Blouses, Lost Dogs and Caesar Salad

Little Maya from Watford, England read my post about her and wrote to explain what it meant when her mom called her a blouse.

Suddie,
Lol, a blouse is short for girls blouse, meaning big baby!!!
Maya

Now I'm wondering is that a sexist term? What do you think? I prefer the more straightforward bitch.


I also received a note from Ella, my new dear friend from the Isle of Skye. She looked into the status of Maisie, the adorable 3-legged TT that needed a home in London and provided an update.

Dear Suddie,
Great news we just checked on the Mayhew Animal Home where Maisie was staying, she has been reserved for adoption and looking forward to her new home.
Love and licks,
Ella
That is great news. I just love Maisie. I can't help wondering what is happening with the adorable TT in LA that needs a home. HOT TIP: LA TT Needs a Home

And, now, let's get to the good stuff...Caesar Salad. I got dad to give me the Julia Child recipe that he loves so much and also a little a history too. A little more than I (and you) bargained for perhaps?

History

The salad's history is unclear. Contrary to popular belief it is probably not named after Julius Caesar. It probably was created by Caesar Cardini (an Italian-born Mexican). Cardini was living in San Diego but also working in Tijuana where he avoided the restrictions of Prohibition. As his daughter Rosa (1928–2003) reported, her father invented the dish when a Fourth of July 1924 rush depleted the kitchen's supplies. Cardini made do with what he had, adding the dramatic flair of the table-side tossing "by the chef".

Another story is that the salad was created for Hollywood stars after a weekend party. Others suggest Caesar's brother Alex created it as "Aviator's salad" for San Diego aviator comrades who were in a hurry, and the dish was renamed later, when Alex was a partner of his brother. A few fellows among Cardini's personnel claimed the authorship, but without success.

There is no direct documentary reference to it until the mid-1940s— twenty years after the 1924 origin asserted by the Cardinis. It appeared on a Los Angeles restaurant menu in October 1946.

Recipe

The original Caesar's salad recipe (unlike Alex's Aviator's salad) did not contain pieces of anchovy; the slight anchovy flavor comes from the Worcestershire sauce. Cardini was opposed to using anchovies in his salad.

In the book From Julia Child's Kitchen, Julia Child describes how she ate a Caesar's salad at Cardini's restaurant when she was a child in 1920s, and some 50 years later she called Cardini's daughter, in order to discover the original recipe. In this recipe, lettuce leaves are served whole on the plate, because they are meant to be lifted by the stem and eaten with the fingers. It also calls for coddled eggs and Italian olive oil.

Julia described Caesar's tableside presentation in her book:

"Caesar himself rolled the big cart up to the table, tossed the romaine in a great wooden bowl, and I wish I could say I remember his every move, but I don't. The only thing I see again clearly is the eggs. I can see him break 2 eggs over that romaine and roll them in, the greens going all creamy as the eggs flowed over them."

The Cardini family trademarked the original recipe in 1948, and more than a dozen varieties of bottled Cardini's dressing are available today. Some recipes include one or more of mustard, avocado, tomato, bacon bits, or garlic cloves. Rochelle Low is credited with the creation of the "nouveau-Caesar" style by adding the hotly contested ingredient of anchovies to the dressing recipe. This style is found in fancy restaurants with the anchovies served on the side. Cardini's Brand original Caesar dressing is somewhat different from Rosa's version.

Many restaurants offer a more substantial salad by topping a Caesar salad with grilled chicken, steak, salmon or shrimp. Certain Mexican restaurants even improvise on items such as substituting tortilla strips for croutons and Cotija cheese for the Parmesan, or the addition of tomatoes in the Letchworth salad.

CAESAR'S SALAD
1/2 cup day-old bread, cubed
3/4 cup garlic oil
2 small heads romaine lettuce
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 eggs, coddled (boiled in the shell for 1 minute)
Juice of 2 medium lemons
8-10 drops of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. To prepare the garlic oil, place 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped in a good quality (e.g. Extra Virgin) olive oil and let it stand at room temperature several hours or even up to 5 days.

