Acclimation and Beer

I'm spoiled rotten. Why? Because every delicious thing that you have and will read on here has been tasted, savored and enjoyed by yours truly. Something I'm very grateful for and indeed, I do my duty of the dishes after every meal. Which yes, is not an equal trade but Reagan is happy with it and I'm good with that. However, there comes the rare occasion I actually cook. Sure I'll grill some meat on the BBQ as part of a meal but sometimes I get ambitious and decide to try something new. Below I've included a brief update about those "busy dogs" of ours and some foods I've prepared for our little family. I hope you enjoy.
Acclimation
After dog class last weekend, Reagan and I had a little chat about our most genius and deviant little dog, Luke. Named of course, for his knack for escaping from any attempted confinement. Lucas has come a long way, from the Costco 8lb packs of pastas that were pulled off of a counter and shredded throughout our entire apartment to the occasional and apparently tasty SOS pad he has consumed when provided an opportunity. Yes, he even is a model project for his dog class. His trainer often tells defeated dog parents of how a dog so defiant, smart and close to death was rescued and through hard work and perseverance brought back to be an *almost* model dog citizen. A tribute to Reagan's hard work no doubt. However, as we discussed when leaving the class last weekend, overall he has improved by leaps and bounds, but we also wondered, how much have we changed our expectations along the way? Have we become acclimated to a constant state of anxiety ridden behaviors that we have no choice but to think of as normal? How have we changed our behavior in the time that we have changed his?

It is with no doubt clear to any dog owner that most of the problems dogs have are a manifestation of our inconsistent or confusing behaviors, however, by training ourselves we shape our dogs' behavior into how we would like them to be trained. Last week I realized that Luke had also taught me a new trick that I was not consciously aware of. Previously, finding a brown box on my door step has always been a good thing. Whether a new shiny go-fast car part or a batch of good luck with finals cookies from Mom, a brown box on your doorstep is a little like a surprise Christmas (even when you know what it is.) So when I came home last week and saw the brown boxes outside our door, grabbing my key and hurrying inside leaving the packages outside to discover the destruction within. It hit me, what once was an innocent surprise has become a warning: Someone has knocked on our door, the dogs have freaked, your house may or may not be intact on the other side of this door, enter at your own risk...

The destruction actually wasn't so bad. All they managed to get their paws on was a Costco pack of paper towels that we thought was out of reach (though you can never underestimate package delivery induced psychosis.) Only one roll had been removed and distributed with great precision throughout the house and Lucas had donned a tutu fashioned out of the plastic wrapper. I'm not sure how this tutu would help him protect our house but I appreciate the fact he's trying to do something. . . It would appear that Luke is now Pavlov and I am his dog.


Beer of the Season
The package which had incited the frenzy restored my prior happy feelings about brown paper packages as it contained my first shipment of Reagan's Christmas present to me, a beer of the season sampler. Featuring my favorite of the four, a Mercury Brewing Company ale from Ipswich, Massachusetts. The Ipswich Nut Brown Ale an English brown ale that isn't overdone with too much sugar and much better taste than a similar ale like a Newcastle brown. They also included a good English pale ale from Mercury and then two nice brews from the Mendocino Brewery, the Black Hawk Stout and Red Tail Lager. I'm impressed with the quality of the beers and am eagerly anticipating the next shipment.

Fugassa
As I mentioned before, Reagan does work late and occasionally she has to put up with my cooking. One thing I made recently that I was particularly pleased with was some fugassa. Fugassa as my Grandparents call foccacia in their Sant'Olcese dialect, is downright delicious and the other day when missing family, I decided to make some from scratch. My grandmother makes it for me with salt and olive oil because that is how I love it, but you can add all kinds of olives, onions and cheeses to it. For this batch I made them both with salt and olive oil but cut some fresh rosemary from our garden to mix into the dough of the second loaf. Buonissimo!



Ingredients

1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 cups bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
optional- freshly diced rosemary leaves

Step 1: put the warm water into a warmed bowl, add yeast, and stir to dissolve. Let stand 3 minutes, or until foamy.
Step 2: add the salt and sugar, stir to combine. Add the flour and olive oil mix, first with a spoon, then using your hands, until the dough comes together into a ball that no longer sticks to your fingers.
Step 3:transfer dough ball to a work surface and knead for 10-15 minutes, occasionally dusting the dough with flour until the ball is smooth and firm.
Step 4: Lightly oil the large bowl. Place dough inside, and cover with a clean dishtowel. Put the bowl into a warm area and let rise for 2 hours.
Step 5: Punch the dough down and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Return to the bowl, cover, let rise for 30 minutes.
Step 6: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Oil 2 baking sheets (11 x 17). Place each dough ball onto a baking sheet. Flatten it to fit the sheet. (I would let it rise again here, though I didn't this time.) Using your fingers, poke indentations across the entire surface of each piece. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with fresh, chopped rosemary leaves.
Step 7: Bake for 14-15 minutes, until golden brown on top and bottom. Serve warm.


Pizza
Just pictures tonight, but Reg had to work late, and so dinner was on me. The always reliable pizza. MmmMmm.