I need to be a barista.

Almost 10 years ago, I was living in New Orleans, participating in an AmeriCorps program in the Disaster Services department of the American Red Cross. I was poor, bored, and not into the drunken debauchery of the French Quarter. After a couple weeks of visiting different coffeeshops around town, I found Neutral Ground. It was a little bohemian hole-in-the-wall with mediocre coffee and snacks, but an incredible atmosphere. It was dark and sometime smokey, but full of funky college kids and artists. Books and board games were available if you were bored. But most people prefered to sit on one of the comfy couches to enjoy the music. I usually parked at the coffeebar and chatted with the manager and other customers. From the moment I walked in, I was treated like an old friend. That first night I went, I ended up staying until 2am talking with the manager and another volunteer* who worked there. Soon afterwards, I was assigned to help with disaster relief in Florida after a tropical storm. I was out of town for several weeks, but when I came back to town, I was greeted with "Hey! Where have you been?!" when I returned to Neutral Ground. Neutral Ground had live music nightly, but I found my niche with the Sunday evening "Open Mic Night" crowd. For the remainder of my year in New Orleans, I could be found at Neutral Ground almost every Sunday night.

I miss that place dearly. Since then, I've always wanted to own a funky little coffeeshop like Neutral Ground. A fun, comfortable place where people could just go and chill for hours. A place that showcased both local music and yummy desserts. However, most people who like yummy desserts also like yummy coffee. Wherein lies my problem. I don't drink coffee. I wouldn't know a cappucino from an espresso. Tim suggested being the anti-Starbucks and only serving black coffee, which would definitely make things easier for me, but I don't think people would go for it. There's a reason why Starbucks has been so successful. And since Coral and Duke have entered our lives, my dream coffeeshop has evolved over the years....I would love to have a dog-friendly establishment, but that opens a whole new can of worms with health code. So for now, my coffeeshop remains a distant dream. Unless you know coffee and are interested in a business partner. :)

*Neutral Ground was a "live music co-op." People volunteered their time rather than being paid.

Not-Red Velvet Cake

Have you had red velvet cake? I haven't, but I'm strangely fascinated by it. The visual effect of the bright red cake in contrast to the white icing is absolutely gorgeous, yet strangely unnatural at the same time. On top of that, have you noticed that people who love red velvet cake are absolutely fanatical about it? People like cake. People like cheesecake. People like cookies. But people LOVE red velvet cake. So I'm curious what all the hype is about, especially since red velvet cake is typically described as a vanilla cake, or a lightly chocolate scented vanilla cake.

So I start looking for recipes for a red velvet cake, and am extremely troubled by the fact that most call for one to two ounces of red food coloring. That sounds like a recipe for a bright red kitchen to me. Maybe some of you don't do this, but when I bake or cook, the kitchen is a complete disaster area afterwards. A chocolate disaster I don't mind so much. A bright red disaster would be an issue. I managed to find ONE recipe without a boatload of food coloring. Supposedly, the acidic buttermilk/vinegar reacts with the basic cocoa powder to cause the red color, so theoretically, the cake would still be at least reddish without the food coloring. The other striking difference with this recipe is that it calls for a lot more cocoa than most. Most call for about two tablespoons, whereas this one calls for a scant half cup, which is about 6 to 7 tablespoons. Oh well. A cake that tastes like chocolate. That's hardly a crime.

When I went to the grocery store, I could only find lowfat buttermilk. Those of you who know me know that I subscribe to the Paula Deen school of butter, so I don't really do lowfat anything. I'm a little concerned that this might affect the color. But, worst case scenario, I have a chocolate cake that looks and tastes like a chocolate cake. I don't see a problem.

Red Velvet Cake
Source: Michele Urvater, from the NY Daily News

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup (scant) unsweetened, non-alkalized cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, at room temperature
2 cups superfine sugar (blended granulated sugar)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 to 3 drops red food coloring
1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
1 cup buttermilk
Frosting (recipe follows)
3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

Red Velvet Cake

Serves 12-14

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease and flour two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans, tap out the excess and line bottoms with parchment or greased and floured waxed paper circles.