2. To prepare croutons, pre-heat oven to 225 degrees. Toss bread cubes with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and garlic mixture and spread on a pan or baking sheet. Toss frequently and bake until golden brown, about 2 hours.

3. Wash, dry and crisp (in the refrigerator) the leaves of the romaine lettuce. Originally, Caesar left the lettuce leaves whole, and the salad was eaten with the fingers, but later he tore the outer leaves into 2-inch lengths, leaving only the small inner leaves whole, and the salad was eaten with a fork.

4. Place lettuce in a large bowl and toss with remaining 1/2 cup of garlic oil. Add pepper, again tossing gently. Break the coddled eggs over the lettuce, add lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce and toss two or three times. Add cheese. Toss. Add croutons. Toss lightly once more.

Serves 4.

Note: Instead of making the croutons from day-old bread, my dad buys plain unseasoned croutons at the store and prepares them on the stovetop in a pan with the 1/4 cup of the olive oil and garlic mixture. Cooking until the croutons are lightly golden brown. He also tends to be more liberal with the Worcestershire sauce and parmesan cheese.

Maya

I want to introduce my new friend, Maya, from England to everyone. She sends the following greeting:

Barkutation’s everyone, I am Maya Lola Poppy Hardy (Africandawns Lady Urisma). I am 18 months old and live in Watford, England with my mum, dad and two sisters, Ellise and Megan – well I say I live with them but they are all under no illusion who actually owns the house!!!

Mum says I am a text-book Tibby, happy, loving (but only when it suits me), highly intelligent, energetic and surprisingly strong (especially if I see a nice juicy bird when on the lead), cheeky and most of all, incredibly stubborn. :)

I love chasing birds and trains - mum takes me to our local park, where there is a river and a train track - it’s absolutely fantastic, swans and ducks on one side, trains on the other and pigeons and crows on the fields in the middle, what more could a girl want? The only down side is how muddy I get - mum had to put me in the bath today and called me a blouse when I cried, I got my own back though, before she could get the towel to my ears, I shook with all my might and soaked her, ha ha!!!

I also love chewing, it doesn’t matter what, toys, chairs, knickers - they all taste really good to me!

I don’t like having a bath or being brushed but mum seems to love it as she is always torturing me! I hate that brush and attack it whenever I see it but that mum of mine is relentless and she always moans about how many knots I have made in my hair – I don’t know what she expects, I’m hypoallergenic and need to scratch!!!

Right, got to run, I’m off to the park to hang out with my mates, Bonnie the Westie and Odie the Cockerpoo!

See ya!!!
Maya

Maya, that park sounds like a dream come true!

Called you a blouse?

HOT TIP: LA TT Needs a Home

I just came across the following Tweet about a sweet Tibetan Terrier in Los Angeles that needs a home:

Lost / found dog needs good home Los Angeles, Tibetan Terrier mix, male See http://bit.ly/JViQh & enter ID: A1096491 Please help!


I followed the link to LA Animal Services and found Rex.

My name is Rex and I am an unaltered male, tan Tibetan Terrier. The shelter thinks I am about 2 years and 0 months old.
I have been at the shelter since Mar 10, 2010.



It appears that Rex is being held at the West Los Angeles Animal Care and Control Center. Can you help find Rex a home?

The Department of Animal Services' telephone number is (888) 452-7381.

Diamonds Are A Dog's Best Friend?

Did you hear about Solly, a sweet rescue dog, that lapped up a $20,000 diamond?

Here's the poop:
ROCKVILLE, Md - One Maryland dog has some expensive taste. He gobbled up a diamond worth $20,000. But the gem wasn't gone forever. His owners just had to wait a few days for it to "reappear."



Me? I'll take Parmesan cheese any day over diamonds. After my post yesterday, I received a message from my cousin Miss Mary:


Above: Pioneer Woman, Miss Mary and her kin at home in Montana

"Well cousin, we eat Reggiano here in Montana and nothing less. Trying chewing the chunk of rind, guaranteed blast of fun. The smooth, waxy beauty of the rind is not to be missed, it has an ancient soul. I like the piece with words, and I want you to have some Reggiano words, too. It is simply a Must."


