I Call Bull

Dog, that is.

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It is surprisingly hard to find cute english bulldog clothes. And, yes. I realize that might be a weird thing to search for, but I like bulldogs. I like clothes. And ever the two shall meet.

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There are numerous french bulldog items. And pug items. But hardly ever english bulldogs. I wonder why that is. Whatever the reason, I usually scoop up the French Bulldog tees and give them love, any way. This French Bulldog shirt was no exception. My husband wants our next dog to be a French Bulldog. I want to stick with what we have, um, because have you seen our walls? They are covered in English Bulldog and Bichon paintings. It would seem weird not to continue the theme.

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But, I digress.

What I really want to talk about is the act of getting dressed.

I am not a fashion blog. Or a style blog. Or anything like that, regardless of what some might think. I know nothing about either of those things.

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I am simply a “getting dressed” blog.

As in, whoppee! I got dressed today! I can do this thing called life. Let’s be dressed together because whilst naked always sounds like fun it rarely ends up being so. Just ask my neighbors.

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Men and women used to dress for the day. They used to really dress. I am not quite sure when it stopped. To be frank, I don’t really care what anybody else wears. I would never judge. I just wish that it went both ways.

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For instance, I was at the grocery store later the day I wore this last week and the cashier said to me, “You’re all dressed up. Where are you going?” And I thought to myself, I’m wearing a dog t-shirt and a skirt. This should not be described as dressed up.

I started to feel defensive as other people turned to stare at the ridiculous girl who was dressed up.

“I just came back from a date,” I lied.

Well, I kind of lied. I had gone and seen a movie with my husband but we ate at Del Taco and went to the early bird seating. The whole “experience” cost less than $20. It was not exactly fancy, but again… dog t-shirt.

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Honestly, putting on happy clothes makes a huge difference in my day. I knew I wanted to pair this happy shirt with my skirt I had scored at the consignment store last year for $10 (similar skirt here. I previously wore the skirt in this post here with my bulldog). The Glimmered Horseshoe Necklace, boots and belt were past sale scores from Anthropologie. And the scarf is a few years old from H&M.

Are you one of the “dressed up” few? How does that make you feel?

Did you notice that I never, not once, mentioned the somewhat unfortunate placement of the bulldogs on this shirt? It is because I am growing up. I didn’t even snicker it at all.

Bull…

Chocolate Pie

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I am a pie girl. I love it. I like how pretty it looks when it comes out of the oven. The smell of it cooking. This is my first sweet pie I have posted. I have done three savory pies: chicken pot pie, tuna pie, and sloppy joe pie. I kind of want to eat them all. Right now. Yum!

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Speaking of which: I made a tuna pie tonight. Excuse my diversion, but isn’t she perty?

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Oh! And for dessert, I made a pistachio pudding pie. So, when I do not fit into any of my clothes next week, please just whisper one torturous word into my ear: “pie.”

Notice: “pie” rhymes with “thigh.” Coincidence?

I think not.

Excuse me while I “cry.”

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Anyhoo, we’re talking about chocolate pie. Here it is: the chocolate pie I grew up with. The one that no other chocolate pie has ever stood up to. I had stopped making this pie for many years. It made me sad to make it. It was my uncle’s favorite thing at the holiday meal. I remember how excited he would be about it. He passed away a few years ago and I just could not bring myself to make or eat this pie. But a few months ago, The Pioneer Woman made a very similar pie. And it made me want to make my family’s pie again. I wanted a new generation to enjoy it. My uncle would have been happy about it.

There was only one problem. I could not find the recipe. Surprise!

I called my sister for it. “We just use your recipe,” she said. I assured her she was incorrect. I’ve always used our mom’s recipe.

I called my mom. She replied with, “Sweetie, we use your recipe.”

At this point, I was feeling more than slightly crazy (well, more than usual).

“Mom, I use your recipe.”

“No, honey. Remember when you changed it with Egg Beaters?”

Awwww. Now it made sense. Years ago, I had changed my mother’s recipe to use Egg Beaters instead of raw eggs and now it was “my recipe.”

I happily got “my recipe” from her.

