Sunday Dinner with Rachel Ray…sorta

I must confess, until last summer at Book Expo America in New York City…I did not know who Rachel Ray was. Then my friend Season said excitedly that Rachel Ray was there and she HAD to go get her autograph for her husband. Now, had Rachel Ray been known for giving great advice on snagging designer shoes at PAYLESS prices…then I would have known who she was. But she was a cook…and the only class I ever failed was Home Economics and my cooking, while excellent of course, is composed mostly of salads and leftovers someone else cooked first.

Turned out that Mr. Season LOVED Rachel Ray. He watched her show and wistfully hinted that Season (culinary skills akin to mine) should attempt to create some of her recipes for him. Curious…I called Rodney on my cell phone. Rodney, in case you don’t know, is not completely a boyfriend and far removed from a husband, Nonetheless we’ve spent many years tolerating each other and he does have the privilege of being referred to as “Sadie’s Dad.”

I was surprised at his response to my query about his knowledge of Rachel Ray. He was ecstatic…and if you know Rodney…it takes a LOT to get some excitement out of him. Seems all those nights he walks across the street to his Lizard Pit as he calls his condominium…he’s spending them in front of his television longing for Rachel Ray…more accurately…her culinary creations.

He knew ALL about her. Where she lived…where all she had gone for food excursions…and was thrilled that she could travel on $40 a day AND drink beer with her dinners. Well…blow me away.

So I found myself in the line of Rachel Ray admirers hoping to get an autograph for Rodney and I did. Rachel Ray was a really nice person and even posed for a picture with me…I finally appeared on the bulletin board of Rodney’s office only because I was in the photograph with Rachel. Season also got a signed photograph for her husband. We’re lucky she even signed them for us. We were the only women in line not getting a cookbook or recipe signed as we pathetically asked for a photo to be signed to someone else.This was pretty good for us though, as we got to spend more money on ourselves in NYC instead of on a present for these two.

So today, I decided to try one of Rachel’s recipes and invite Rodney over. After an evening of visiting 3 supermarkets and finally getting home after 11:00 p.m. I had (or thought I did) all the ingredients to make something I’d watched her do effortlessly on television in 30 minutes. It was called the ROAD TO MOROCCO LAMB and it looked delicious. Forgetting all about geography, but recalling how much Rodney loved Indian food, I paid attention to her preparations and felt this was the recipe to dazzle him with. India…Morocco….they’re at least on the same ocean I think.

And finally…5.5 hours after I started the preparations…we sat down to eat. Rodney, like most men, arrived right before the meal was served. Men are usually pretty scarce in the kitchen during the preparations unless they are plying you with the wine you need to be using in the recipe in hopes of a dessert not on the menu…but that’s another story. He was amazed at how dazzling the smells were that overwhelmed him as he stepped into the front door. So far so good, because Rachel Ray had commented several times about how aromatic this dish was.

If you want to avoid Canine Chaos while dining, I suggest you plan ahead. In my case today, I was unable to procure a boneless leg of lamb as Rachel easily did with the abundance of butchers in NYC. Here, I had to make do with the only leg of lamb available at the local Walmart..complete with bone. So I trimmed the meat off the bone…cut off the fat…and cooked the bone and remnants ahead of time for Sadie. I fed her just as we were sitting down to eat and it was nothing short of miraculous She loved the lamb and broth mixed with her food and after eating, was content to lie under the table. She never begged even one bite!

Rodney too was silent during the meal. His only comment concerned the herb infused olive oil for dipping the rosemary-potato crusty rolls in (easily purchased already made at the store). He asked why I had it in an ash tray (I didn’t) but I ignored it because he is struggling to quit smoking and everything reminds him of ashtrays these days.

The meal was delicious and I didn’t’ even have to say to myself that I had outdone myself…with a little help from Rachel. Rodney was very complimentary about every aspect of the meal. ..and happy that I packed up the leftovers for him to have for lunch tomorrow. Sadie also has leftovers for tomorrow and so do I. It was a very satisfying experience and next time I attempt one of Rachel’s Meals in 30 Minutes…I’ll be most happy to have shaved my time down to 4 hours start to finish. I think we can count on a lot of Sunday dinners before I make it into the 30 minute window. After all, it sometimes used to take me and entire day just to eat something without Sadie knowing I was doing so…this is a monumental improvement!

