Dogs On Thursday: They Work Hard For the Money

Employed dogs behave much better than unemployed dogs. It's a well-known fact in the dog training world. Whether they're herding, guarding, hunting, carrying things, warming your lap or just running around making everyone happy, dogs need to work to have good self-esteem and to keep evil Mr. Boredom away. You know him, the guy that makes them bark like maniacs, use the bathroom all over the floor, and chew up your new shoes.

So of course, the dogs who live with the Criquette pack are kept very busy. They take Mr. C for long walks every morning, herd the cats, stay on the alert for squirrels, bunnies and any other furry creatures who dare to brave into their territory. They are ferocious guard dogs (and they mean business, too) yet are always happy to be outside chasing the little kids on the block and tolerating lots of hugs and kisses. And let's not forget the critical job of helping their mommy keep the floors clean.

Today, however, they were prepared to take on another job. You see, that yucky bug I caught over the weekend hit me again and I had to come home early yesterday afternoon. I made a cozy nest on the sofa, where I could recover with the help of knitting and TV -

Nurse Chloe and Nurse Abbie, keeping the bed warm for the patient

Dr. Criquette, making sure the knitting stays healthy

I had to stay home today, to0. My medical team is taking good care of me. Remember the party that I missed on Saturday? My friends were so sweet - they sent me a big container of some of the most fantastic soup and a big slab of gooey, chocolately brownies. Tragically, I've felt too sick to eat the brownies, and I gave them all to Mr. C, since he made a special trip to the store to get me 7-up and rainbow sherbert. But the soup has been wonderful. I'll be sure to get the recipe, but I'm pretty good at duplicating recipes from taste and sight, so here's my guess -

I think she started with a chicken broth base. There was shredded chicken, barley, lentils, white shoepeg corn, celery, fresh spinach, and little shreds of parmagiano cheese. She seasons her soups with some garlic and Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning (I know this because I'm her supplier). I had the last of it for lunch, and I'm already thinking I have to make some this weekend. For my friends out there who don't eat things with faces, this could be easily converted to a meatless soup by leaving out the chicken (and cheese) and using veggie broth instead. If I can talk my friend into sharing her recipe, I'll post it here.

As far as my chicken pot pie soup recipe, Lynn wanted to know how long to boil the chicken tenders. Ummmmm... I'm not sure. I just boil them until I think they're done. I would say it was between 10 - 15 minutes. I'd take one out at 10 minutes (while the rest is still boiling), and cut it open. If it has any pink on the inside, throw it back in and cook it another 5 minutes or so. They get white and sort of curled when they're done. Be sure to pop on over to see Lynn and scroll down past the adorable pix of her Girly Girl to Monday's post and look at her dinner - Lynn if you lived closer, I'd be knocking on your door for leftovers (if you even had any!).

I've been up long enough, as my head is starting to ache again. I'm going to go crawl into my nest, which my nurses have kept nice and warm for me.