The Dog Whimperer plus Salad

So Friday was a bee yoo tee ful day in Charlotte . 75 degrees, a little breeze, lots of sun. I'm grinning and singing about the fall weather. I've got the day free and I'm sporting a brand new October t-shirt…it is green and it says BOO. I'm dogsitting for my mom, so I have Foxy the red mountain dog and my two. We go for a ride...

Then we go for a walk...

Not pictured: The stroller. The park is down the street from my house. Since spine surgery, Judge only has the stamina to walk to the park. He rides back. So I'm also pushing an empty stroller. On the way, we are an unwieldy bunch. We run into walls and trees. We almost tear off legs. We mow down recycling bins. We chase plastic bottles up and down the street. Luckily I'm the only one to step in dog doo. Dog doo left on the sidewalk by the evil Anonymous. (not us.)

While I'm trying to drag poo off of my shoe in the grass, the dogs wrap themselves around my legs, but at least they stay close. The stroller has a mind of its own and rolls almost to the creek before I can untangle the legs to get to it. Then Stroller time...

What I’m trying to convey to you is that we make a scene. People look at us. A lot.

When we get home, I discover the gigantic bright yellow factory sticker that says GLOW-IN-THE-DARK $5.99 still stuck to the front of my new t-shirt directly above the "BOO". Jeez. I didn't even know it was glow-in-dark.

So we hide indoors 'til dark.

P.S. You won't be surprised to hear that Punk acts up when I'm distracted by the other dogs. I go in the kitchen to make myself a fabulous salad and this is what I find:

Cappy's Portabello Salad (in her words)

Mixed baby field greens

Cherry Tomatoes, halved

Portabello mushrooms sauted in a little olive oil unti well cooked, sliced (use one good sized mushroom per serving)

Mild creamy goat cheese

Fried Shoestring potatoes (not like big french fries the crunchy little ones they sell in a can on the snack food aisle that woman used to use to top tuna casserole)

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Mix the greens and tomatoes with the vinaigrette. crumbled goat cheese liberally on top and cover with the warm mushroom slices to melt. Top with a generous handful of the potatoes. It was good but what really set this off was the fried flavor of the "french fries" the little crispies i used were too thin to really put in a big potatoe punch so I think next time I'll plate the salad on a bed of them AND use them as croutons. They really set off the flavor of the goat cheese in a way that is lovely AND surprising.