Sift the flour with the cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt twice, and set aside. With electric mixer on low speed, beat shortening for 1 minute. Slowly add sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, and when all of it has been added, continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute, or until mixture has consistency of wet sand. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 10 seconds between additions. Then beat for 2 minutes or until smooth. Beat in vanilla and food coloring. Stir the vinegar into the buttermilk.

With large rubber spatula, fold sifted ingredients into the batter in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 additions. Beat with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute, or until mixture is smooth.

Transfer batter to prepared pans, smooth tops and bake 35 to 45 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cakes in their pans on a wire rack until they reach room temperature. Unmold and peel off the paper circles just before frosting. Frost the cake.


ETA: Sadness. Not-red velvet cake fail.
1. Cake is brown.
2. Cake is a tasty light chocolately flavor, but has a rather unpleasant texture. It's almost more brownie-like than a cake. It's heavy and dry. I had thought about substituting the shortening with vegetable oil to keep it moist, but I thought there might be something magic about the creaming method. I should have tried the veggie oil. And used full-fat buttermilk. Fat is your friend.

CGC class II and Delta Society practice

In the CGC class we worked on a few things that we didn't cover last time.

Test 5: Walking through a crowd
This test demonstrates that the dog can move about politely in pedestrian traffic and is under control in public places. The dog and handler walk around and pass close to several people (at least three). The dog may show some interest in the strangers but should continue to walk with the handler, without evidence of over-exuberance, shyness or resentment. The handler may talk to the dog and encourage or praise the dog throughout the test. The dog should not jump on people in the crowd or strain on the leash.
Two people stood in the middle of the room, and we just walked a figure 8 around them. No biggie, Duke's done this before. Need to practice a few more times though, he's a bit rusty and was a bit more excited (and thus was jogging around faster) than I like.

Test 6: Sit and down on command and Staying in place
This test demonstrates that the dog has training, will respond to the handler's commands to sit and down and will remain in the place commanded by the handler (sit or down position, whichever the handler prefers). The dog must do sit AND down on command, then the owner chooses the position for leaving the dog in the stay. Prior to this test, the dog's leash is replaced with a line 20 feet long. The handler may take a reasonable amount of time and use more than one command to get the dog to sit and then down. The evaluator must determine if the dog has responded to the handler's commands. The handler may not force the dog into position but may touch the dog to offer gentle guidance. When instructed by the evaluator, the handler tells the dog to stay and walks forward the length of the line, turns and returns to the dog at a natural pace. The dog must remain in the place in which it was left (it may change position) until the evaluator instructs the handler to release the dog. The dog may be released from the front or the side.
First try, Duke got up to follow me. Second try, I walked too far away and pulled on the leash a little. So it wasn't quite fair to him. Third try, I got it right. Yay me.

Test 7: Coming when called
This test demonstrates that the dog will come when called by the handler. The handler will walk 10 feet from the dog, turn to face the dog, and call the dog. The handler may use encouragement to get the dog to come. Handlers may choose to tell dogs to "stay" or "wait" or they may simply walk away, giving no instructions to the dog.
Apparently there was a treat on the ground about 2 feet away from where I was standing when I called him. After making sure it didn't go to waste, he strolled on over to where I was. Naughty boy. Guess what we're working on tomorrow?

Test 8: Reaction to another dog
This test demonstrates that the dog can behave politely around other dogs. Two handlers and their dogs approach each other from a distance of about 20 feet, stop, shake hands and exchange pleasantries, and continue on for about 10 feet. The dogs should show no more than casual interest in each other. Neither dog should go to the other dog or its handler.
This one wasn't too bad. The other dog belongs to one of the trainers, and is very well-behaved. The dogs walk on our left, and are on our outside when we greet and shake hands. As long as pups don't try to barge in front of us, this one isn't too hard.

