Good Bye Julius

Patty has had Julius long before even Hunter was born. Smart little sheltie who adored her and was her constant companion all these years. But at age 13, it was downhill all the way after he ingested rat poison which made his inner lining bleed. Came the prognosis of cancer, and poor Julius. But such a brave dog, no whining, no moaning. When Patty went down that fateful Saturday, when she came to the store, she was pale, sweaty, out of breath and enough to make me ask dawn to take her to the emergency room which became a 3 day stay in the critical care unit because she lost a lot of blood and they had to pump 4 units of blood into her, Julius had to stay with Dawn and kids. By the time she got out, her concern was for him and not for herself. I told him not to leave her, to hang in there for her.And so he did. The mag-amo were both bleeding and losing blood together. He did wait for her. Allowed her a week more of his presence but he was fading fast. She made the ultimate gamble of chemo for him but this was the final straw. on Friday, January 22nd, when Kylie and I got to the vet hospital, Patty and he were in a visitation room. He perked up and looked so alert that I had that little queasy feeling that we could be making a mistake. But after our petting hands lifted off him, he immediately slumped into Patty's chest. He just waited for all of us. He was gone even before the 2nd shot was done. I'm outta here. He looked like he was fast asleep. I remembered mom when she sneezed twice and was gone. The crying came, and the sadness. Hunter. Maddie, Kylie, Dawn, Anamite and I wailed along with Patty. But I know Julius was glad to rest, he knew Patty was ok, and now he's out there with Mom.
I know it will take Patty many months to heal. She came for dinner and the moment I heard his little collar ringing, i thought he was in the room. I feel the sadness of loneliness settling in on my sister. but she knows we are here for her. But we cannot have the same effect as Julius did with her.

Lasagna & Pizza

One Thursday night dinner, I made pizzas for everyone. Rigo made the dough and I got all the accoutrement , from freshly sliced mozzarella, mushrooms, sliced pepperoni, spinach leaves, basil, fresh plum tomatoes, shredded junk cheese aka pizza cheese by the bag, italian sausage. Each pizza was different and I had them in sheet pans aside from the required 13" rounds. You'd think this would be easy but instead, what a mess, and to bring them in and out of the oven so they were freshly hot.

The next week, I continued my Italian streak and this time got Ricotta and shredded mozzarella/provolone to make lasagna. And yes, I used diced tomatoes, ground beef and Italian sausage for my sauce, Oh and sam, I did make the bechamel sauce, it does make a difference. Layering the cooked lasagna, sauce, cheeses, bechamel sauce and spreading the ricotta was a bit tiring but I did end up making 5 assorted trays. Kudos to me, I still had it in me to come out with a decent lasagna. I usually get lazy and buy the GFS or Stouffer brand of lasagna because I almost think there's no difference, oh wait, mine's not that salty!!! And richer with the amount of stuff I put in it. Another TND done.

Holidays

Wow, that came too fast, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's eve and New Year's day. Suddenly it's 2010.
And the eating was non-stop. We did all traditionals although maybe I will try other stuff next year...the only changes made were the lengua done with tomato sauce estofada style instead of the cream of mushrooms, no long noodle, just ravioli.
Let's see, ham and pork loin rib roast for Xmas eve, Prime Roast Beef bone-in for Xmas day with the accoutrement mashed potatoes etc. and Yule Log (Buche de Noel) from the MACC. Migay turned 26 and disappeared as usual. But January 1st was Cocido with the eggplant side, Lengua and Paella and Kylie's signature fruit salad. Kudos to Sam for the much improved leche flan, )probably because he used the correct llanera .
All in all, a good time was had by all. And another year begins.

Thursday Night again

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving, but today is another week, and it is December. I did a beef brisket that I put in the oven overnight at 220 degrees, threw in onions, garlic, liquid smoke, soy sauce, left over bbq oven pit, honey mustard, lawry's, salt, pepper and covered it. So when I was worried about dinner, I remembered the french beans I had so that got nuked with olive oil, then I did egg noodles with butter and parmesan with meatballs. There was LO of yukon gold potatoes and pork. Whew, another night of food, kids, apos, laughter, buzzing. So much to thank the Lord for.

Florida trip bits and pieces

The space launch was amazing, a streak of gold slashed through the sky and a cloud of smoke trailed the shuttle's path. of course, you have 12 minutes to run back into the bus just in case acid rain blew our way off the causeway.

Where are the oranges? ooops, as we drove down towards Ft Lauderdale, every side of the 27 had orange orchards ....wish I could have stopped.

Tamiami Trail is also the 41 which if followed through would have led back to Chicago. But Tamiami trail is also Alligator land....soon, alligator spotting was the sport.

But the birds ...didn;t get to see flamingos nor pelicans but lots of egrets, cormorants, eagles and so many more...forgot to buy a book so check off which ones I saw.

And imagine that, no Disney when I was in Orlando. But got to swim briefly in salt water.

2009 Thanksgiving

It's one of those off years, Kylie went to Zion, Bambi to Wauwatosa and JB to somewhere in Indiana. So we had a quiet but enjoyable turkey dinner at Anamite's. Dawn had a good turkey, great side including a green bean and mushroom side, Migay's famous smashed potatoes, some brussel sprouts which i tried to eat (finished one) and Ina's orange cranberry relish. Hunter played the cello with a lot a prodding, and pumpkin pie was had. Thankful for another year, missed GYN and remembered all the turkey days back home. Capped the evening with a George Clooney movie, Men Who Stare At Goats.

Another Thursday Night Dinner

So tonight, we had a pork butt crock pot roast I made earlier this morning. But I decided to add shrimp fried rice which all the apos enjoyed. And I am still trying to re-create the pancit sotanghon that we used to have at the Rolling Pin MH Del Pilar restaurant. Another regret I have for not spending more tim,e with mang Lucio and mang Emong. I sauteed garlic and red onion, added boneless, skinless chicken breast with a bit of Knorr ginisa mix, black pepper, patis and powdered atsuete. Then I added sliced green beans, sliced baby bok choy and chicken broth. I remembered to add last minute garlic oil which picked up the flavors a lot. Came close, but I should have used a firmer fatter sotanghon. And should have used an oil based atsuete (annatto seed powder). Another dinner done. And hey, this time the apos ate both pancit and shrimp fried rice which was simply stir fried eggs, garlic, peas and carrots with baby shrimps and rice. Oh, and a bit of soy sauce. Lynn said she liked it and it tasted better than the ones from the Chinese restaurant, that was a great compliment from my pihikan na apo.