Golden Friday

If you're happy and you know it clap your paws...

A few days ago mom was tagged to write about what makes her happy, so today we are going to write about what makes us happy.

Samantha: Swimming makes me furry furry happy

June: Chillin' out at camp makes me happeee

Samantha: Sunbathing on the deck makes me happy

Both: Playing in the snow makes us happy

June: Sleeping on my bed makes me so very happy and comfy

Samantha: Fetching for ball or stick or kong or frisbee makes me happy happy

June: Playing with Jack makes me happy

Cheesecake and Swimming Dog

A few weeks ago I posted that I wanted to make some jams and liqueur. Here's the update:

1) Made 6 jars (8oz) of cherry jam.

2) Made 6 jars (8oz) of double-berry (Blueberry & Raspberry) jam.

3) Prepared 2 pint size jars of each Cherry and Red Raspberry for liqueur. Will be straining the fruits out this weekend and add sugar to the vodka. Then let it "age" for 6 months and I'll have Cherry liqueur and Raspberry liqueur.

Also made a cheesecake using the Blueberry & Raspberry jam 2 weeks ago. It was delicious! Here's the recipe for the cheesecake, it's really a very simple recipe from kraftfoods.com. This is my "go to" recipe for cheesecake and I always add different things to it to "spice" it up.

Double-berry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 premade graham cracker crust

2 pkg (8oz each) cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 - 1/2 cup blueberry-raspberry jam

A handful of fresh blueberries, crushed

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, mix well. Scrape sides of bowl. Add vanilla.

3) This next step is totally up to you: you could mix the jam and the crushed blueberries in with the cream cheese or you could pour 1/2 of the mix in the crust and mix the other 1/2 with jam and blueberries.

4) Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool and refrigerate for at least 4 hrs before serving.

Now go make this cheesecake and your family will love you even more! :)

I will leave you with a video of Samantha, taken during our June camping trip.

I'm It

I've been tagged by Samantha at The Long Haul.



The rules are:
1. Mention and link back to the person who tagged you.
2. List 6 little things that make you happy.
3. Tag 6 other bloggers and let them know they're "it".



Here are 6 little things that make me happy:

1) Seeing hubby happy makes me happy, plain and simple.

2) Watching my girls make me happy.

3) Looking at pictures of my little niece Grace makes me happy. By the way, I got a copy of one of those artworks from her! I cried. 4) Relaxing at camp makes me happy. 5) Gardening makes me happy. I love to plant the seeds and watch them grow. I remember planting some vegetables when we were younger but we never had a big garden.

6) Baking, Cooking, Making Jams make me happy. And of course seeing hubby enjoying them makes me even more happy(not so much if he didn't like the end products).

What little things make you happy? If I didn't tag you, please also share a few things that make you happy in the comment section.

These are the "tag, you are it" person:

WVFarmGirl

Down A Red Dirt Lane

Sleeping Dog Bakery

THE ADVENTURES OF MAXDOG

Being a mother....a lifelong journey

A Tribute

My sister wrote a very nice tribute about my Ah Kong. She also posted some photos of his last moment and his casket, for my sake.
http://yeongshong.blogspot.com/2009/07/week-of-mourning.html

Thank you all for your comforting words and prayers.

Golden Friday (Please Give Dakota A Chance)

I'm posting Golden Friday today.

I realize this post might be controversial but still I chose to post it because in my mind I think Dakota should be given a chance.

Here's a summarized version of the story but you can read the full story here or here . I'm sure some of you may have already heard this news about this family dog named Dakota who had taken a newborn baby from his crib and the baby is now in critical condition. The baby's father said that Dakota snatched the baby from his crib and went into the woods. The baby had a cracked skull and cracked ribs and had one collapsed lung and one partially collapsed lung. The dog is being quarantined at the Jessamine County SAVE Center in Nicholasville, awaiting decision from authorities.

The baby's father has said he does not want Dakota destroyed. He said she cannot return to their home, and he hopes someone will adopt her. He also said that Dakota has NO previous signs of aggression.

