Darwin

A month and a half ago, I thought that our dog (who was recovering from surgery on his lower jaw) would be fine. But in late August, we realized that the wound wasn’t healing properly. A tissue analysis revealed, on September 4th, that it was cancer, most probably fibrosarcoma. A subsequent visit with an oncologist confirmed that even IF surgery were possible (to remove roughly ¾ of Darwin’s lower jaw), this would only prolong his life by about 12 months, and it’s rough recovering from that kind of surgery. There was no guarantee he’d learn how to eat by himself again, and obviously he wouldn’t have been able to play fetch or anything like that. So because there was no way to “cure” him or give him a decent lifespan, and his quality of life was compromised, we decided that the most humane thing to do was to wait it out, with pain meds and anti-inflammatories and antibiotics to make him more comfortable, until the time came that euthanasia was best. Darwin got treats daily and lots of visits to the dog park and doggie day care (his favorite activity was playing with other dogs). In a month, his tumor went from marble-sized to tennis-ball-sized, and it became bad enough that it was time. He passed away last Saturday, October 4th, peacefully. A wise friend of mine, who happens to be a veterinarian (and who was also consulted via email about Darwin’s condition) said that this is always a difficult decision, and that no matter what moment the owners choose to euthanize their pet, it will always seem like both too early and too late. We are of course saddened to have lost such a wonderful dog, especially one only 4.5 years old, but at the same time, we know how lucky we were to have him in our lives.

While we obviously profoundly miss Darwin, and I definitely get emotional when I let myself think about him, I notice his absence more at certain times of the day. Like when the Little Prince inquires as to his whereabouts (“Da! Oof, oof!”). Like after lunch, when Darwin is no longer there to clean up the floor underneath the high chair. Like when the Engineer comes home from work and the pitter-patter of little hands and knees is his only boisterous greeting committee, with nary a wagging tail or lolling tongue in sight. It’s so quiet those times. I’m considering getting a recording of a dog shaking himself and making his tags jingle, just to keep hearing that sound periodically! I admit I almost dread the next thunderstorm, when for once we will not have a dog trying to hide in the bathtub or the closet or behind our bed’s headboard (as annoying as that always was). We will most probably get another dog eventually, but not for a while. The silver lining is that next time we make our annual pilgrimage up to Canada, we’ll be able to make more stops on the way to visit places and *gasp!* eat lunch in sit-down restaurants. Also, I’ll no longer have tumbleweeds of dog hair lurking on the floor at the back of the pantry. It’s the little things I miss most often, and it’s fitting that it’s also the little things I can make myself look forward to.

Hipster apples and other recommendations

Hipster apples
I love apples. I mean, I’ve always liked apples, but these days, I LOVE apples. My favorite apples are very crisp, juicy and not too sweet (I want some tartness in there, so don’t give me a Red Delicious). I like Granny Smith and McIntosh, though those haven’t been good lately (skin too thick, borderline mealy, not too flavorful). The Galas are great, but I’ve started branching out and trying less common varieties, like Jazz and Piñata. My new favorite, though, I’ve nicknamed the hipster apple because... well, you’ve probably never heard of it. It’s called Envy. (Is it still hipster if it has its own website?) The skin is mostly red, with some yellow flecks. The flesh is crisp, juicy, intensely flavored and just sweet enough. It’s probably the best apple I’ve ever tasted. Even the Engineer, who is notoriously picky about apples (he only likes Golden Delicious raw), tasted it once and said, “Dang, that’s some good apple.” It’s a seasonal variety, though, and unfortunately the season has just ended. (The produce manager at my grocery store said it’s usually available from October to January, but I only found out about it after the holidays! Now it’s all gone, and I have to wait until next fall to get more, and I missed the beginning of the 2012 season! Gah!)





