Wheatens on parade

Way back in April I was dropping Bounce off at doggie daycare and stopped to chat with our trainer, Victoria. She was happy I came in because there was a dog show that weekend that she was competing in and she noticed that the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier group was one of the largest in the show, with 44 dogs total. So I got all the details on her competition time and convinced Matt that we should go check it out.

Neither of us had been to a dog show before so we prepared ourselves for all kinds of crazy dog people (think Best in Show) and we were not disappointed! First we watched Victoria compete with her dog Enzo. Enzo was the example dog in our training class and I can honestly say I've never seen a more obedient dog. Victoria and Enzo were competing in the intermediate obedience competition. She decided to sign on up kind of on a whim and it the first time she's competed in years. During the competition she pointed out all the regulars that typically sweep the medal stands. When it was her turn, they rocked it. Then we waited and waited and waited.



They finally called up the finalists to do one last parade around the ring and hilarious, Victoria was so convinced that she wouldn't qualify that Enzo didn't even have a collar on! When they called her name she had to scramble and borrow someone else's so they could do a quick trot around the ring. And then, she won first place! We were really excited to see her win, and it was cool to see someone so laid back win over the intense regulars.

And then we boogied over the a different part of the dog show to see all the Wheatens. We cut through the grooming area and many of the Wheatens where getting their last minutes touch ups before the show. Groomers were feverishly combing and hairspraying the dogs in preparation. And then we watched the Wheatens go. Honestly, I didn't really follow what was happening because it wasn't like there was an announcer or anything to explain who was entering the ring when, etc. I gather they competed on several different levels but really couldn't tell who was beating out who, etc. All I cared about were the many cute Wheatens. I loved it.

The biggest downside to the whole day? Hours of standing on cement.
My legs ached by the time we left.

Vendors were set up around the perimeter and there was one that really caught our eye.I really wanted to get two of these for Matt and I to wear like crazy people but we resisted the urge.

Handpainted Wheatens on denim. I especially love the sleeveless one! ;)

And here's Bounce pouting at home because he didn't get to go along and mingle with all of his cousins. I can only imagine what chaos he would have caused if we could have brought him. Despite our wonderful trainer, he won't be competing in any obedience competitions any time soon!

 

Like lasagna but not

My Cooking Light magazine arrived Saturday and while flipping through the pages, this recipe jumped out at me. So I gave it a try last night and I definitely recommend it. The flavor is just like spaghetti or lasagna but instead of pasta it uses cauliflower. And since Matt and I are counting down days till Hawaii (61), we are trying to eat healthy and shed a few pounds. So at 306 calories a serving, this isn't terrible for our bikini diet (swim trunk diet for Matt, which doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well).

I would also like to mention a BIG accomplishment for me with this recipe. I used onions. I never thought I'd say this, but I am starting to appreciate onions for the flavor they provide in cooking things. This is actually the third time this month I've used onions in a recipe. I just cut them in really big chunks and then once I feel the flavor has been infused, I pick them out so they never touch our dinner plates. With this recipe, I used onions when browning the ground beef and picked them out before adding the marinara. Matt even said "Mmmm, that smells so good!" when it was just the onions sauteing!

I also altered the recipe in the broiling stage. See, I am afraid to use our broiler after we had a bit of a catastrophe that resulted in this:

The firefighters paid us a visit.

Burnt pizza peal

We made the mistake of storing a pizza peal in the drawer below our oven, not realizing that it isn't a drawer in our case, it's the broiler. Oops! This whole drawer as a broiler thing is new to me so I've dealt with it avoiding broiling things. Maybe one day soon I'll tackle it. I'm certain our Baked Italian-Style Cauliflower would have tasted even better with the crispy finish you get from broiling.