So, I really hope the authorities will investigate thoroughly before jumping in conclusion and just destroy the dog. If Dakota has no previous aggression, there has to be a reason why she grab the baby from the crib. Perhaps she was trying to comfort a crying baby? Who knows? She will most definitely not suitable to be adopted by a family with children but there are other families out there who might be able to give her a home. We know we certainly will adopt her in a heartbeat.

Any suggestions of what we can try to do to gave Dakota a chance?

Also, I found a link to sign a petition to save Dakota: http://www.cafemom.com/group/416/forums/read/9428154/PLEASE_sign_the_petition_to_help_save_Dakota_the_dog

I signed it, proudly!

Sad...

My AhKong(grandfather) passed away yesterday. His funeral is this Sunday in Malaysia. Unfortunately I am unable to attend. I cannot afford the plane ticket and I do not have any required travel documents(it's a long story).

Ah Kong lived a good life. He was over 94 when he passed! He suffered a stroke more than 15 years ago that paralized his entire right side but he survived and lived for many more years. He lived to see not only grand children but many great grand children. He will be missed...

AhKong,
You will be missed terribly! Rest In Peace...

Lots of words Wednesday

I received this email a while ago and had accidentally deleted it. Recently Allison at Reflections of a Dog Mom posted it at her blog and I was glad that she did.

A Dog's Purpose? (from a 6-year-old).

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.


I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.


The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker 's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion.

We sat together for a while after Belker's Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ''I know why.'' Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the way I try and live.


He said,''People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?'' The Six-year-old continued,''Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.''



Oh another note, WVFarmGirl presented me with an award. For this award, I would have to first link it back to the person who gave me the award and then share 10 things about me that are true. Thank you WVFarmGirl! I am honored!

1) I love dogs, Golden Retrievers are my favortite but I love them all.

2) I cry easily. I cry while watching a sad part of a movie, I cry while reading a sad part of a book, I cry while watching the ASPCA commercial, I cry while reading about someone losing their dogs...

3) I am a loner, well, kinda. I would actually prefer staying at home than going out with friends.

4) I hate clothes shopping at the store. I see it as a waste of time because I usually can't find anything that I like.

5) I talk to my dogs all the time.

6) I used to hate cheese but now I love them!

7) I don't get drunk in public. I always have a fear that I will do something stupid or get in trouble so I will not let it get there.

8) I used to speak 3 languagues: Mandarin, English & Malay. But now I am only fluent in English and getting a bit rusty in Mandarin.

9) I heart camping.

10) I don't eat veal.

Ok, I am suppose to pass it to 10 bloggers. It is so hard to pick because I think everyone deserves an award.

My Home Among The Hills

The Little Dog Shelter in The Holler

Being A Mother

The PawPaw Patch

Moms from Khyra Khorner, Golden Samantha, Dog Tails: The Diary of a Distinguished Dog, paco e milo...i nostri amori, Two Goldens and a wannabe, NY Bully Brats

Golden Friday

More pictures from our June camping trip. We are going back in Sept. Can't wait!

June: Mommy was trying to take a picture of me and at the same time

yelling at Samantha not to get in the lake.

Samantha in action

Samantha: Got my frisbie!

Samantha: Daddy can you please throw the frisbie?

Samantha: I was fishing for rocks and daddy was fishing for fish!

June: Daddy caught a catfish! Mom had it for dinner!

YD: Now that's what you call Fresh Fish! Delicious!

June: So tired...

What's over there?

This Week

I have a few projects I intend to do this week:

1) Make cherry jam - We went to pick tons of cherries last Sunday(7/12) and I am plannig to make some cherry jam. I've never made cherry jam before nor have I eaten cherry jam. So this should be interesting.

2) Make cherry liqueur - Yes, I want to try it. I made some raspberry liqueur last year and it was very tasty. So with the amount of cherries we picked and the 2 bottles of vodka(I'm not an alcoholic, please don't send me to A.A meetings, I bought 1 bottle for our party and our friend brought another bottle) that I had on top of my fridge, I am going to make cherry liqueur. If you are interested in making some liqueur, please check out this site.

3) Make triple-berry jam - I didn't make any strawberry jam this year but raspberries are in season. I will try to pick some from my neighbor's yard(that is if the weather cooperates) and then buy some blueberries and strawberries to make this.