THE DOGS NEXT DOOR

Things aren’t quite as exciting here in the East End of Charleston, WV as they seem to be in Holmby Hills, California. In case you don’t recognize that tony town name, its where the Playboy Mansion is located and Hugh Hefner lives with his 3 (Yep…THREE) young blonde girlfriends. This whole scenario is the subject matter of yet another reality TV show called THE GIRLS NEXT DOOR which chronicles the lives of the mansion residents…and their canine companions as well.

Sadie and I have watched this show on occasion, but I don’t want her to see it too often for a few reasons. First of all, I don’t want her to think I can afford all the luxuries the mansion dogs have. I also don’t want her to start expecting that her breakfast arrive via butler on a tray…with real china plates. The girlfriends’ breakfast also arrives on the tray via mansion minion, but any serving in this house would have to be done by me. So instead I eat at the Kitchen Island and Sadie at her Elegant Elevated Feeding Station.

We do however, have our own version of drama next door in the form of THE DOGS NEXT DOOR. The three neighbor dogs provide a continual source of intrigue, disturbance, and mystery to both Sadie and myself. We can see them in their back yard… and spy on them we do from our office windows. Sadie’s love seat is right at the window that looks out of the dogs domain and she spends many minutes standing against the back of her love seat watching these dogs. Every once in a a while there is an exciting bonus…a squirrel will run down the telephone line that stretches in front of this window. This is always very exciting and incites Sadie to run downstairs and bring one of her own squirrels up to the office. The stuffed kind of course with the squeaking device inside.

THE DOGS NEXT DOOR don’t provide the kind of neighborly entertainment those people with property adjoining the mansion acreage out there in California are privy to. These dogs don’t have any celebrity pals dropping by and no limousines clog our streets. They do however invite Black Cat by every so often and he is sort of an interesting character.

Sometimes these dogs arouse Sadie from a nap. She snaps awake and leans toward the window trying to determine what the dogs are barking about. It usually is about nothing and Sadie will sigh and flop back down to resume napping.

On the times that their human Dad is out there with them, she watches intently and has been known to whine, emit short barks, and run downstairs to the back door so she can get a closer look at what’s going on through the fence.

They don’t get any deliveries from exotic food stores, but we’ve watched them bury food in the back yard and never remember where to find it when they come back outside later on. We could tell them, but so far have refrained. They do sunbathe on occasion, but they always keep all their fur on.

And while these dogs don’t wash cars in bikinis, or have wild parties, they are none the less amusing in their own right. They’re not so funny at 5:00 a.m. however when they are yelping and barking, but they are usually ushered inside quickly when this occurs. And I’m sure the Holmby Hills neighbors can relate to this type of disturbance too.

Time, space, status, or species don’t seem to make a whole lot of difference when it comes to neighbors now does it? The eternal curiosity of anything different keeps us all on our toes…maybe just a little too interested in the antics of the Girls or the Dogs Next Door.

Book Release Readiness

Sadie and I can hardly believe it is now less than 3 months for the actual release of our book! We are feverishly trying to lose the 10 pounds we know we will gain instantly when we step in front of a television camera. That’s of course our goal to get some major publicity for our book.

The great weather has allowed us to walk on the boulevard a lot…last week I forgot I also had a Pilates class to go to in the evening and foolishly walked/ran 5 miles…did over 60 walking lunges and ran up and down 100 steps along the walkway…then I want to class. Needless to say I could barely walk the next day and was in absolute agony when I tried to play toss Mr. Squirrel with Sadie.

Sadie is enjoying having me home full time and we are getting the hang of this unemployed state…even learning how to stretch our dollars quite far. For example, we’ve turned the thermostat down low enough in the house that we really don’t need a refrigerator. Things stay at just the right temperature on the counter, and for things that need frozen…we keep them outside the bedroom window on the porch roof.

Sadie has been wearing her sweater and I’ve been wearing just about everything I own to keep warm, but hey…it beats a $400 a month gas bill. We do splurge on the electric blanket at night though and have not yet found it necessary to cut back on chocolate. See…things are not that bad!