Weekend Dog Blogging #47

Started this morning off with a quick run to Farmers Market. I had a few things on my list, but most importantly, a stop at their Picklelicious‘ vendor was in order. Nicholas and I have gotten hooked on their Full Sour Pickles, and had already finished our batch from last week. A sharp tang, and so delicious, it was time for a refill; my mouth waters just thinking about them. Also grabbed a few bouquets of gorgeous, farm-grown flowers, grape tomatoes, red and yellow onions and blueberries. The mid-70s temperatures are definitely bringing more people to the market – it was a perfect day for it, and I had to really hunt for my parking space today.

I must’ve changed my mind a million times for my dinner plans tonight … everything from keeping it simple with sandwiches to spaghetti with vodka sauce. I ended up going with Honey-Mustard Chicken Salad, Smoked Salmon Pizza and Basil Turkey Focaccia Sandwiches. The salad and the pizza recipes were tried-and-trues and perfect to cut down on kitchen time. The Basil Turkey Focaccia Sandwich recipe was a new one, and I’d definitely repeat it – ‘sides, it gave me an opportunity to use my pink flamingo and green palm tree toothpicks. ;) Recipe says it yields 40, but I beg to differ. They’d have to be tiny, tiny, tiny sandwiches to get 40. I ended up getting 25 mini-sandwiches out of it, big difference.

Now for dessert. I ended up making a modified version of Donna Hay’s Self-Frosting Nutella Cupcakes, which I’ve made before, and Alicat’s Peanut Brownies, which were thick, tasty and perfect for peanut butter lovers. Like Ali, I didn’t mix the peanut butter thoroughly into the batter, to keep peanut butter ripples throughout, and would definitely suggest that.

All in all, a nice, easy, relaxing Sunday meal. Ali – drop me a line with your address; since I went with your suggestion, the cookbook is yours. Thanks to everyone who passed on suggestions. I printed them all out and will definitely be using them in the future.

Onto the Weekend Dog Blogging Roundup. Until tomorrow…

P.S. Recipes to follow tomorrow.

A year ago today … dinner out.

First up, the trio from Dispensing Happiness:

ChiChi from Ragus Pug keeps cool:

Tippy from Tartelette throws a little subtle hint her owners way:

Harley and Kita from Musings in Oklahoma are back! Go check out Jennifer’s site for a cute slideshow.

The very alert and adorable Multy from Peanut Butter Etouffee:

Mr. Woofy from Kitchen Wench enjoys his peanut butter … good to the last drop.

Ditter from A Little Bit of Everything enjoys a road trip:

And lastly, our lovable, goofy Eli. I counted … it took me 23 shots to get one that was usable. As soon as he sees me with the camera, he refuses to look at it, although he’ll pose for Nicholas. Anything for Nicholas – they’re partners in crime, those two.