I’m still looking for the elusive Pink Pearl apple (see here, listen here), or any red-fleshed variety, but those only seem available on the West coast and in the fall…


Apps for the iPad
I’m not really used to playing video games. The Engineer is, and most of what I know is from hanging out with him (plus Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt and Sonic the Hedgehog from my childhood hanging out with my older cousin). I never grew up with video games. I’m the one who will not just push buttons on the controller, but move the entire gadget to try to get through the game! Plus, I hate any games were I have to kill stuff to stay alive; they’re too stressful to me and I really don’t enjoy them. What I like are puzzle games, but the only PS3 game I’ve enjoyed playing was Portal. So enter two iPad apps that I downloaded recently and loved: Machinarium and The Room. Machinarium is normally $4.99; I got it on sale for $1.99, but I do think it’s worth the full price. The premise is that you’re a robot and you need to solve puzzles to get through different levels; you do need to solve a little game in which you shoot spiders in order to get the storyboard for each level, but the shooting part is not so bad, and some of the actions to complete in the storyboard are really not obvious unless you are told. That being said, there are walkthroughs online if you don’t want to kill the spiders or can’t solve certain puzzles, but it’s more fun to earn it. It kept me busy for hours! The Room is $1.99; there are three levels where you are basically solving various puzzles to open a box and reveal a secret. I really enjoyed it, and look forward to the sequel.


Great brunch
Last month, we had a wonderful brunch at the Scenic Loop Cafe in Boerne! It’s a bit of a drive, but not really longer than going to downtown San Antonio from our house anyway. The café is in scenic Hill Country and has a buffet for brunch on Sundays (9 am to 1 pm). I love brunch, and the Engineer loves buffets, so this place was perfect for us. We both raved about the house fries, which are really roasted potatoes with onions and rosemary; the applewood smoked bacon was delicious, as were the sausage patties. I had scrambled eggs, and even though buffet scrambled eggs are never as good as those made by a chef at an egg station, I really enjoyed these, because you could tell they were real eggs (unlike in some places where you can tell they’re really made from a powder mix). The Engineer also loved the eggs benedict, and liked the chilaquiles. The strawberry pancakes were good, and I tasted the maple pecan French croissants (dipped in egg and cooked), too, but didn’t have room for the French toast. They also had pigs-in-blankets, biscuits, cream gravy, cheese grits, yogurt and granola, and a good assortment of fresh fruit. Service was friendly and attentive, and prices are quite reasonable ($13.99 per adult). We really enjoyed the place and will be sure to go back for brunch every once in a while, especially since it was less crowded than we expected.


Our February outings
We didn’t have an outing per se in January, but we had two in February to make up for it. We had lunch at Chart House, which is the restaurant at the top of the Tower of Americas in San Antonio. We made it a lunch so that we could have a good view of the city! It was really nice, especially when we recognized landmarks, but be aware that the restaurant will only revolve about 30% of the way during the time it takes to eat a meal (we were lucky and got the stretch that interested us). Since they were also serving appetizers from the dinner menu, we started with the hummus trio, served with pita and plantain chips – our favorite was the edamame hummus. Unfortunately, with my current food restrictions, there was only one main dish on the menu I could have (well, besides overcooked filet mignon): the parmesan chicken BLT. I must say, though, that it was delicious! It was a real chicken breast (not deli), the balsamic mayo was from a jar (so no raw eggs), I made sure to ask for the bacon well cooked, and it turns out the bread was probably pan-fried instead of just toasted. Fabulous! The Engineer also loved his chili-dusted ahi sandwich (with bacon, cheese and honey jalapeño aioli). We were both too stuffed for dessert (while there were many off-the-menu selections available, only an apple pie without ice cream fit my food restrictions anyway). It was a really nice outing. On a side note, I’m only just getting used to how many restaurants have menus that are restrictive for pregnant women; it’s worse in high-end places and perhaps French restaurants, but even Red Lobster has me down to a selection of a single dish right now!

We also went to the Asian Festival celebrating the year of the Snake, hosted by the Institute of Texan Cultures. My first impression, which I must say still dominates, was how incredibly crowded the place was! There were demonstrations of traditional music and dance numbers, plus martial arts, as well as crafts displays and stalls that sold small items (I must say that they were the EXACT same items one can buy at the foot of the Great Wall, so I suppose that makes them authentic, and also says a lot about the export business). The big draw, though was the food. The smells were fantastic, there was enough choice to satisfy everyone’s tastes, and it didn’t seem like anyone ran out of supplies. The Engineer had Indian food, while I had Chinese food, and we both enjoyed our meals. That being said, they were expensive meals… So all in all, while I’m glad we went, I don’t see myself going again next year. I’d rather just find a really good Chinese restaurant (and we’re getting pretty close, too).

