I can remember back in college, sitting in a poetry class not paying attention to the lecture, thinking about....I don't know, whatever 19 year olds think about. Stuff? Anyway, I suddenly realize that the lecture had stopped and everything was quiet. I looked up from my notebook and saw tears streaming down the professor's face. He had been reading a poem by William Butler Yeats. Yeats can do that to you. And you don't even have to be Irish, Catholic, or have 6 children with the surname Murphy, but it doesn't hurt. Today's poem is called The Cat and the Moon. And, for the love of all things Irish, do not tell Dr. Murphy this poem is in a Baby Einstein video. There's not enough Kleenex in the world for those kind of tears.

The cat went here and there.
And the moon spun round like a top,
And the nearest kin of the moon,
The creeping cat, looked up.
Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For, wander and wail as he would,
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood.
Minnaloushe runs in the grass
Lifing his delicate feet.
Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?
When two close kindred meet,
What better than call a dance?
Maybe the moon may learn.
Tired of that courtly fashion,
A new dance turn.
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
From moonlit place to place,
The sacred moon overhead
Has taken a new phase.
Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils
Will pass from change to change,
And that from round to crescent,
From crescent to round they range?
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
Alone, important and wise,
And lifts to the changing moon
His changing eyes.

Greek Spinach Bake

Now it's time for one of Little pup's favorite side dishes. He's such a good eater. Spinach, fish, fruit, froglegs. He eats just about anything. The other day he ate a whole can of corn for lunch. We call it "Dora Corn" because there's a huge picture of Dora the Explorer on the label. Genius! Thank you Green Giant! Now can someone please put a picture of cellulite on tubs of Cool Whip because I'm having some trouble losing these last 5 pounds. Okay, grab a pen and paper, here's the recipe:

3 eggs
2 - 10 oz boxes of frozen spinach (thaw, squeeze out excess water but leave a little moisture)
8 oz reduced fat feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp dill
2 tsp minced garlic

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together. Pour into a 2 quart baking dish that's been coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, uncovered. If I have any on hand I'll sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top before it goes in the oven.

And, you know, spinach is very good for you. It's high in folic acid which plays an important role in preventing heart disease, stroke, and ensuring proper fetal development (I'm looking at you, Kristina!). Enjoy!

Camera Tossing

Speaking of moons....

Last week, after I put the pups to bed, I took my camera outside to take a few pictures of the full moon (100% full!). It was huge, white, and splotchy. Kind of like me when I was pregnant. But I digress. I took about 5 or 6 shots but it wasn't coming out right. Too blurry. Subject too small. It just wasn't working. So I decided to do a little camera tossing. Well, not so much tossing really, more like waving it around a bit. Ryan Gallagher is credited with creating this technique and has instructions on his site http://cameratoss.blogspot.com/. Basically, you set your camera at a slow shutter speed, point it at a light source, and press the shutter while tossing (or waving) your camera.


The picture above is a collage of the moon pics I took that night. Definitely a first timer when compared to the stunning shots from the camera toss group at flickr. They'd probably look down on a measly camera waver like me. Maybe they'd let me join their group if I passed out recharged batteries and Gatorade?

61% Full

So I've got igoogle set up as my homepage on the computer. I put a few practical things on there like the weather, the date and time, and a couple of news sites. Then there's my celebrity and cooking sites, People and Betty Crocker. Oh, and then there's Physics Today and Scientific American....what? It could happen. But the one that always catches the pups eyes is the phases of the moon module. Big pup is especially fond of it. Whenever he sees it, he'll say "Look, the moon is 85% full! That's big!" (or whatever the percentage is that day). It's become a pastime of ours. When we're outside in the evening he'll ask, "Mommy, what percent is the moon tonight?" And I'll just make up something off the top of my head--as usual when it comes to answering his questions. But lately I'm getting very close. He asked me the other night what percentage the moon was, I told him 95%. We came in and looked at the computer, it was 90%. So close. Then yesterday I was only off by 1%!

Okay, I'm looking at the moon right now and I'm guessing it's 55% full. I'm gonna check to see if I'm right....and then I'm gonna get a life.

Kansas

I was in Pine Bluff and Woodlawn, Arkansas this weekend so I didn't get a chance to watch Sunday's race. From what I read it sounded pretty exciting. Elliott Sadler finished 8th (? and !). So...maybe if I stop watching alltogether he will do better? Most articles described the race as "wild" and "controversial" so I will attempt to break down the controversy. Here's how the race ended, with 4 laps to go:

1. Juan Pablo Montoya blew a tire.
2. Caution came out.
3. No restart due to darkness.
4. Field was frozen.
5. Greg Biffle was leading so he got the win even though
Bowyer and Johnson
crossed the finish line before Biffle did.

Got that? Good. Now someone please email this post to Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson because they don't get it at all. As for the rest of the race: Home Depot has a potty mouth. The Clydesdales ran over Tony the Tiger and Kellogg's is not happy. Little Debbie caused a big wreck and took out a couple of chasers. Darn those Star Crunch Cosmic snacks. Trouble with a capital T, I tell ya.

Greg Biffle gets the win, Ryan Newman gets the Red Lantern, and next week we're in...wait for it...wait for it...TALLADEGA!