Celebrity Matching

FROM BRUNO:

According to the Dogster Quiz ……..i am most like Simon Cowell, from American Idol. However I am WAY BETTER!!!! try it for yourself http://www.dogster.com/quizzes/celebrity_dog_quiz/

here is my report:

Enterprising, brassy and not afraid to barking what’s on his mind, Bruno is Idol-maker Simon Cowell!
There’s no beating around the bush with Bruno and flattery will get you nowhere. Bruno calls it like he sees it, and stands firm on all fours behind his decisions. The cat definitely does not have Bruno’s tongue—some of his pals think he’s bitter and confrontational, while others find him to be impawsibly hilarious. Bruno’s influence on those around him is remarkable, and he takes advantage of this fact and uses it wisely. Behind his no-nonsense mask, Bruno is a perceptive sponge, taking in what he sees and hears around him, and then figuring out how to make it look, or sound, better.

Yum!!! chicken and cookie dough

FROM BRUNO:

Last night i decided i wanted chicken for dinner. So when dad opened the fridge i went full speed to get my nose in there. i stole a breast of chicken! it was so good!!!!!! who else goes better with chicken….cookie dough. dad had it nicely places on pans. so i barked to pretend to alert dad that something was going on and i made my way for the cookie dough. BOY was it  GOOOOOD!!!! dad was NOT happy. Things like this wouldnt have happened if mom was home. She is better at multi-tasking then dad.

 

oh and everyone keeps saying “the bruno we know and love has returned” did i mentioned im feeling BETTER!!!!!!!!!!! i gotta make up for lost time or as some say…..thyme

beautiful weather

the weather has been so beautiful we havent been spending a lot of time indoors. we all have been enjoying the great outdoors. we have been taking pre-caution with sunscreen, bug spray and tick checks. the sun is strong, the bugs have been out and the ticks are bad. bruno is having a ball chasing squirrels in the yard and also in the living room thru the windows.

Another fabulous recipe

Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Breasts with Cheddar Mustard Sauce

Serves 4 Tags:  Submitted by Rachael Ray

Ingredients

• 4 quart-size plastic food storage bags
• 4 small, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 5-ounce bag of salted pretzels, any shape
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 pound, about 2 1/2 cups, sharp yellow cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 heaping tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, a generous handful, chopped
• 1/4 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 large sour dill pickle, finely chopped
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         PPreparation

Preheat a large non-stick skillet with a 1/4-inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. 
 
Sprinkle a little water into four medium food storage baggies. Place 1 chicken breast in each bag and seal it up, pushing out excess air. Use the bottom of a heavy pot or pan and pound each breast until flat, just shy of busting out of the bag. Repeat with the other 3 chicken breasts.

Place the pretzels in a food processor or blender and grind until fine. Transfer the ground pretzels to a shallow dish, add the thyme and some salt and pepper. Crack and beat 2 eggs in a second shallow dish with a splash of water. One at a time, coat each chicken breast in the egg and then the ground pretzels. 

Add the pretzel-coated chicken breast to the hot oil. Cook in a single layer, in 2 batches if necessary, about 3 or 4 minutes on each side, until the juices run clear and breading is evenly browned.  
 
While the chicken is frying, in a medium saucepot over medium heat, melt the butter and add the flour to it. Cook flour and butter for 1 minute and then whisk in the milk. When the milk comes to a bubble, stir in the cheese and mustard with a wooden spoon. Season with a little salt and pepper, and remove cheese sauce from the heat. 
 
Transfer the fried pretzel-crusted chicken breast to a serving plate, drizzle with the mustard cheddar sauce, then sprinkle with a little parsley, finely chopped onion and sour dill pickle. Serve lemon wedges alongside. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Greek-Style Shrimp Scampi and Linguine

Another fabulous recipe from Rachel Ray!!! i omitted the olives because i don’t like olives.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound linguine
• Salt
• 1 pound medium to large shrimp, deveined and peeled, tails removed
• Pepper
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• A couple pinches of red pepper flakes
• 1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
• 2 sprigs oregano, finely chopped
• A handful of pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine (eyeball it)
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 cup feta cheese crumbles

Preparation

Place a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Salt water and cook pasta to al dente.

Season the shrimp with salt and pepper.

While the pasta water comes to a boil, heat EVOO in a deep skillet with garlic. When garlic is brown, remove and reserve. Add shrimp and cook 3-4 minutes. Add red pepper flakes, lemon zest, oregano, olives and wine and cook together a couple of minutes more. Remove from heat.

Add a ladle of starchy pasta cooking water to sauce and some lemon juice. Remove the sauce from the heat. Drain pasta and add to the skillet. Let pasta soak in juices for a minute, then toss with parsley and feta. Use tongs to pull pasta from skillet, giving it a turn to twist in as many ingredients as possible. Then, use the tongs to remove and arrange the shrimp and ingredients that may remain in the pan, distributing them evenly among the portions.

having LYME is fun!!!

