Thanksgiving Blessings

All month I have been giving thanks for something different each day.  Such a simple, yet significant task, has reminded me to be grateful for the little and big things in life - and everything in between.  

Some days what you love is staring you in the face.  Other days it's not so easy to find something for which to be thankful.  Sometimes you have to step back and really assess a situation to find the silver lining.  I've learned that out of everything - no matter how seemingly bad - comes something good.  It could be the smile of a stranger after a long day at work, a wonderful home-cooked meal, a long conversation with someone special, photographs and memories, or finding a support system in an unexpected place.  

Though November and the traditional season of giving thanks is coming to a close, I think I will continue to try to be thankful for something new each day.  Today I challenge all of you to do the same thing.

Perfect Pot Roast

I created this recipe several years ago mostly by trial and error, just adding things as I went.  It is so easy - lots of ingredients, but you basically just throw everything in a dish, bake and serve.  It's the perfect dish for this cool, fall weather.

Here is what you will need:
1 beef chuck roast (at least 2 lbs.)
1 package of baby carrots (16 oz.)
1/3 cup chopped white onion
1 bag small red potatoes (size C works well - 2 lb. bag)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 t rosemary
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic salt
2 dashes Tony Chachere's seasoning
1 t freshly ground pepper
1/2 t - 1 t freshly ground sea salt
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 cup water
1 cup red wine (any variety)

Preheat oven to 350.  Place thawed roast in the center of a 13x5 glass baking dish.  Surround with carrots, potatoes, and onion.  Rub one clove of chopped garlic on roast, and mix the rest of the garlic in with carrots and potatoes.  Drizzle olive oil on carrots and potatoes.  Sprinkle dry ingredients over beef, carrots and potatoes.  Pour water in at the corners (about 1/4 cup water in each corner).  Drizzle about 2/3 cup of red wine over the roast, and the rest over the carrots and potatoes.  It should look something like this:

Cover with foil.  Bake approximately 2 hours or until roast is cooked throughout.  At least once during baking, take out of oven, remove foil, and spoon juices over entire dish to keep moist.

I served with freshly made rosemary batter bread (a recipe I have altered from a Betty Crocker one).  I will post the recipe for the bread later.

Puppy Tales

Hello.  My mom has been very, very busy lately, so she asked me to fill in for her here.  Well, actually, she didn't ask.  I saw the laptop open and seized the moment.  She says I can't type because I don't have opposable thumbs, so we'll see who's right about that one...

Let me introduce myself.  My name is Lola Madeleine Brucia.  I live with my mom and dad and our three dogs.  Don't even get me started on those dogs.  I have a really awesome big sister and big brother, but I am the tiniest Brucia of them all.  My brother and sister are so cool because they rub my belly, give me treats, and let me lick their faces in a way that some (not me) would describe as excessive.  They have really neat bedrooms, but I'm not allowed in them when my brother and sister aren't here.  My mom thinks I'm going to go pee on their floors, but that's only happened a few times and I only did it to keep those other animals out of our pack's territory, so I don't really know what her deal is.

Our pack is pretty cool.  Not like that pack in the backyard - they smell like dogs.  We get up and have breakfast together each morning.  Actually, I eat breakfast about ten times a day.  The alpha (mom) leaves my food out so I have an endless all-you-can-eat buffet of Iams.  Yuuuumm-eeee!  The other alpha (dad) takes me outside a lot, but never leaves me out like some sort of animal.  He also give me lots of treats.

I know what treats are and where they're kept, and love them so much.  The alpha's tried to get crafty and spell the word "treat" out in front of me so I wouldn't know what they were talking about, but I learned to spell.  That's right.  T-R-E-A-T.  Actually, all they have to say is "T" now, and it's on.  You might think that "treat" would be my favorite word, but it's actually "wanna".  You see, "wanna" can be used in so many ways, but it's usually followed by something wonderful, so when I hear it, I know it's going to be a good day.  "You wanna treat?"  "You wanna go outside?"  "You wanna go for a walk?"  "You wanna play fetch?"  See what I mean.  Good times, that "wanna".

My mom and dad give me baths a lot so I don't smell like a dog.  Not that something like that would ever happen anyway, but whatever...  I usually try to bust the doors open when members of my pack are taking their baths, you know, to see what's going on, and if they might need help.  They don't really like this, but I can't quite figure this one out.  They watch me get baths and "oh" and "ah" about how cute I am when I'm wet.  They watch me go potty outside and tell me I'm a good girl.  I figured I'd reciprocate, you know, tell them how good at going potty they are, but maybe that's not how it works.  Maybe I should Google "do tiny pack members need to help alphas take baths?" while I'm here.

*ears erect, eyes focused on ceiling, heading tilting to extreme right*

Uh oh, I hear my mom coming down the stairs, so I better go bark out the window at the neighbors in their front yard to pretend I've been standing guard this whole time.  To be continued...

L.M.B.