We did get to explore the Institute a bit, and I was tickled to learn that Jews of South Texas have made guacamole a traditional Passover food (hey, it fits all the requirements!). And in the olden days, when people made their own matzo, they would roll spurs over the dough to get the ubiquitous holes in the crackers.


Ready-made food at Whole Foods
I absolutely love their garden vegetable “sushi” rolls (avocado, carrot, red cabbage, cucumber, lettuce, rice paper and peanut sauce), as well as their vegan chocolate pudding. Not to mention their awesome salad bar! But I recently discovered a new green veggie sushi roll that has green onions, avocado, cucumber, rice, nori and sesame seeds, and it’s fantastic. Plus, the vegan oreo cake is wonderful! I could have lunch there every day for a month and not get bored.


Udi’s granola
I tried this granola because I had a coupon, as I don’t normally buy gluten-free granola just for the heck of it. That being said, it’s actually one of the best commercial granolas I’ve ever tasted! I tried their original flavor, which is sweetened with honey and also contained pistachios, cashews and banana chips. Plus raisins, although those were a bit hard and I could have done without them. This granola is also free of cross-contamination with dairy, soy and eggs. I really enjoyed it and might be buying more in the future! (About that picture: I’m eating this with yogurt here. I sometimes like using vanilla yogurt or Greek yogurt instead of milk, depending on the day. I just didn’t want any commenters worrying that my milk had gone bad!)


American Flatbread’s Vegan Pizza
This is fantastic! American Flatbread makes thin-crust pizzas, and this individual-sized vegan one was just what I wanted. There is a tomato sauce, along with Daiya cheese that is creamy and has just the right mouthfeel. It doesn’t taste quite like cheese, but I really like the taste nonetheless. Great for us lactose-intolerant folks, and even better for those avoiding soy as well! My regular grocery store carries the brand, but not this particular pizza, so I have to go to Whole Foods to get more, but I will. Plus, I love a brand that can make humoristic instructions like the ones you see here (Neolithic method for heating the pizza).



Jiro Dreams of Sushi
I saw this movie recently, about Jiro Ono, who has been making sushi for 75 years, still goes to work every day, and whose restaurant has been awarded three Michelin stars (the highest possible rating). The movie is about his dedication to his craft (he really does dream that he’s making sushi), how he trains his employees (including his two sons), and what people say about his sushi. Now all I can think about is eating a piece of akami (lean tuna) nigiri from that restaurant. And maybe some tamago (Japanese omlet), and I’m even curious about the squid. (Jiro explains that if squid is rubbery or tasteless, it hasn’t been prepared properly; his is massaged for 40 to 50 minutes and served warm, to highlight its taste. I normally don’t like squid, but now I’m curious about his.) I must admit that since I don’t normally like seafood, I wasn’t salivating at the shrimp and mussels and stuff, but darn it if it wasn’t the most beautiful tuna I’d ever seen! There are two locations in Tokyo; reservations must be made at least a month in advance, and prices start at ¥30,000 (with the current exchange rate, that’s about US$330) per person, and Jiro serves about 20 pieces per person. If I ever go to Tokyo, I wonder if I could convince them to just sell me the one piece of tuna before their dinner seating… So Jiro may dream of sushi, but then again, so do I (and I can’t wait for the end of the summer so I can have it again).


For the dogs in your life
I made some dog treats, based on this recipe, which I doled out to Darwin over the holidays (since all the humans were having treats, too). All the ingredients are things that Darwin loves on their own, plus he loves ice cubes, so the mix was irresistible to him; as a matter of fact, he didn’t leave my side as I was making them! Start by mashing a ripe banana with 2 Tbsp. of (ideally natural) peanut butter and 2 Tbsp. of honey. At this point, resist the urge to just turn that into a sandwich for yourself. Add about 1 cup of plain lactose-free yogurt (I used Greek yogurt) and mix well. Spoon into an ice cube tray and freeze for several hours. Dole out cubes as you see fit.


