Happy Mother's Day

It's mother's day. So of course, I think you should celebrate in the traditional way: invite your mother over to your house to do your lawn. At least that's the way my neighbor sees it.

In other news, Scout isn't feeling well. He may have eaten a stick or two of sugarless gum. Sugarless gum contains xylitol, which apparently can be deadly to dogs. I'm not going to say that Scout is on death's door, but he is having some pretty substantial symptoms of some problem that may or may not be the result of having eaten some gum. He goes to the vet in the morning. He has an awful cough. He acts like he wants to throw up but never does. He rattles when he breathes. He was moaning last night, but the worst of that appears over.

Isn't it great how this stuff happens on Saturday night and the vet doesn't reopen until Monday at 8? I hope there is no permanent damage. I know that xylitol is hard on a dog's liver.

To amuse myself today since I couldn't play with a sick dog, I tried out my new food processor. Ok, first I couldn't get it to work at all. I thought it was broken. It was so weird. The lid wouldn't lock into place. So I packed it back up and took it to the store and exchanged it. When I got the second one home, it did the same thing. Finally, I realized I was trying to put the lid on backwards. D'uh.
In the end, though, I made peanut butter from peanuts. That was a lot of fun. You chop up the peanuts and wait and eventually it becomes peanut butter.

To sort of prime the process,
you drizzle a small amount of oil in the mix. I added some sesame oil Then add some salt (if you use unsalted peanuts, like I did). Wait for that to puree and you have yourself a sweet little homemade bunch of pb. Awesome.




So that was the first part of lunch!

Then I made some garlic hummus. Oh yeah, you HAVE to try this recipe that I got from some friends of mine. It's amazing!


Then I made some pico de gallo. Ok, not very happy with the consistency. I guess the key is to put the tomatoes in absolutely last and then just pulse it once or twice. In any event, the flavor is fantastic. Thanks, Emeril.

Let's see. What was next. Oh, yeah, the crustless Quiche Lorraine. I actually bought some gruyere cheese today and some half and half. Of course, I have to eat a fistful of lactose pills just to enjoy that fantastic treat.

And finally, I am still making my very first batch of French bread. Baguettes even. I sure do wish I hadn't broken my pizza stone, because this is just the sort of job for a pizza stone. So, I'm using a half sheet sprinkled with polenta to keep it from sticking. The bench proof is underway right now and I'll pop it in the oven here in a few. Photos forthcoming. Unless of course, it's a big fail.

I guess the point is, if my mother was here, I'd at least be able to feed her well. And, I wouldn't make her do the lawn for me. Although, that would be a bonus.