Stats 'n' Stuff

They now have names.

The one at the lower left is Higgins. The other brown one is Freddie. The black one at the top is Alfie and the black one in the middle is Eliza. (Can you tell what show we're going to see tomorrow night??)

I always like to have "theme" names for the puppies so they are easier to remember. The groups where I didn't have themes are more difficult to recall. Our first puppies were the West Wing pups (Jed, Leo and Toby). We also had the Christmas pups (who arrived just before Christmas and had one puppy with a red nose!), The Rainbow pups, The Royals (Princess, Diana, Harry and William) and now the MFL pups ("My Fair Lady"). Other groups of puppies all had names, but not group names.

As for all the particulars, Eliza is the smallest and she weighs 8-1/2 oz. I didn't weigh Freddie when I fed him and he may be slightly heftier than Higgins, who weighs 12-1/2 oz.

I mix up 1 Tbsp of formula at feeding time and they take a little over half of that, collectively. Fortunately, all four of them seem to have taken to the bottle quite well. With one or two of them it is a bit of a struggle to get them started, but once they start sucking, they stick with it. Freddie is the bottle champ. They are all quite adept at peeing. Everywhere.

Today they are 4 days old, I think. Someone found the mother wandering the streets of West Sacramento and picked her up. She gave birth to 13 puppies that night. They think Mom is pointer/pit bull and the father may have had boxer in him. So it will be interesting to see what these pups look like as they grow up. I think Eliza is going to be brindle, as her coat, which is dark, seems to have barely noticeable stripes. (But what do I know--I missed a penis in sexing them last night!)

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After my Cousins Day entry, several people wrote to ask if I was going to post the recipe for pesto lasagna, so here it is, by popular demand. The recipe on the internet didn't seem to make enough pesto and when Char made it, the lasagna was too dry, so I tweaked it and made my own version. I was very happy with the results!

2 cups fresh basil (about 60 leaves)
2 cloves of garlic
4 Tbsp each grated Parmesan and grated Pecorino (I splurged and bought cheeses I could grate myself rather than buying the stuff I usually get. I think that helped make a big difference)
1 cup "excellent" (the recipe says) olive oil
2/3 cup pine nuts (optional, but I've come to love pine nuts in pesto)
1 lb Barilla lasagna noodles (the kind without curly edges)

Mince all ingredients, except oil and pasta, in food processor, then slowly pour in oil. Put in a bowl because you will add pasta water after the pasta has cooked.

Boil lasagna for about 8 minutes (despite the fact that the box says NOT to boil it. The pesto doesn't have as much liquid in it as regular spaghetti sauce so you need to soften the noodles). Salt the water and add oil to it so sheets won't stick. Remove sheets with slotted spoon and set aside to drain on a clean cloth. Stir 4 Tbsp of pasta water into the pesto (so make sure not to just drain the pasta!)

Melt a dab of butter in a hot serving dish, then lay down a layer of pasta. (If you use a 9x13 dish, you will have to overlap sheets--I used 2 lengthwise and one crosswise per layer). Spread a layer of pesto, sprinkle with grated Parmesan, lay another layer, etc. I used a total of 4 layers, topping with remaining pesto and then more cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, covered with foil. Then remove foil and bake another 10-15 minutes.

Serves four.

I served with a green salad and dressing made of equal parts of olive oil and lemon juice, some honey, salt and pepper (Giada di Laurentis was on The Today Show as I was planning the dinner menu !).

Wine suggestion: Vermentino di Ponente, a Ligurian white (or so the Internet says!)