Test 9: Reaction to distraction
This test demonstrates that the dog is confident at all times when faced with common distracting situations. The evaluator will select and present two distractions. Examples of distractions include dropping a chair, rolling a crate dolly past the dog, having a jogger run in front of the dog, or dropping a crutch or cane. The dog may express natural interest and curiosity and/or may appear slightly startled but should not panic, try to run away, show aggressiveness, or bark. The handler may talk to the dog and encourage or praise it throughout the exercise.
We had several distractions today. The trainer ran around the room with a dolly. Trainer walked around playing with a squeaky toy. Trainer kicked a few toys around the room. Duke did great, even when I asked the trainer to kick the toy closer to him. She kicked it right in front of him, so that it just barely brushed his paw. Then Tim, who was behind us, kicked it back, and it ended up hitting Duke on the rump. He jumped up in surprise. I don't blame him though.

Test 10: Supervised separation
This test demonstrates that a dog can be left with a trusted person, if necessary, and will maintain training and good manners. Evaluators are encouraged to say something like, "Would you like me to watch your dog?" and then take hold of the dog's leash. The owner will go out of sight for three minutes. The dog does not have to stay in position but should not continually bark, whine, or pace unnecessarily, or show anything stronger than mild agitation or nervousness. Evaluators may talk to the dog but should not engage in excessive talking, petting, or management attempts (e.g, "there, there, it's alright").
Tim and I both had to leave the room for 3 minutes. Duke did amazingly well, but again, Duke knows the trainers, so even when we're not in the room, he knows and trusts people in the room.


Immediately after the CGC class, I rushed back up north to go to a Delta Society practice meeting. The Delta Society registers therapy dogs, and they have a number of interested people in the area. We had a meeting today to cover the material, and so people know what they need to work on to pass the test. Fortunately for me, the Delta Society requirements are very similar to CGC requirements. We did some loose leash walking, practice "leave it" and basic sit/down/stays. It was nice to meet the people in charge of the program though, and they were all impressed with Duke, so he should do well.

Leash your critters!

While enjoying a nice long walk yesterday, Coral and I were accosted by beagle. He seemed friendly enough, but I find it very annoying when people cannot be bothered to ensure their dogs don't get run over. Fortunately, Coral is very dog-friendly. However, it would have been a problem had I been walking Duke. Just as I do not appreciate being rushed by rude strangers trying to sniff my butt, neither does Duke. He's been extremely leery of other dogs since he got bitten by one a few years ago. Really people, leash your critters, and keep them inside when you're not outside with them. It's not hard.

A little later on our walk, when we see two very young children (under two feet tall, probably just learned to run) running around on the street, ignoring the threats of spankings by their grandmother. The little girl did eventually turn around and return upon the threats, but the little boy was not phased, and continued running. Honestly. If your critter has less than 100% recall, they really shouldn't be off-leash, regardless of whether they walk on 2 legs or 4. I hear they have effective backpack or harness type leashes for the 2-legged critters. They should look into them.

And today, the above-mentioned beagle was loose again. This time, instead of a friendly approach, he came rushing at us, barking and baying, with his hackles raised. Hackles that covered almost his entire back, making his appearance very similar to a crazed hyena. Kinda like this guy, but with beagle coloring.










Again, fortunately I was walking Coral, because Duke would not have appreciated that greeting. And fortunately, the beagle listened to my own warning to back off, and turned tail about 10 feet away and left us alone the remainder of the walk.

Is being a responsible pet owner that difficult? Why, oh why, can I not walk through my own neighborhood without having to deal with multiple dogs running the streets, or having to listen to a dozen dogs fence fighting? I just want to be able to walk my dog in peace, or be outside without having to listen to the screams and bays of dogs who are obviously just stuck outside for their owners convenience.

"Five and five is NOT ten"

Actual words uttered by my very intelligent, and normally very mathematically inclined husband.

"high five" = hit my hand with one paw
"high ten" = hit both outstretched hands with one paw each, simultaneously

Tim asked for a high ten, and got two high fives (one right after another) instead.

Duke 1, Tim 0.

Who came up with the bright idea of eating cookie dough?