Right: Miss Mary with her live-in stud Jesse.
Miss Mary, do you bring fresh flowers for him? Make the wine cold for him? Sit by the phone for him? Oh, Jesse!


Well, Cousin Mary, my dad made a Ceasar Salad last night. Julia Child's recipe from the original Caesar's restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico. When she was a kid, Julia and her parents used to drive down to Mexico just to eat at Caesar's. My dad LOVES the original Caesar's salad. I will try to get the recipe for you. Anywho, last night dad used Parmesano Reggiano in his Caesar Salad. He saved a little bit for Roxie, Angus, and me. We weren't so gauche as to chomp on the waxy rind with the words on it. Maybe tomorrow, Miss Mary. Dad microplaned a little over our food. Cousin Mary, do your parents have a microplane grater? I bet they do. They must even have those in Montana, Miss Mary. The microplane also works great for zesting the lemon for my dad's arugula salad.

Parmesan Cheese

I don't think I ever told you that I love parmesan cheese. I really do. Sometimes my dad will sprinkle just a little on my food and it is pure pleasure. I guess you know that I like to eat. Remember my post Gourmet or Gourmand? My dad loves parmesan cheese too and sometimes I make him his favorite salad which consists of arugula, the juice of one lemon, the zest of one lemon, a splash or two or a garlic olive oil dressing he loves called Garlic Expressions, and lots of shaved parmesan. Dad shaves the parmesan himself with a potato peeler cause he doesn't want me to hurt myself. I like to toss the salad.

I was dreaming about parmesan cheese when I received a note from Lisa. You see Lisa lives in Parma, Italy. The birthplace of parmesan cheese.

I thought you would enjoy Lisa's note and her beautiful Tibetan Terriers:


Hi Suddie,
Our adventure with tts got its beginning in 1999 with our Princess Olivia (Ch. Schaka Ta's Qanda), and today I like say "what would be Qanda Lhi's without our Olivia????" She is a special girl, with a great lovely personality.
Because of this, one year after we got her, we got also her friend Kimba (Schaka Ta's Rah-Lhi) from her breeder Inger Johannessen in Norway.

We live in the North of Italy, and just for our dogs' pleasure we are now living on the hills, where the fresh summer weather and the great green place around our home are just the best for our 4 legs family.

Our dogs live in our home, and we are proud and happy to have at home so special creatures. At today we have 9 tibetans at home.. and everyone got my heart in a different way.
We have Olivia and Kimba, the older.... Nike the King Lion, Missy the indisputable Beauty, Tara the Devil with Angel face, Naga The Clown, Gina the Big Love of everyone, Nisha The Monster and now little Dora.. who needs to have her nick name yet....!

We also have lot of fun to show our dogs with nice results and big satisfactions. We have Italian Champions, Austrian Champions, Sanmarino Champions, International Champions, Finnish Champions, Swedish Champions and Club Champions....
...but what we like more is to live together with these special creatures.....

We love everyone of them... and we cannot immage our life without our dogs....

Cheers
Lisa



Lisa...I don't mean to be forward, but can I come visit? Dad, I promise to bring back some cheese.

Molly

The other day I noticed the following "Tweet" on Twitter:

DianeRav: Molly, 13 yr old Tibetan terrier, died Tues night after valiant 2 yrs struggle to beat lymphoma. The disease won. She was a wonderful dog

I looked at DianeRav's info on Twitter, but all that it said on her bio is "I write about education." So I googled her and found that she has a website and she is a professor of education at New York University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Diane has written many books on the topic of education including The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education which was published this year.

Diane confirmed what I already knew. Smart people like Tibetan Terriers.

I felt really sorry about Molly so I sent Diane an email and she responded:

Hi Suddie,

Thanks for your note about Molly. Molly was a purebred TT; she came to my home on Feb 15, 1997, when she was 10 weeks old. Her breeders were in town for the Westminister Kennel Club.

Molly is the third TT that I have owned. The first was Shag, who was abandoned by his family in New Jersey when they moved. He lived for 12 years. Then there was Jezebel, whom I purchased at the age of six months; she was a feisty girl and her owners didn't know how to train her. She turned out to be a wonderful dog. She died at 14. And last, Molly Ann Valentine, the best dog in the world, born in Connecticut. Molly was feisty, funny, lively, alert, a great jumper, with a wonderful sense of humor.