I'm sure some of you have noticed that I haven't talk much about my garden. Well, there is really not much to talk about. It's not doing very well. I do not know what is the matter, I want to blame it on the wacky weather we've been getting but I couldn't because my neighbor's garden thrive. I have tested the soil and I have fertilized but seems like things are just not growing. Potatoes, corns, cabbages seem like the only ones that are growing. Bok choy and napa cabbage are just starting to grow(after more than 2 months being transplanted!). Cukes and zukes...I'm mad at them. They just don't seem to want to grow at all. The zukes are the same size now as they were when they were first transplanted but they are blooming. Weird. Tomatoes, I'm very dissapointed, not much going on there either. I'm not really giving up yet but at this point, I doubt that I wouldn't get much this year. :(

Golden Friday

Just some pictures from camp to share with you

June, at our campsite

Samantha fishing for rocks. There were so many of them, I couldn't get them all.


June's favorite spot

Samantha, posing for mommy

(can you tell I just had a swim?)

Double Rainbow!

Some pictures and a recipe

We had a Fourth of July party last Saturday and everyone had a blast(except for June, I'll show you why at the end of this post). We had lots of great food, drinks and we even had a live band! I had mentioned in my previous post that my neighbor has a band, so we had asked them if they would like to play at the party and they gladly agreed to play. They did a great job! Below are some pictures of the party set-up and the band. Please enjoy a short video clip of the band playing(sorry I didn't video-tape the entire song)

Picture below is our new grill/fire pit that hubby made 2 days before the party. We all enjoyed the food cooked on the grill and we had a wonderful time sitting by the fire after the party. After everyone left, both hubby and I along with his daughter & her boyfriend and my beighbors sat by the fire and chat until 3:00AM!!! Good times, good times.

Here's the cake I made, I have seen this cake in magazines before and I have been wanting to make it but we never had any Fourth of July party so I had no "excuse" to make it until now.

We also did some of this! I'll have to learn how to take better pictures of fireworks.

Remembered I said that everyone enjoyed the party except for June? Well my poor baby is terrified of loud noises and doesn't do well with crowd(that's why we very seldom throw parties at our house). With the music from the band and some fireworks, it was just too terrifying for her. I went upstairs and found her in the bathtub and she stayed there the whole night until everyone's gone. Samantha on the other hand kept whinning to go outside to be with the guests and when I let her out, she was so happy and she went to greet everyone(and I really mean everyone). But when Samantha was upstairs, she stayed in the bathroom with June to keep her company(how sweet).

We made lots of food for the party: hot dogs, hamburgers, Cajun chicken, Hot & Sweet sausages, Carolina Pulled Pork, macaroni salad, coleslaw, potato salad, baked ziti, baked beans, chips & salsa, Sun-dried tomato & Olive Tapenade, apple pies and Wave The Flag cake. I think I gain 10 pounds just written all that out. LOL!

I love the Sun-dried tomato & Olive Tapenade. It's very tasty and it's so easy to make. I realized that I have not posted any recipe for quite some time now and here's one I would like to share with you. Enjoy!

Sun-dried Tomato & Olive Tapenade

Ingredients:
8 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes, reserve the oil
2 cups each of black olive and green olives (you can use just one kind or both or use Kalamata olives)
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3 cloves garlic
½ cup capers, optional
1 ½ teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese, optional
salt & pepper to taste *be careful with the salt as the olives are salty already

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in a food processor. Add 4-5 tablespoons of oil from the sun-dried tomatoes. Process until everything is coarsely chopped. Olive tapenade should be course with some chunks, not smooth and creamy. Serve with celery sticks or crackers.

Golden Friday

This was scheduled to post on Friday 7/3 but for some reason blogger did not post it. I've been having trouble with blogger not posting scheduled post.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

We (well, actually mom and dad are) are busy getting ready for the big pawty on Saturday.

They have got lots of food(which we intend to steal from their guests) and drinks.

This is our neighbor/friend, Jack. He is also a rescued dog. His daddy got him a few months ago after his previous dog crossed the bridge. Jewels was 13 or 14 years old.

Jack's dad has a band and they will be playing at the pawty! We hope Jack can come over too.

Hope everyone(human and doggies) have a safe and wonderful Independence Day!