Halloween and Labor Day

While you are all out there enjoying Labor Day and the end of summer I thought I would give you a little Halloween. This is a sterling silver salt cellar shaped like a cauldron.


A vintage fortune telling game.


Click for a better look.


And now some Labor Day food. This is what yesterday's baked beans look like right out of the oven. For a 'beans from scratch' die hard like me....these are fantastic!


At my children's request I made mac and cheese. I decided to make it with small pasta shells. First I boiled 2 pounds of shells for 5 minutes. You want them under cooked because they will continue cooking in the oven.


Melt 10 tablespoons of butter in a heavy pot.


Add 5 tablespoons of flour and stir for 5 minutes to make a roux.


Add 5 cups of whole milk and keep stirring.


It will start to thicken.


Beat one egg in a separate bowl.


Add some of the hot mixture to temper the egg. Then whisk this back into the hot mixture.


Add grated cheese. I used cheddar, monterey jack, and gruyere. You can use all cheddar if you like. The total cheese should be about 1 1/2 pounds.


Stir until the cheese melts.


Add salt and pepper to taste, some seasoned salt if you wish, some smokey paprika if you have some and a dash of grated nutmeg.


Then stir in your cooked pasta.


Put it in a heavy casserole and cook until browned and bubbling around the edges. I made this a day ahead so it won't hit the oven until later this afternoon.


I am smoking ribs today so I thought I would show them to you just as they go into the smoker. The neighborhood is smelling good!



I am adding a precaution here today about a very serious subject.

CANINE HEAT STROKE!!!!!!



Poor Teddy suffered heat stroke yesterday. As I type this, she is in the hospital. This is her second or third time suffering from this and hopefully I am now a bit smarter than I was before. I think most of us think dogs can just get heat stroke from being left in hot cars. That is a no brainer! NO dog should ever be left in a car unless it is downright cold outside.

But. dogs can suffer heat stroke from all sorts of conditions. Some dogs even get heat stroke from swimming! A dogs normal temperature is about 103 degrees. Dogs also are not very proficient at cooling themselves down. Once their body temperature goes over 103, it can be very hard to cool them off. Dogs suffering from heat stroke may develop diarrhea or vomit. Most often they pant heavily and seem disoriented. Teddy refused to lay down or eat. I didn't think she had heat stroke because her nose was ice cold. However, her underarms and groin were very warm. Now I understand that the dogs internal thermostat goes haywire. It is quite possible to have a cold nose and warm body while this is happening. Once a dog has heat stroke it is much more susceptible to developing it in the future. Always error on the side of caution. If you suspect heat stroke treat it as such. You can always change the prognosis later. Heat stroke can kill within 1o minutes. The first thing to do is take the dogs temperature. If it is 105 or higher, heat stroke is the likely culprit. Gently cool the dog down. Use cool water on the belly and groin area and bring the temperature down to 103 degrees. Don't take it down any lower. Also, do not use ice water because it will constrict the blood vessels which will hinder the cooling process. Get to the vet as soon as possible. Don't even waste time calling. Go straight to the vet and let them know you suspect heat stroke. They are very well aware of the emergency situation. A dog who is overheated needs temperatures below 80 degrees with low humidity to cool off. Never wet a dog down and then put it in a cage or an enclosed area. This will create a sauna effect. They need breezes or fans or circulating air to properly cool off. I am waiting for a call from the vet to pick Teddy up. Hopefully, we squeaked through this time with no real damage. I will be the most vigilant mommy in the world going forward.