Hurray for long-desired home improvements
We used to have a cast-iron/porcelain double sink in the kitchen. I hated it. It looked decent enough, though it was harder to clean than stainless steel, and I had to put a rubber mat down in one of the bowls to avoid breaking dishes. The double sink meant that I never had enough room in there to soak a pan or baking sheet. We had been meaning to change the sink, but obviously, since everything was perfectly functional, we put it off. Until December, that is, when we realized that the faucet was broken and leaking (in three places, mind you, so it wasn’t worth fixing). I twisted the Engineer’s arm and got a new sink out of it, you know, as long as we were hiring a plumber and doing work in that general area! I was crushed to realize there was not enough room for an undermount sink, but we settled on this one, which has brought me more joy in the past two months than the previous one in two and a half years, even considering that the plumber had to come back yesterday to fix another (minor) leak. In case anyone is thinking of doing the same thing, here are some Kitchn links that sum up the pros and cons of our choices: choosing a sink, undermount sinks, double-bowl sinks (again, we went with oversized single bowl instead), stainless steel (two things to really keep in mind are the gauge and the corners, which will be hard to clean if they’re at right angles), single-handle faucets (I wouldn’t consider anything else), and spray faucets (we have a spray faucet, which I feel is necessary for a sink this big, though it’s not restaurant style). For the record, our sink is a Glacier Bay model from Home Depot, but I believe the new faucet is a Moen.



Getting rid of the cast-iron sink is surprisingly hard, though. Habitat for Humanity does not take sink donation unless they are accompanied by kitchen cabinets, which is not the case here. Our sanitation system does not take such big objects (we technically live right outside San Antonio city limits and are not eligible for their trash disposal program). We’re now trying to see if we can sell it for scrap metal, or perhaps it’d be worth posting on Craigslist…

Pumpkin and Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Our dog, Darwin, just turned two. To celebrate, I baked him some dog treats, which has become a tradition. (And I just now realize this means I completely forgot about this blog’s third anniversary – oh, well.) This year’s recipe is actually from a food blog I like, Dessert First. The treats have four ingredients and are simple as can be. They’re also edible by humans (really, they’re not that bad), and were a big hit with Darwin.

2 ½ cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
2 large eggs
2/3 cup puréed pumpkin, either canned or fresh
3 Tbsp peanut butter (or more)

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer bowl. Mix on medium speed until the dough comes together.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to ¼" inch thick. Add a little water if the dough is very stiff, or a little flour if it is too soft and sticky. Use a cookie cutter to cut out desired shapes. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until the cookies are dry to the touch. You can bake them longer if you want them to be completely dry and hard, but I prefer them to be slightly soft and chewy.

Let cool on wire rack before serving to doggies.

Deux ans et des poussières

Cela fait aujourd’hui deux ans et un mois que j’ai commencé mon blogue (c’est 467e mon billet, alors j’écris un peu plus souvent qu’auparavant). Je n’ai pas pensé à le mentionner le mois dernier, et de toute façon, je n’ai pas l’énergie de composer un long billet sentimental et bourré de sens... Mais je vais vous donner un rapide résumé de la dernière année, pour faire écho à mon premier billet anniversaire.

L’Ingénieur et moi habitons maintenant au Texas, dans une maison que nous avons achetée à San Antonio. Nous avons donc, pour la première fois, une maison « dont on peut faire le tour », avec un terrain à entretenir. Nous avons une petite voiture, qui suffit à nos besoins quotidiens. Nous avons aussi Darwin, notre cher labernois, qui est maintenant un membre à part entière de notre petite famille. Il nous fait rire tous les jours et charme tout le monde sur son passage. En fait, c’est un peu drôle, parce que les Texans ne connaissent pas du tout les bouviers bernois (alors que c’est une race très répandue dans le Québec francophone); la majorité des gens ici me demandent pourquoi mon border collie est aussi gros, et il faut que j’explique qu’en fait c’est mon bouvier qui est petit parce qu’il est mélangé à du labrador. Les labradors, ils connaissent, mais on a rencontré une seule personne en sept mois qui connaissait les bouviers! Darwin doit peser environ 80 livres, alors il est plus gros que la majorité des chiens, mais quand même plus petit que ses parents.