When she turned 10, she got very sick and was diagnosed with lymphoma. I took her to a very high-tech clinic, which gave her tests, medicated her with chemicals, then told me to "put her down." Instead I went to a locally famed Chinese veterinarian, who put her on a regimen of herbal medications.

Molly lived another two and one-half years. We didn't want to lose her. She was the best dog in the world. But eventually the cancer was too much for her brave little body, and she succumbed on March 16, 2010.

We love Tibetans. They are the best.

Diane Ravitch

You may not know this but the Tibetan Terrier Health and Welfare Foundation is working to address diseases and health issues that affect Tibetan Terriers and other dogs. Please support their work. You can even make a donation in memory of Molly. Click here to visit their website today: Tibetan Terrier Health and Welfare Foundation. You can donate online using your credit card.

The Kiss of Life

Would you give the “kiss of life” to your furry best friend?

A recent Associated Press poll found that 58 per cent of pet owners say they would try to perform CPR on their animal if needed. Dog owners (63 per cent) were slightly more likely than cat owners (53 per cent) to say they'd go mouth-to-muzzle, and women (65 per cent) were more likely than men (50 per cent).

One person who’s 100 per cent behind pet CPR is Matt Armstrong of Toronto. He revived his neighbour's dog, Sheena, when her heart stopped during a walk in the woods last month. The seven-year-old boxer collapsed suddenly and stopped breathing. Mr. Armstrong checked for a pulse but could find none, so he slapped Sheena on the chest and blew air into her mouth for about two minutes until she started breathing on her own again.

Pet CPR protocol calls for closing a dog's mouth with your hand and breathing into its nose, but Mr. Armstrong didn't know that, so he just took a deep breath and went for it.

“I just stuck my face as far down as it went and started breathing,” Mr. Armstrong said. Did he think twice about lip-locking with a slobbery dog's maw? “No, 'cause I love that dog.”

Mr. Armstrong saved Sheena's life that day thanks to his animal-lover's instinct. But for those who want to be properly prepared for an emergency, pet CPR classes are now available in a few Canadian cities. Sally Achey teaches pet CPR in Montreal, for instance, and says that while the general public may be squeamish, there are enough hardcore animal lovers out there to keep her classes full. She hopes to expand to Toronto soon.
“I've had people laugh at me and say, 'You're kidding,' and people say, 'Ew, I wouldn't blow into a dog's nose,’” said Ms. Achey, who lives outside of Rutland, Vt. “But the people who come into my class are not at all hesitant about it; they're passionate about animals.” Many pet lovers are more concerned about what they might catch from another human than they are about going mouth-to-snout with their dog or cat, she added.

Pet CPR is similar to the human variety, with adjustments for size and anatomy. Technique also varies with breed; resuscitating a Chihuahua is a different trick from breathing life into a Great Dane.

Ms. Achey's own dog, Tucker, acts as a test patient for students learning to take pulses and wrap bandages. They practise rescue-breathing on stuffed dogs. The full-day class costs $129 and also covers other pet first-aid instruction on treating bleeding, choking and broken bones. Ms. Achey has never had to use the techniques she teaches on her own dog, but one student recently reported that she saved her 10-month-old Tibetan Terrier from choking on a piece of rawhide.

“He gulped, it got stuck, and in a matter of seconds he was down,” Ms. Achey said. “She was able, without panicking, [to save him.] We place an emphasis on having people be prepared.”

According to the American Animal Hospital Association, 25 per cent of pets that end up in emergency veterinary clinics could have been saved if their owners knew and applied just one first-aid technique.

Sheena was lucky. After her collapse, the boxer was diagnosed with a heart condition, and is now on medication and doing well. Mr. Armstrong still walks her daily, along with his two labs. Sheena obviously doesn't understand the details of her resurrection, but Mr. Armstrong says she seems to know he had something to do with it: “When we're walking now, she walks right behind me, staring at me.”

Information on Ms. Achey's classes in Montreal is available at www.thesensibledog.com; more training information can be found at www.pettech.net/directory_canada.html.