Productive day

Just finished roasting 10 pounds of green chiles ordered from New Mexico Catalog and received a precarious 2 weeks ago--or was it 3? I kept them in the fridge, but still had to throw away about a dozen. But oh, the house smells so good right now.

I did this once before, a couple of years ago, but didn't write down the directions, and when I started roasting them, J-Man was on the computer, so I just had to wing it.

First, I put on my gloves! It's way too easy to forget and rub the corner of your eye or something, so I keep several pair of gloves available for handling the chiles. Then I wash them, and, taking a sharp knife, cut slits in the skin down the length of the chili.

Next, I layer them on a cookie sheet


and put them in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes, turning them as needed, until they "blister".


Then I place them in a gallon-sized freezer bag, to lie flat on the shelves until all are frozen.


Ta-dah! 12 bags of chiles, ready to pull out individual ones as needed for green chile stew, spinach enchilada casserole, whatever. I will probably give DD a couple of bags when she next comes down.


This morning, I took Tandi over to a new groomer's, recommended to me by a friend. Remember the experience with the last groomer? Well, this was a whole different ballgame.

I checked the place out last Saturday morning on the way home from work. Lauri was very helpful, very knowledgeable, and seemed very competent. Her philosophy is that if it takes 6 weeks to get Tandi groomed, so be it. She won't push my pup any farther than she can handle.

So today I took Tandi over there for a short visit. There must have been 6-7 dogs, all crowding up to the doggie gate, trying to get a look (or a sniff) at the new kid on the block. Tandi was excited at all the potential playmates, and had no problem milling around with them, playing with the stuffies and squeakies available, and checking out all the equipment. She even permitted Angie and Lauri to pet her and hold her, though she was just a bit anxious. I went off and left her for about an hour and all went beautifully. She was wearing her big doggie grin when I came to get her, and didn't scramble over me trying to get out the door. SUCH a change from our last groomer. This one looks to be a beautiful fit! So tomorrow, I take her back for grooming, and they really think they'll be able to get it all done.

They let the dogs run around as they want, as long as they behave, and just work on them all day long. If and when one gets a little stressed, they stop, scoop up another and go from there. There are fenced areas outside so the dogs can run and play, and they'll separate the large dogs from the small ones so no one gets trampled. Even when it rains, they have a fenced in, covered patio the dogs can play on. And it won't cost me an arm and a leg, either. I'll try to post pics tomorrow of my little furbaby, all nicely fluffed and puffed!