FROM BRUNO:

BOY oh BOY is it fun!!! first Mom and Dad are totally spoiling me. We had to drop something by the vet and i went with mom. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot I was VERY excited. i pulled mom all the way to say hi to the girls at the front desk. I got a couple of treats for charming everyone. yes treats!!! i RUVVVVVVV the vet. then we went to the park so i could get my sniffs out. then we went to TWO stores. One called Petco and another called Agway, both allow dogs inside. Petco was fun but the highlight was Agway. Petco had their Brunomagic doors(those doors that automatically open when i show up) propped open….didnt they know i was coming????  those are my FAVORITE . Agway’s doors were working correctly for me!  Agway sells lots of dog stuff but they also sell landscaping, gardening and outdoor items.  Some people in the store were surprised to see me there because it’s not primarily a pet supply store, however i charmed them with my sweet face and everyone LOVED me. They have the “good” treats there so of course i showed off some of my best tricks. note to self….ask mom to take me to agway on a busy Saturday. or maybe convince dad to take me there. they had things he would like. we had SO much fun at Agway. oh and they started selling the food i used to eat so i told mom if she switches me back we can buy it from there and i can help her go buy it.  

then we came home and there was a squirrel in the yard waiting to play with me. i was SO excited i darted across the yard to play but he took off. DARN!!!!! i then sniffed the yard making sure i didnt miss anything. Mom capped off my day with the stinkiest bull stick i have EVER had. Boy was that good! i chewed on it as I watched dad do yard work.

BTW i am loving my fenced yard!!!

GTG mom says she has something special for me for dinner!

Lyme Positive

FROM BRUNO:

the other day i went to visit the Vet. Mom had been telling me all week i was going to get “checked out” by the ladies at the vet office. When we arrived I saw my friend the cat who lives at the vet. oh boy if we could only play i said hello to the ladies at the counter and of course they all remember my charming face. then i took my spot on mom’s lap. it was a great place for me to get a good view of everything.

we went into a room where mom and a nice lady chatted. I was very curious about all the noises i could hear. For some reason many of them scared me. Actually recently many things have been making me scared and im not sure why. i was having fun until the lady with the white coat came in, i like her a lot but i got very nervous around her. she told me how good i looked, how im the perfect size, in good health and that my brown eyes are so charming! see, i told u i LIKE her. she then told me i was going grey around my mouth….was she trying to call me old?????? i am only TWO! mom told her that since i was a rescue, i might have had a stressful start to my life so…… YEAH MOM!! then mom started to tell her that i have become more mellow, oddly skittish of things i was never afraid off and i wasnt myself. the lady in the white coat told her that I am still maturing and going thru changes…see im still young!!! all of a sudden they poked me to get some blood. i DID NOT like that. i gave the lady holding me and the one in the white coat a long look with my eyes to tell them “please dont do that again”.

Some time went by and i thought we were getting ready to leave…..when i heard them say “He is Lyme Positive” wooo hoooo what does that mean????? what do i win? another treat???? PLEASE!!!!! well apparently “Lyme Positive” means getting poked AGAIN to take more blood…..they must think i enjoy it! this time i gave mom the LONG look of “PLEASE, NEVER AGAIN, YOU OWE ME” . mom got instructions and some pills i have to take for awhile.

i really hope the pills help the “LYME” because i havent been myself for months. Mom has said several times “he isnt himself” but i think she was fooled that i was growing up, changing or maybe i was just happy she was finally home with me all day. haha NEVER, the real bruno will return, i hope!!!!!  over the past several months i have been sleeping A LOT, i get tired easy, i have been lazy, i dont feel like getting up to say hello when mom and dad get home, i have been scared of things… i was fearless of before, i dont really feel like playing with other dogs and i moan, move and grumble if my comfort is disturbed(i would rather curl up by myself).  wish me luck that i feel better soon! mom is waiting to hear back about some other tests. fingers crossed they turn out ok.

oh and the best part of them day…a visit to the dog barkery where i got lots of treats and mom bought me some goodies.

The fence is DONE!!!

just a few final touches to secure the bottom of the chain length part, grow some grass where some digging was done and fill in some areas so bruno can’t stick his nose under the fence and we are D-O-N-E!!!!!

I caught a squirrel…

FROM BRUNO:

I only wish it was a really one. I WUV my stuffed squrriel. The tail caught on fire last year when dad put a box of my stuff on the stove and accidently turned the burner on, OOOPS! i was so upset, but mom did some surgery and fixed him up nice. although he doesnt have a long fluffy tail like he used to, the squirrel is my favorite and i think i keep him around for a bit. i sometimes like to “kill” my stuffed toys.

Gonna pick a pizza or two…..

 The ole’ band had another rousing show at The Bathtub Inn on March 29th. Along with the usuals, there was an eclectic bunch of people out in full effect. The show started promptly at 10:10, 10:15, 10:20, I mean at 10:35. Those of you that know us understand that one. A rocky start typically ensues, but this time we started fairly enthusiastic, firing out songs from our vast repertoire. As the night grew on, so did the crowd. Highlights of the night included A’s wonderful start to Camarillo Brillo, “R Dogs” straight face as Kermit the Frog attempted to wave at him, K’s Sultans of Swing guitar solo, C’s thundering bass note, B’s excellent light show, and D’s Disco Inferno Dance show. The night ended happily with us playing one of our originals, something we haven’t done in a long time. Afterwards we all went our separate ways, thinking about our next adventure and looking forward to recording some demo songs for other local bars.