Mad Zoo House

From the Boris Bunny & the Vinnie Bunny. ;)



(to be fair, we also have pictures of TheFyd and I wearing the bunny ears. What's not fair, of course, is that I'm not posting those. :P)

My new job has been keeping me super busy the last few weeks. 4-5 dog walks a day, plus helping out at the new boarding facility = gone for 6-7 hours at a time. Quite a change from the first month or so when it was much more sporadic and allowed for time to come home and hang with my own pups (and use my own bathroom).

Things I have learned from intensive dog-walking, pet-sitting, dog boarding, yada yada:

1. I have been forced to get over issues with using other people's bathrooms.
2. Some clients (with an 's'! as in, more than one!) don't have TVs. AT ALL.
3. Many people have more than one dog bed per dog. Sometimes, several dog beds per dog. (see, Mom? It's not just me. :P)
   
4. Approximately 87% of the drivers on the road in mid-day are slow and annoying drivers. ("annoying" is actually a nice way of putting it, but I'm trying to keep the potty mouth off the blog)
   
5. Having a "high maintenance, challenging" dog like Boris has prepared me for absolutely anything.
6. If you're a single guy reading this, the best way to meet women is to get a puppy and take him/her for walks. A lot. Especially if the puppy is, say, a 3-month-old weiner dog. Actually, I don't even remember what the guy looked like because I was so focused on the puppy.
7. Walking a dog, especially a beautiful dog like one of my clients, a Weim, means you have to get used to making small talk with a looooot of people. And being in Portland, more than a few of those people are coocooforcocoapuffs crazy.
8. I spend a lot of time in my car. On my busiest days last week I was putting in over 50 miles per day on my little Civic. Which basically means I need new songs on my iPod.
   

1. Spiedini di Pollo

¼ cup dry bread crumbs
¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
½ small onion, diced
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 3/4-1" pieces
⅓ cup olive oil
fresh sage or bay leaves (I usually make it without the leaves because I always forget to buy them - it's just as good without)
10-12 6" bamboo skewers, soaked in water (or, do what I finally did, and buy re-usable metal skewers to skip the water-soaking step; but don't do what I did the first time I used them and pick them up off the grill with my bare hands. ow.)

Preheat oven to 425 or light a medium-high fire in a charcoal or gas grill.
In a small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese, onion, salt & pepper. Dip chicken pieces in olive oil, then coat each piece with bread crumb mixture. (Please note that at this point, while your hands are a mess of raw chicken, olive oil, bread crumbs, etc, one or both of your eyes WILL start to itch.) Thread the chicken pieces onto a skewer, alternating each piece with sage leaf until 4” of skewer is covered (end and begin with chicken).
To cook in oven, place on an oiled baking sheet or pan & bake until done, 10-12 minutes.
To grill, brush grill with vegetable oil. Place chicken at edge of hot grate so skewers are away from direct heat. Grill, turning after 2 minutes, to cook the outside of meat. Continue to cook for 3-4 minutes per side.
Transfer to a platter and serve.


2. Steak with Soy Marinade and Caramelized Onions

¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium white onion, sliced into rings
filet or flank steak (I make this with pork more often than not - just as yummy!)

Add first 5 ingredients to large Ziploc bag, mix well. Add steaks and marinate in fridge for no more than 30 minutes (as the soy sauce will make the beef a little salty if left on for more).
Remove steak from bag and prepare grill/broiler. Dump the contents of the remaining marinade in a medium saucepan and bring to a soft boil (med/high) and then simmer on med/low. Continue to let simmer while you are cooking your steaks as usual.
Once steaks are done, top with carmelized onions/juice from saucepan.

Makes steak so tender and the marinade sauce adds a nice sweetness to the meat!

So I'm not a frequent blogger. Either I think of things to say while I'm in the car and forget when I get home; or I have nothing to say because the most exciting thing I did that day was bathe the dogs (and I've already posted about that a couple of times here :O ); or I can't bring myself to share the deep inner stuff because my mom or mother-in-law may read it (Hi, Elisabeth!). I mean, even the people led here by such specific searches as "nail biting" and "salad sac" must be sorely disappointed. :P

So, until I figure it out, I give you a list of businesses in Montavilla (to the right), the neighborhood where I live. It's actually a list of the businesses in the span of a block or two down the street. And with the exception of Ya Hala, they've all opened in the 2.75 years that we've lived here. We bring all the cool stuff. Please note the Academy Theater is celebrating their first anniversary of the grand (re)opening this weekend! There will be a Wizard of Oz and Grease Sing-along!

And, an unrelated sidebar - because I like to help my fellow man - if you ever find yourself using Dove lotion to soothe your dry hands, whatever you do, do NOT rub your eyes after applying the lotion. motherbleepingOWWWWW!

So after two months of dutifully self-manicuring every week, even though my nail polishing skillz are less than mad, it just took one stressful afternoon at work to chew off all my nails. Bye-bye, progress. :(

a very young (early 20s) man holding one of those signs begging for money:
"Iraqi vet. Beer is cheaper than therapy."


:/

Why? Because my new job is perfection. I feel like I am where I am supposed to be. Yay! :)