A Day In Two Photos - Accomplishing the Creamy Tortellini & Sausage Soup & Participating in the Canine's New Game of Home-Stay Neurosis.

I'll begin with the neurosis. Ever since returning from Syracuse, Karal has resisted coming into our home on Mt. Pleasant. She loves going for rides, visiting friends, taking walks, and playing, but she's not thrilled to be indoors. Today, after a walk/run (yes, run) she wanted to go out back so I let her. She needs her time to do her lady things. But she didn't bark to come back in. One hour, then another went by and I kept checking on her but she sat in the middle of the lawn. The last time, as temperatures dropped, she was shivering. 

I went out to play with her (which she was more than happy to partake in) then tried to get her in, but nope. So, I did like she's trained me to do...I went online and watched training videos. This dog has a personality all of her own. In dog psychology, she has associated Mt. Pleasant with trauma, most likely being left alone. Now, Karal is a Covid dog and she was used to the company of three in the house, then two, but now one. She was also used to three, then two, now one walk(s) a day. Normally I take her every where with me, but I can't take her when I teach, and she hates being left alone. My thinking is, post Syracuse, she just doesn't want to be in the house by herself. This also has come at the time when the front porch has been closed for winter. It's too cold out there and although she loves the windows and laying on my writing chair I keep there, I can't leave her while I'm out because I'd feel guilty off the low temperatures.

So, I read about reintroducing snacks as a love gesture. First. I left a trail up to the back door. I let her be, but when I checked on her they were gone. Then I went out back with treats and laid on the back porch. She came up to sniff me, caught whiff of the snacks, and began licking my face. I did the 'shake,' 'down,' and 'stay' commands giving her snacks as rewards and reinforcing that she is, indeed, a good dog (a pain in the #$@$ @#$, but a good dog). I also left the door open with her favorite toys so my heat could run non stop - it was cold. I was patient, as she seemed to love being fed for doing her doggy things, but suddenly she simply ran inside, grabbed a toy, and went to her bed. 

Go figure. She keeps me guessing (and trained), I guess. 

Meanwhile, my one goal besides writing was to make a creamy soup, which I've never done before. It came out pretty good, but mastering the cream sauce didn't go as well as I planned. I think it's because I doubled the recipe without balancing out the heavy cream and cornstarch to match the onions, garlic, sausage, and carrots. They needed to cook first, with milk and spinach added towards the end. I never used the milk, because I kept making rue with the broth and heavy cream. It was still too thin, so I added two cans of creamy mushroom soup. Suddenly it thickened. I imagined it would need the milk today as it thickens over night (and I was right...it thickened most definitely)

I give it a B+. What I didn't anticipate was how heavy it would be. I wanted to use a new soup spoon, so got a bowl, a chunk of multigrain bread I got from a bakery, and sat down at 9 pm for dinner. I could only eat half of the bowl. It was thick and heavy with the tortellini. I guess it's like eating gnocchi - much harder to accomplish that initially perceived. I will share with friends tomorrow and wait for their thoughts....likely an A- after sitting for a night.

But today, I shall shovel whatever did fall in Connecticut and go back to writing...also grading. More projects came in. It's about an inch of snow and then a layer of rain. I need to attend to it before it freezes because that is a nightmare.

Ah, a day of rest for sure.