On s’adapte assez bien à la vie au Texas. Pour moi, le plus dur, c’est qu’il faut conduire pour aller où que ce soit. (Selon ce site, la « marchabilité » de notre adresse est de 6 % et il n’y a pas de transport en commun, donc on est très dépendant de l’automobile.) Je n’aime pas conduire, et depuis notre arrivée, c’est l’Ingénieur qui conduit : il aime ça, et doit le faire tous les jours pour aller au travail; il s’en charge donc de facto la fin de semaine. Par contre, on a accès à bien des choses inconnues à Montréal, comme Whole Foods, Central Market, Michael’s et The Container Store, en plus de toutes les marques de produits sans lactose qui n’ont pas encore traversé la frontière vers le nord.

Pour ce qui est de notre situation professionnelle : l’Ingénieur se porte à merveille et adore son nouveau travail. Nous n’avons pas encore de carte verte (mais venons de dépenser un gros montant pour en faire la demande), alors j’ai encore mon statut H4 – dépendante de mon mari. Puisque l’année financière 2010 est terminée, je suis officiellement déesse domestique à temps plein. J’avais espoir de recommencer éventuellement à faire de la pige pour mon client le plus important, mais j’ai appris hier que les affaires ne vont pas très bien de son côté et que, même si je peux me remettre à travailler bientôt, les contrats seront moins nombreux et, surtout, moins payants. Autant donc me concentrer sur ma machine à coudre, pour apprendre à m’en servir. On verra en temps et lieu pour la profession rémunérée.

Winter gardening

Perhaps winter weeding/trimming would be more specific. I never thought that I’d be living in a place with such a warm climate! About a month ago, we started gardening by cleaning out various areas of the yard, one at a time. We’ve since weeded the plant bed underneath the kitchen’s bay window, which holds two hibiscus plants (they may or may not be perennials, and if they are, may or may not be dead – we’ll find out soon, I suppose) as well as a plant that I think is Chinese fringe flower (Loropetalum chinense), though that remains to be confirmed. There’s also some kind of holly that seems to grow like a weed. (The first pictures are “before” shots, and the later ones are “after” shots in all cases.)





We’ve also emptied both containers (which were full of dead plants anyway) and have positioned them near the first area we weeded, ready to receive herbs. Darwin likes helping, but usually gets himself dirty.






The bird feeder now has to be refilled often, as we have several different species delighting in the manna.



We’ve clipped the plant near the front entrance, and it already seems to be growing new shoots. There’s a mystery plant next to it, which we’ve decided to keep for now. One of the Japanese boxwood bushes in the front looks dead, but when we clipped a branch, it was still green inside, so we’ve decided to give it a chance to come back to life this spring (otherwise, it’s gone). We’ve cleared the space where we will be planting flowers eventually. We also have more of that decorative plant that may be the Chinese fringe flower: it’s in bloom right now, but even when it isn’t, the foliage is quite interesting.









We’ve found out that the plants near the fence, that have such nice foliage, are Nandina: extremely toxic to mammals. For the moment, we’ve removed all the berries, to prevent Darwin from eating any, but we may remove the plants altogether eventually.





We’re now focusing on the backyard, which has a large plant bed in a semi-circle. I trimmed the rosebushes two weeks ago, and there’s already new growth all over the place. We’re slowly working our way around, removing weeds, dead leaves and old mulch. I think we have finally solved a mystery: there is a solar panel with wires going somewhere underground, and we didn’t know its purpose. Last weekend, we found a small light, with a wire coming from the ground: it was completely hidden by an overgrown bush, which is why we’d never seen it before. It has been repositioned to illuminate the big rosebush, and it’s working perfectly!






We’re limited both by our energy levels and by the size of our trashcan, which luckily are quite compatible. We should be done with the weeding, trimming and cleaning in another two weeks, at which point we’ll think about planting.

