Tense dog rescuer’s holiday fantasy menus
If our lives contained a little less dog rescue and a lot more free time, this is what I would have made as our main course today: Miriam Sorrell’s Christmas Magic Loaf from her site The Mouthwatering Vegan. / Photo: The Mouthwatering Vegan
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris ~
From freezer to microwave: A couple of Amy’s pot pies starred as Christmas dinner’s simple but tasty main course, accompanied by baked yams (all you have to do is wash those and stick ‘em in the oven), and broccolini (a delish hybrid of broccoli and kai-lan, or Chinese broccoli–this too you just have to wash and par-boil for a minute). Photo: Amy’s Kitchen
This has been an especially doggy year for an especially doggy family. With the focus on rescuing as many as possible, we’ve now got a bustling houseful of even more pooches than we did last year, and unfortunately one of them is pretty ill. So any holiday cooking around here is a matter of walking from the freezer to the microwave.
However, if there had been any holiday cooking, at least some the recipes would have been chosen from the websites listed below.
OK, hit the rewind button. What you just read above was a polite, varnished version of the truth.
The raw, unvarnished version is this:
Cleaning and medicating Sophia (R) several times daily requires time, patience, and optimism. Kalypso (L) offers us moral support. / Photo: Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
The Saint (a.k.a. Hubsy) and I are exhausted. Most of the time we manage to stay positive and laugh as often as we can. In between, though, I cry a lot. I’m snappish and irritable. Although The Saint remains for the most part his saintly self, there are hours when he broods and glowers. We want to make our beautiful senior girl Sophia healthy again and aren’t sure if we’ll succeed. Toward that end we gladly would give up a thousand more of the festive holiday meals that normal people out there presumably enjoy.
Shameless fantasy
One of my many fantasies: Rhea Parsons’ Almost Raw Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake from her site The ‘V’ Word / Photo: The ‘V’ Word
One coping strategy for me involves shameless full-on fantasy. Before bedtime each night, I sneak a couple of minutes online to peek at gorgeous, glistening, come-hither photographs featured on provocatively named websites like “Oh She Glows” and “The ‘V’ Word.” Then when I’m lying awake stressing, I move my thoughts back to those lush photos. I muse about whether I’d sprinkle a little more paprika on one dish or a little more cinnamon on another.
Heaven only knows if I’ll ever again have the kind of life that contains the amount of time required to indulge in making my food fantasies real. But if I ever do, at least some of the recipes indeed will be chosen from the websites listed below.
Thanks to all you dear readers for putting up with the whining in this article and other ones here on Spicy Stories Save Lives.
The Saint and our whole pack and I wish you the loveliest of holidays with health and love and joy for you and your whole pack, including of course those members of the furry persuasion.
Holiday menu fantasies:
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Spicy Stories Save Lives proudly sponsors needy animals in the U.S. and around the world.
For example we help Kefalonia Animal Trust (KATs) provide free spay/neuter for hundreds of animals per year, which is one of the best ways to prevent the abandonment and misery of puppies like Noah and Kyla. Please give to KATs via PayPal or bank transfer. Spay/neuter and education are the animals’ best hope for a better future.
Also please consider Animal Rescue Kefalonia (ARK), another group on the island who run a shelter and work miracles with terribly few resources.
Spicy Stories Save Lives and the author of this article have no affiliation with the rescue groups mentioned above, other than as a friend, volunteer, and donor.
Seen our book? Your Adopted Dog: Everything You Need to Know About Rescuing and Caring for a Best Friend in Need, by Shelley Frost and Katerina Lorenzatos Makris, available through Amazon.com.
