Old School (edited)

Ph.D. and her hubs are coming for dinner. I've been worried about what to serve. I'm not a (and neither are they) 'dinner party' type. We are having Burgers. Remember, Perfectly's dad has beef.....fresh, lean, non-hormone, non-antibiotic beef. He requests his hamburger to be ground relatively lean. I know...I know....all the foodies out there will bitch at lean burger, but FRESH lean burger is DA BOMB.

Anyway, what to serve with burgers? Chips? Nah...that's too easy. A salad? Nice alternative, but again....YAWN. Pasta Salad? Now THAT'S a thought....In fact, that's the thought I was going with. But once again, Dad came through, and sent some fresh veggies to the house. His garden was late getting in and is late producing--so I have a Zucchini. A nice one, too. So, we are having a squash casserole. It's Paula Deen's recipe. I've made it before, and it's always a hit with my family, at least. Hopefully Ph.D. and hubs don't hate squash or something. I don't think our lovely medium zucchini will yield enough, so I'll make a trip to the farmer's market for another, but still....it's yummy.

Ph.D. wanted watermelon......so it's in the cooler on ice. But I wanted something REALLY dessert-ish. What's more old school than the STRAWBERRY PRETZEL DESSERT??

So, welcome to the 60's. We're having burgers, squash casserole and strawberry pretzel salad. Wanna Come? (edited to add) Oh...how could I FORGET...the cucumber and onion salad marinating in sugar, vinegar and water? Equal parts....salt...pepper, and you've got some drippy, yummy cucumbers!!!!

Now, Ph.D. is very private, so I doubt she'll allow any pictures, but do y'all remember me needing a BASSETT HOUND name about a year ago? This is THAT Ph.D.!! In case you forgot, they went with Lester as a name....and Stella is their Bassador (Bassett Lab mix)...so I'm sure at least I'll be allowed to show the puppies off.

Stella's story is sort of a funny one. She wanted a Bassett 2 years ago at Easter. Me,being slightly obsessive, scoured the local want ads and found a local family with bassett puppies.

We went to their farm and looked at the 2 remaining pups. They were exclaiming over how UNUSUAL these bassets were....they were all black. She assured us that the momma hadn't been bred with anyone but the daddy basset....and they were happily surprised at these black bassett pups. Ph.D. was skeptical.....she's kind of like that. Anyway, she decided against the pup.....and at the last minute, she couldn't stand to leave one there, and took the female.

We now have an adult dog with a basset body, feet and tail, and a black body and a labrador head. SOMEBODY snuck into the momma's pen and had a go with her, because this baby's daddy is not bassett. She suffers from some anxiety but is a really sweet girl.

Mr. P wanted them to name her ANGELA (he...he....he...Angela Bassett??? heheheheh), but they chose their own name of Stella.

Then last year, they went to a local family where THEY live and got a male bassett. So, when they come by, we have 5 dogs in the house, and it gets a little busy.

Okay, gotta run. I've taken allergy medicine and am loopy. About 1 am this morning I woke up as a complete snot ball....my eyes were running, swollen, I was sneezing and blowing my nose. I was a huge mess. I stayed home since this morning I got up and my eyes were watering so badly it looked like I was crying constantly.

I'm sure many people don't think allergies are really a big deal, but they can be. It's miserable at times.

Toodles for now, folks!!