Darwin's homemade treats

Even though I cook and bake a lot, I had never made anything specifically for our dog, Darwin. His first birthday was earlier this month, so I decided to make him treats that day. I stuck to a roundup of treats posted on The Kitchn. My criteria were that the recipe had to make a reasonable number of treats (i.e., up to two dozen, as opposed to six dozen) and that the ingredients must currently be in my pantry (it was bursting at the seams, and buying yet another kind of flour was out of the question). So I adapted the cinnamon bun bites, without the icing – you should know that adult dogs are usually lactose-intolerant, so feeding them cream cheese is probably not a good idea.

They looked so good that the Engineer actually tried one, without knowing it was meant for Darwin. The ingredients are all things that I would eat, so I knew there was nothing disgusting about it! I expected him to say something along the lines of “Sweetie, I think you forgot the sugar”, but no, his first thought was that they were a little dry (Darwin sure didn’t seem to mind). I couldn’t look at him without bursting into laughter, so I confessed. I then tasted them myself for good measure. Darwin got the first one as a freebie, but I did make him work for the rest (spread out over several days, of course).

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup water or lactose-free milk
¼ cup canola oil
1 large egg
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl stir together water, oil and egg. Add to the dry ingredients and stir just until you have a soft dough.

On a lightly floured surface, roll or pat the dough into a rectangle that measures roughly 8×14 inches. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. Starting from a long edge, roll up jelly-roll style and pinch the edge to seal. Using a sharp serrated knife or (even better) dental floss, slice half an inch thick and place slices cut side down on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for about 15 minutes, until springy to the touch.

Makes about 2 dozen biscuits. Store extra in a tightly covered container of freeze.





For the dog days of next summer, here are also some frozen treats you can make.

Embracing Tex-Mex cuisine and making migas

I’ve been a little slow in posting recently. Unpacking took some time, but we’re now 98% done, just in time for fall. The weather has quickly shifted to “cold”: November 1st was t-shirt weather, and I broke a sweat just standing outside; but November 3rd was rainy and windy, and there was frost last night. All in all, it’s like a Canadian late September, or perhaps early October, so we’ve finally turned on the heat in the house.

I meant to post this recipe for migas last night, but we had to take an unexpected trip to the vet when Darwin’s face swelled up quite dramatically. He’s fine now; it turns out it was an insect bite – in the mouth, because outdoors, our dog will eat anything, anytime.

So anyway, as I was trying to come up with an easy dinner menu for the week, the Engineer suggested tacos. We picked up some heirloom tomatoes at the grocery store, along with Daiya cheese so I could try it out. We completed the meal with soft flour tortillas, grilled chicken, bell peppers, avocados, green onions and cilantro. The Daiya cheese is interesting: the texture is quite similar to grated cheese, and it melts really well, but the taste is completely different. I’m still getting used to it, but I think it’s a nice alternative for people with dietary restrictions.






Now, what do you do when you have leftover components from tacos, but don’t want to eat tacos again? Make migas! Migas are typically eaten for breakfast, but they’re great for dinner, too. They’re somewhat like the Tex-Mex equivalent of frittatas, in the sense that once you’ve got your basic eggs, you just round up the meal with whatever you have on hand. I used the half-shallot that was in the fridge along with the recommended onion, cooked the last two slices of bacon in the deli drawer and used up all the taco components. It was a really good meal, and just as easy as the tacos. Here’s the recipe I used, but feel free to adapt it with what you have on hand! The recipe makes about 2 servings, but of course that depends on what you add. Use tortillas made with corn flour if you need a gluten-free meal.

4 eggs
2 Tbsp salsa (I used chopped tomato)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced (optional, I didn’t use it)
2 corn tortillas, cut or torn into ½-inch pieces
½ cup grated cheese (or vegan substitute)
salt and pepper, to taste
any or all of the following for garnish: salsa, pico de gallo, cheese, sour cream, avocado, cilantro, green onions
any or all of the following for serving: corn or flour tortillas, beans




In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and salsa. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and jalapeño and cook until onion is soft and translucent. Add tortillas and cook, stirring frequently, another minute or two until soft.




Reduce heat to low and add eggs. Scramble until eggs are almost set, then fold in cheese and remove from heat.

Garnish and serve immediately.