This is the face of a bunny killer

When Puppygirl needs to go out at night, invariably I'm the one who gets woken up to let her out. Around 3am last night was one of those occasions. Bleary-eyed, I turned off the alarm and let her and Shortstuff out to go potty. Shortstuff came back fairly quickly. Puppygirl did not. When she did show up to the back door, there she sat. Proudly. Next to her was a recently deceased bunny. My dog. The bunny killer.

This, unfortunately, is likely the now deceased bunny. I held a brief service for bunny this morning and buried her in the non-flower bed. Rest in peace little bunny, knowing that Puppygirl is in trouble today.

Chicken Tikka Masala

It's been a while since I did a recipe post, so without further ado, Chicken Tikka Masala. This is a quick and easy style recipe.

1 package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
lowfat plain yogurt
ginger paste
minced garlic
Patak Tikka Masala paste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, diced
1 glug of olive oil

Mix together 1 cup of yogurt, 1 T minced garlic, 1 T ginger paste and 4 T of the tikka masala paste.

Add in cubed boneless skinless chicken thighs. This is about 1 pound of chicken.

Mix together. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

After an hour, heat up a large, heavy pan on medium high. Add your glug of olive oil. Cook the diced onion about 10 minutes, until soft and golden. Sorry, I didn't get the picture of this step.

Stir in the chicken mixture. Turn the heat down to medium low. Cover pan and cook for about 20 minutes.

Add in the can of diced tomatoes. Stir well and cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

Before serving, spoon in about half a cup of the yogurt. Many recipes call for heavy cream, but I used yogurt. One, because I had it, and two, because low fat yogurt is a lot healthier than heavy cream.

Serve on rice with peas. You can also serve with yogurt cucumber sauce.

Two of the Bestest Doggies Ever

Last Friday evening I got to spend a little time with two of the bestest doggies ever. Aside from my own furry children that is. Tueser and The Boy have moved to Arkansas ahead of Dog and God and The Alpha moving there. I will miss their furry faces.

Me and Tueser

Me and The Boy - with his going away present

Pretty Tueser

The Boy - actually sitting still! (Tueser "killed" the toy!)

Cohen

A day of blogging silence for Cohen

IRL

I love meeting my favorite twitter friends in real life. Last week I had the opportunity to have dinner with Joey, @PassionMD, and his lovely girlfriend Carol Ann. He's just as wonderful in real life as he is on twitter.

Father's Day

Father's Day can be a very emotional day when you no longer have a father. I was quite close to my Daddy. We butted heads at times, but who doesn't with their parents. He was a quiet man. If he didn't have something to say, he didn't. The ultimate in praise for something you cooked was "not bad." When we were little my sister, the neighbor boys and I had a rotten vegetable fight in the garden. He joined in, nailing my sister in the back with a rotten tomato. She started yelling as he stood there snickering. God, I love that memory. He loved his dogs, his music, his vegetable garden, his family. And he left us much too soon.

W.A.N. 1935-2001

My wedding day in 1995. He cleaned up well!

Christmas morning, 1996. This was much more typical of how he looked.

The Aussie and my Dad on an unseasonably cold June day in 2000 in Cape Cod.

Family portrait Christmas 2000. This was the last Christmas we had with Daddy.

Damn, I miss him. I'm crying as I type this. The years will pass, and I have complete faith that I will see you again. Give the dogs pats and give a kiss to Byrde Byrde for me and tell her I miss her too.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I've been going through my boxes of pictures trying to find ones from my Australia trips. I don't have many pictures of The Aussie's Dad. I've only been to Australia twice, so I didn't spend much time with him. A barrister for many years, he loved a good argument and he loved his little chihuahua Kyrie. Somewhere I have a picture of the two of them. I have to keep digging.

This was taken December 26, 1997.
D.S. 1923 - 2006

If you're blessed enough to still have your father in your life you are very fortunate. Happy Father's Day, Daddy and Doug.

Stick a fork in me...

... I'm done. Not really, but this morning at 8:30 am it felt like it. Or, as people from the South would say to me "Bless your heart." Which is translated as "why on Earth is that crazy woman doing that, has she lost her mind?" What I did was complete week 5 of C25K this morning. 5 minute brisk walk and 20 minutes of running. It was slow running, but it was running, and I DID IT ALL!! 28 minutes and 15 seconds, 2.21 miles with an average pace of 12:42. I'm not ready to sign up for a half, but I'm going to start training like I am.

I'd also like to thank Shannon at SuperwomanSpirit for the Beautiful Blogger Award!

For this award I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself that you don't know about me. Here goes.

1. I am shy to the point of social anxiety and panic attacks when I have to go to parties or outings.

2. I spend way too much money on books, quilting supplies and beading stuff. (Shush up Karyn, you do too.)

3. The Aussie and I were engaged 4 months after we met. (We've been married 15 years)

4. When I was little I ran away. No idea why, but I did. I made it as far as the mailbox (about 25 feet). I was prepared though: I brought with me a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a butter knife and a roll of toilet paper.

5. I like dogs more than I like many people.

6. I loathe eggplant.

7. Occasionally when I was little I'd get up early on Saturday mornings, swipe the open container of sour cream or the open can of tomato paste out of the refrigerator, grab a small spoon and sit behind the living room sofa and eat the sour cream or tomato paste. I'd then hide the empty container and spoon under the sofa.

I'd like to pass along this lovely award to some wonderful and inspiring bloggers. Tag, you're it:

Julia at JuliaGoulia

Jan at HealthyLoserGal

Jess at HalfOfJess