Really, who thought "Hmm. This grainy mixture with raw eggs looks good. Wonder what it tastes like?" Cookie dough, not exactly a gourmet food. It's made with raw egg (salmonella anyone?), and has uncooked flour in it, which results in a grainy texture. But apparently I'm the only person in the world who doesn't care for it. So when I found an egg-less recipe for cookie dough truffles, I thought Tim, the cookie-dough monster, would love it. And since salmonella isn't an ingredient, I wasn't grossed out by it.

While these aren't the best truffles in the whole wide world, they're strangely addictive. They're just the right size to mysteriously disappear. And if you have your own cookie-dough monster, they'll love you for this.

I made the recipe with suggestions from the Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats blog. That blog credits Recipezaar, but it is almost identical to Paula Dean's recipe.

Cookie Dough Truffles
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
12 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
chocolate coating


In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour, milk, powdered sugar and vanilla; mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Shape into 1 inch balls; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Loosely cover and refrigerate for 1-2 or until firm.


In a microwave safe bowl, melt candy coating, stirring often until smooth. Dip balls in coating; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.


Chocolate coating
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I was out, and used milk chocolate instead)
3 tsp shortening (i.e. Crisco)

Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in a double boiler. If you do not have one, melt them in your microwave on high heat for 1 minute, at 30 seconds intervals, stirring well between each interval. If the chocolate is not completely melted, continue heating it in your microwave in 10 second intervals, stirring well between each interval, and being careful not to burn the chocolate.

Dip each truffle completely in the chocolate, carefully shaking off the excess. (I find that using a fork or chopsticks works really well.) Place each chocolate covered truffle on a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Refrigerate until set.

FrisbeeDog fail

The local FrisbeeDog club had a playdate today, and they had another throwing workshop. They pulled out an entire case of frisbees, and we just practiced throwing back and forth.

Before we started the workshop though, I practiced a few throws with Duke. Unfortunately, Duke and I haven't played with the frisbee in a month. To keep the energy high when we play, I cheer him on and praise constantly. With the plague wrecking havok on my lungs, yelling and cheering is out of the question. Being outside in the cold is also not an option. Fortunately, even with the lack of practice, Duke did really well today. He seems to do better at the club meetings than at home. I suspect it's because he sees the other frisbee-crazed dogs as competition, and he doesn't want them getting HIS frisbee. And even with the slight wind today, I was throwing better than I normally do. I still suck, mind you, I just suck less. Duke even agreed that I suck. One of the more experienced guys was standing a few feet behind me watching, and Duke would catch his frisbee, turn around, and run right past me to drop the frisbee at the guy's feet. Repeatedly. I was not feeling the love.

So why the fail? After we started the workshop, we were all doing so well with the regular backhand throw that they decided we needed to learn new throws. First new one they taught was throwing it under our leg. Step forward on the left, then a big step forward and to the side on our right. As we step on our right leg, we basically do a lunge and reach our right hand behind our right knee and release the frisbee. If it sounds contorted and ugly, then you're picturing it exactly how I do it. I went through the motions a couple times to make sure I understood what he was saying before I attempted to throw. The frisbee landed 2 feet in front of me. After practicing a few more times, the frisbee still landed 2 feet in front of me. And my knee protested the abuse.

Second throw was behind the back. Step forward with the right foot, then the left foot. With the step on the left foot, we're moving our entire body so that our left shoulder is towards the direction we're throwing. As we're taking that step, we reach behind our back and release the frisbee. This time, the frisbee landed four feet in front of me. I also managed to kidneypunch myself in the process. Besides the obvious lack of control, I need to work on adjusting the angle of release so that it goes up, rather than straight down. I only got the frisbee to go up once on the new throws. That one time, one of the other handlers was retrieving frisbees in the middle of the field. I smacked her right in the back of the head. Oops. Good thing the frisbees are relatively soft, and I'm too much of a weenie to get much force behind them. Since I'm horrible with names, I don't even know the name of the lady I hit. I only know her as "treat lady" because she always has a treat bag, and Duke the begger keeps going through his repertoir of tricks for her to get a treat. Her husband is the guy I mentioned earlier, who Duke kept returning his frisbee to.

Duke is currently napping after his exciting afternoon, and I am vegging out in front of the TV. My tired body needs a rest after the torture I put it through today.