The Goat Pen

I'm sure Crotch has some good hog killing sto-rehs...

Another cousin?

Had a rough night last night. Our good ol hound dog had been noticeably losing weight the past couple of months, we took her to the vet a couple of weeks ago and he said she had the cancer. She was still acting normal, taking walks and jumping in the creek, etc., and we were planning to take her back to the vet Monday for an ultra-sound to see if there was anything we could do, but yesterday she went downhill real quick. When I got home from work she looked pretty pitiful and it got worse from there. Breathing real hard and just didn't have that same bright and hopeful look in her eyes that she's always had. We were going to try and wait til this morning to take her to the regular vet but by 10 o'clock it was obvious that she probably wouldn't make it until this morning, or if she did, it would be real unpleasant for her. We took her to the emergency vet and put her to sleep. They were real nice about it, but man that was hard. Rest in peace, Bubbin...

Been there a few times. It sucks. Sorry.

Second one this year. The other one was very old, sleeping about 23 hours a day, it was still sad but that dog was at least 15 years old and probably older than that, so we were expecting it. This one we found as a puppy, somebody had dumped her in the neighborhood and one of the MIF's daughters brought her home and we of course kept her. She wasn't even 10 years old. I mean, I know that's not a puppy and in fact well into middle-aged for a dog, but she was still plenty active and fully interactive with the fambly. Bad thing is we've got 2 more that probably don't have much longer to go (one especially), I can handle it better if they're 15+ years old and clearly declined, but this one was kinda out of left field. At least it was quick, she was out walking with us on Thursday and seemed normal and then within 24 hours totally broken down, so at least she didn't suffer much...

Is it to early to say I hope they put you down next?

Not at all...

Sorry, hedge...that sucks...

You'll find another dog or 2. I know it sounds harsh but that's how it goes.

The MIF is going to look at one today. She's had her eye on this one for a few weeks, bigger dog like the ones we've recently lost (and the next one we're fixin to lose too), I've met the dog too, they say she has some pit bull in her but I don't see it at all (not that I would mind, but I just don't see it), her owners are moving to the UK and they won't allow any pit bull immigration into the UK, so the MIF's pity antennae are already humming with that sad story. I'd say there's about a 90% chance that dog will be at the house when I get home this evening...

I have the ashes of my dog on a shelf in our house. The night we put him down I cried like a baby and again every day for about a week after.

I have a picture of him and me on my mantle.

Dogs become family. Swore I'd never get another dog and go thru that again.

about 3 months later we got a puppy, one of the dogs we have now. My wife loves that dog more than me.

As predicted, the MIF brought the dog home yesterday. Piggy. She does kinda look like a pig. Very sweet natured. Doesn't bark, breath doesn't smell bad. I still would've preferred some time to grieve for Bubbin, but the MIF don't play that. As I told the kids last night, if anything ever happens to me, don't worry, there'll be another body laying on the couch within a week...

Hopefully in 4 days.

Starting now

I've been trying without much success to master crock pot roast beef

yesterday I think I finally got it

eCats easy crock pot roast beef

get a roast nicely marbled in the 2-4 pound range. Yesterday I had a blade roast (not sure what a blade roast is other than it had cut rib bones in it)

I browned the roast in a pan for a couple of minutes and seasoned with Lowery's. Sometime I let it marinate in Dale's the night before.

I put the roast in the crock pot then stuffed it with a California blend of vegetables - broccoli, cauliflower, squash (normally I'd include potatoes but I've sworn them off for awhile), then - and here is where I messed up in the past, I tried a stew mix, a yankee pot roast mix, a chipotle mix - none of them gave me a good tasting roast, but this time I used Au Jus mix ( I think I spelled that right) the stuff you dip a french dip sandwich in.

Oh man, that was a good roast, just set it up in the morning, put the crock pot on low and by the time you get home around 5 its ready to go.

Tomorrow night is chili

We didn't really start using the crock pot until about a year ago, now its a twice a week thing.

What were some of your failures? I always thought crock pot was just put it in and let it do it's thing, as you described above. Just trying to picture some of the earlier miscues...

mostly trying to add flavor

I tried adding a can of stew, a yankee pot roast dry mix, a gravy mix, a chipotle mix

none of those worked until I just with the Au Jus

then it was awesome

if you just put meat , water and vegetables in, I think you get a pretty bland mix

not that I'm covering any new ground here I'm sure, but I've never been big on crock pots before

we always cooked roast in a big iron skillet with a lid, but it always hit or miss on how good the meat was.

The crock pot, you just pull it apart with a fork

So is the au jus a can of french onion soup?

no , its Au Jus

you pick it up in the gravy section, not the spice section

I assume there is a difference

I've tried French onion, didn't take

I haven't spent a lot of time in the gravy section, but I'll check it out. But this is a liquid, correct? Like a can of soup?

this is mostly for AA

next time you are in Tuscaloosa, hit The Broken Egg Cafe for breakfast

the menu is amazing. Daughter had strawberry pound cake french toast, I had a Floridian omelette with crabmeat and cream cheese, wife had a New Orleans omelette with crawfish and andouille sausage. Absolutely worth stopping at. We were there around 8:30 on Saturday and the place was empty.