SPARK on Monday

It’s MONDAY!  You know by now that means it’s time for a SPARK. “SPARKS” was started by Annie McGuffy of McGuffy’s Reader but ended when she stopped blogging some time ago. It was meant to be a way to start out each week with with a meaningful thought – something that spoke to each of us and hopefully everyone else who read it. Although Annie isn’t currently blogging, a lot of us who enjoyed her SPARKS decided to keep posting SPARKS of our own. Why? Because sometimes we need a little “spark” in our lives and these posts were meant to at least be a PART of that effort. Please feel free to post your own SPARK on your blog and let everyone know you have…….we get energy from each other that way.

I had so many ideas about what I might want to focus on for this SPARK-LY MONDAY – and this is what I settled on:

I sometimes expect too much – I know I do that………….But if I could just NOT do that, I am POSITIVE that I would not have as many disappointing moments.    It just makes sense.   That doesn’t mean I don’t want the best out of life or situations – just that I shouldn’t EXPECT it.    I’ll enjoy it when the BEST happens a whole lot more.

Have a good week – but accept if it turns out to be not what you expected.

HUGS, Pam

Sunday Selfie Hop

Greetings and Happy Sunday!    Time for all of us to show ourselves off with a selfie hosted by The Cat On My Head.    If you want to join in, you can click on the badge above and enter at the link.

No updated photos of yours truly this week (again) but I thought it might be fun to look back at my FIRST June 26th at my forever home.   When I looked at my old photos I didn’t HAVE one from June 26th that year but I did have this one which was from June 20th of my first year here…………….I have already beat up and shredded the “tent” Angel Sammy had left for me.   As you see I also had a NEW blue tent from Mom and Dad but I preferred the one Angel Sammy had left.

 

Mom decided to try a little Lunapic magic on this one and here’s what she came up with!

Mom used the “YARN” Art Effect  – looks just like yarn doesn’t it!!

We did a puzzle for all of you puzzlers too with this photo……………..

Click this mini-me for the puzzle!!   Good luck and………..

 

Happy Sunday

P.S.   Happy Birthday to my Auntie Carol (Mom’s Sister)

Hugs, Teddy

Bakin’ With Bacon and the King

Welcome to the Castle Kitchen!   Are You Ready To Make Something YUM?

I have a REAL treat for you today.    Some of you know my Mom was born in Louisville, Kentucky MANY YEARS AGO (eeek) and while she has NEVER had this yummy sandwich before, she is going to allow me to make it for her – it’s rather famous and you MAY have heard of it before.  Decadent doesn’t even begin to describe this open-faced sandwich of turkey, bacon and creamy Mornay sauce, an invention of the The Brown Hotel in Louisville in the 1920s. The story goes that guests of the hotel’s nightly dinner dance began to grow weary of the usual menu, so chef Fred Schmidt created this dish to keep the dancers happy. The Hot Brown is now Kentucky’s signature sandwich!!   If you want to try something different and yummy – this is it!

The Famous Kentucky Hot Brown

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salted butter
• 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, plus extra for garnish
• 14 oz. sliced roasted turkey breast (sliced thick)
• 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced in half
• 4 slices of bacon
• 4 slices of Texas toast (crusts trimmed)
• Paprika
• Parsley
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

1. In a two-quart saucepan, melt butter and slowly whisk in flour until combined to form a thick paste or roux. Continue to cook roux for 2 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Whisk heavy cream into the roux and cook over medium heat until the cream begins to simmer, about 2-3 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and slowly whisk in Pecorino-Romano cheese until the Mornay sauce is smooth. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
2. For each Hot Brown, place one slice of toast in an oven-safe dish and cover with 7 oz. turkey. Take the two halves of Roma tomato and two toast points and set them alongside the base of turkey and toast. Pour half of the sauce over the dish, completely covering it. Sprinkle with additional cheese. Place entire dish under a broiler until cheese begins to brown and bubble. Remove and cross two pieces of crispy bacon on top. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley and serve immediately.

I know it sounds complicated and it is a TAD beyond most of the simple recipes I try to give you but just TRUST me – it’s so very worth the effort.    I’m sure you can do some improvising for some of this recipe as well as maybe some of the ingredients (like not everyone has access to Texas toast but it’s extra THICK bread)……….but you all can get creative.   Main thing is to try this combination because it’s YUMMY.

Yep – that’s what you’ll say when you wrap your mouth around a fork full of this – trust me. 

Nothing like a good laugh with a good meal!

Your King of Bacon………..Sir Teddy

Friendly Fill-Ins Hop

Friday is here and so are the fill-in sentences from our two co-hosts for the HOP – Four-Legged Furballs and 15andMeowing!    You can join up if you want to by clicking on the badge above and linking up with us.    Just fill in the blanks our co-hosts leave for us and that’s that.

Here are this week’s four sentences.    AND – this week I filled all the blanks by myself!    (Mom was napping when I did them…haha)

 

1. The grossest food  I ever ate was – well I can’t answer this one because I refuse to eat anything that’s icky or chunky or too dry (yes I’m picky!)

2. The best tasting food I ever had was Royal Canin Loaf in Sauce – oh I do love it especially when Mom adds extra water.

3. I should probably stop waking my Mom up every morning at 3AM, but I won’t.

4. If I could have an unlimited supply of one item, I would pick FRESH AIR (outside!)

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There you have it – fill-ins by yours truly without Mom.    I have to admit though she would have been good with answering a couple of these and my answers are lame!   Oh well – maybe next week we’ll share again!

Hugs, Teddy

Sunday Selfie Hop

It’s Selfie Hop day AND Father’s Day.    Two great occasions rolled into one.    Happy Father’s Day to all Dads out there – whether your’re a Pet Daddy or a Child Daddy, being a Daddy is not easy but it’s also very important.    We appreciate Dads everywhere for all they do to make our lives happy and safe.

Now for Selfies – you know that our buddies at The Cat On My Head do a Hop every Sunday where we get to show ourselves off with a Selfie.   You also know by now that my Mom isn’t the BEST at remembering to take a photo of me for Selfie Sunday.   SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO today we dip back into the darkeness of time and do a FLASHBACK Selfie for Father’s Day.

Too bad it’s not a good photo but it is of course my Dad holding me – I’m already a pretty big boy at 11 months when they adopted me – and this was taken two weeks after I was brought from the shelter to my FOREVER HOME!    These days both Mom and Dad have a tough time holding me – for one thing I’m squirmy, and for another I weigh 25 lbs. so holding me is a SHORT TERM activity……………….hahaha

At any rate, we thought maybe we’d jazz this boring photo up a bit for this special occasion.    We of course used Lunapic and the art filter was called “Fairy”…………..

I like this effect……………….I think it will be a good one for the puzzle too…………….doesn’t my fur look cool?     Also – please note that I’m SMILING!    Yep – I’m a happy boy.

Just click this mini-me for the puzzle and GOOD LUCK!

Hugs to Dads everywhere………but the biggest one is for MY Dad! 

Teddy