Autumn Love: A Photo Story

The Kitchen Experiments of Erin & Greg

A couple days ago, Greg and I flipped through our cookbooks to find a new recipe to make. We settled one I had received as a gift a few years back from my Dad and Karen. We typically stick with chicken, so we flipped to the poultry section. Greg said we should just start from the beginning; we actually decided to start with chicken recipe number two: Pollo Relleno.

Cooking Experience Gained:

• There are certain techniques for flattening chicken breasts.
• White asparagus are not as good as green (We picked those for our side).
• Never cut jalapeños without wearing gloves. Because of this lack of experience, I not only cut them, but I used my fingertips to help scoop out the veins and seeds. As a result, I spent the following 24 hours (minus the seven or so hours I slept) pushing my fingertips onto cold surfaces. This resulted in several trips to the fridge to swap the soy milk for the ice-cream container then for the half-gallon of apple cider.

The result was fantastic. The breading on the chicken (a mixture of taco seasoning and corn meal) was yummy, and the insides were perfectly spicy and wonderfully cheesy.

Would we make this again?

Definitely, gloves included.

Just Part of the Pack Part 2

Lily was successfully left alone in our extra bedroom for 45 minutes today. She had a Kong filled with peanut butter, her water bowl, and her beloved couch. Yippee!

Just Part of the Pack

Greg and I are going to attempt to start leaving Lily alone in our extra bedroom. Her couch, which she is laying on in this picture, is located in that room, and it's her favorite place to be. Two days ago, we left her in the room and went on a quick jog. My mom watched her from Skype, so she could call me if Lily did anything bad. We blocked her in the room with a big box (she's not the most intelligent dog out there) and left her for about fifteen minutes. She howled. She paced. She put her front legs up on the box. She didn't lay down once.

We're definitely going to keep trying for short periods of time. She still goes in her crate for the most part. I've read loads of material on separation anxiety, and I've tried just about all the methods mentioned. Tawny, my sister, suggested I place a timer under a few blankets when leaving. The sounds reminds them of their mother's heartbeat.

Victoria Stilwell, a dog trainer, gave some information to a couple on her show It's Me or the Dog. Since dogs are pack animals, they do not understand when part of their pack leaves them behind.

Poor Lily doesn't understand why her pack leaves her behind. Would a friend help? Then, Lily would at least have half her pack with her at all times.

Maybe, but in the meantime, we'll attempt to ease her into a crate-free life.

Lake Onondaga

Yesterday, Greg and I took our first trip to Lake Onondaga, which is a quick drive from our apartment. There are two main trails. One is for walking and jogging and the other is for anything with wheels. I saw several people on Rollerblades, and I haven't seen those in a long time. In the winter, the walking path closes, and the other path opens for all traffic- whether feet or wheels (or paws). We'll definitely be taking more trips to Lake O. Plus, they have a dog park!

Check out the fuzzy caterpillar!

What to See at the NY State Fair According to Erin & Greg

As a reminder, Greg's comments are blue.

A glimpse at the usual livestock critters. It's hard to believe those little, pink piglets will become big mamas (or papas) one day!

A trip through the furs and feathers! We watched part of a rooster crowing contest, and we just made it past the guinea pigs and rabbits, when Greg's allergies informed us we needed to get out of there ASAP! The winner of the crowing contest was just a little guy who crowed 28 times in 10 minutes I think. It was funny to watch. Oh, and there were tons of piggies (guinea pigs, that is), and only three chinchillas.

A quick viewing of a the butter sculpture. Apparently, they release a new one of these each year. It was pretty impressive. After a quick glimpse, I left Erin to take pictures from the crowd while I scoped out some cheap ice cream.

Some close encounters with some exotic mammals: a few tigers, a giraffe, some dancing elephants, and a duo of camels. All cool things.

A cute pink tractor. Check out the wheels. There was another girl taking a picture of this at the same time. They get so excited about pink things. Okay, it was a PINK tractor! It was a rare pink thing worthy of a photograph!

Loads of exhibits from dairy displays to an international food pavilion to NY police demonstrations, which included a funny bloodhound that got all the attention.

Of course, there were loads of rides and fried food options too, but we stayed away from all that. Not only did they have fried twinkies...they had fried pizza, fried oreos, fried pickles, and fried dough. Ugh! The food was ridiculously abundant. For every one thing to see, there were probably 50 places to eat.

MMMM, Peanut Butter

Inspired by Animal Planet...