I made it for Thanksgiving. It was a huge hit. I went home. The next day I made another pie for our family. This is because a day without pie for lunch is no day you want to be a part of. Again for lunch, not with lunch. Big difference.

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Ingredients:

1 cube (8 Tbsp.) softened salted butter
2/3 cup Egg Beaters or you could use 3 pasteurized eggs
1/4 cup chocolate chips
2 squares or 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate (4 small rectangles if it comes like that.)
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 pie shell (I use Pillsbury. My mom always made her own. But this is my recipe, so we take shortcuts.)

Optional:

Whipped cream for topping individual slices

Preheat oven to 425 degrees or 400 degrees convect bake.

In a pie dish, lay your pie crust. Crimp the edges. Pierce the bottom and sides several times with a fork. If you are scared of shrinkage (mine always shrinks a little, but it doesn’t bother me), you can line your pie sheet with foil and beans or marbles to weigh it down. I never do this. But you could if you are not as lazy as me. It does not affect the taste one bit.

Bake for twelve minutes.

Remove the pie pan from the oven. Turn off the oven. Let pie shell cool completely (I usually wait one hour before moving on to the next step). If you added marbles or beans with foil, now would be the time to remove all of that (after it is cooled). This might seem obvious, but I am a maker of a chocolate pie recipe I did not know was mine. Therefore, I have lost my marbles. I do not want you to eat yours.

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Melt chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave for thirty second intervals. Stir. Keep repeating until chocolate is completely melted.

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In a mixer or with a hand mixer (be warned if you are using this method, you will be mixing for 17 minutes. I guess you could think of it as working off chocolate pie calories), mix together sugar and butter for one minute. Add Egg Beaters and beat on medium high speed for three minutes.

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Turn mixer to low and very slowly start drizzling in the melted chocolate. After all of the chocolate is incorporated, scrape sides, and turn mixer to high. Mix for 10-15 minutes. I usually do thirteen minutes. This is the extent of my patience. I can not wait longer than thirteen minutes for anything.

It’s called being a grown up.

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Pour the chocolate heaven mixture into the pie shell. Carefully cover pie without touching the covering to the filling (if this happens, you will have to explain to the surgeon why your stomach is full of foil. Nobody got time for that). Refrigerate until ready to serve. This needs to refrigerate at least three hours before serving.

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Lunch is ready! Enjoy!

* Update: Lovely Lisa just asked me about whipped cream. You can absolutely top your slices with that airy heaven. Most of my family does! Thanks Lisa! : )

Meatball Sliders

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The situation is: I hate meatballs. Or at least I thought I hated meatballs. The very name grosses me out. I do not like how dry they can be. How very meaty they can taste. They sometimes can feel like an obstacle on your plate.

However, my husband loves meatball sandwiches. And I love my husband. I decided to branch out. I decided to have a “ball.” Turns out, I do not hate meatballs. I just never had one I really liked. Until now.

Of course, I still hate the name. But that is for another day. Here is how I made my meatball sliders.:

This recipe makes 8 sliders. This is perfect for my family of four. However, I would double this for any larger crowd.

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Meatball Ingredients

1 pound ground pork
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup dried unseasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 cup diced Onions
2 Tbsp. butter
Pinch chili flakes
2 Tablespoons of Dalmatia My Mom’s Red Pepper Spread (I found mine at Vons in the refrigerated section. I know Amazon also carries it if you absolutely cannot find it, but the shipping price is crazy)
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 clove or 1/2 tsp. of minced garlic (I use the pre-chopped kind)
1/4 tsp. dried italian herbs

Other ingredients:
1 jar pasta sauce
8 oz. mozzarella
8 Small rolls or buns

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

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Pour pasta sauce into small saucepan. Simmer on low heat, while you move onto the next step.

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Sauté onions for eight minutes in butter on medium-low heat until soft. Stirring occasionally. During the last minute, add minced garlic and then turn off burner. Put in mixing bowl. Allow to cool for five minutes.

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Mix all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl with your hands. And, yes, say it with me, “Ewww!” Remember to take off any rings.

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Scoop meatballs onto parchment lined baking sheet with ice cream scoop or one of these handy dandy large cookie scoops.

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Line ’em up.

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Put in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. They should no longer be pink inside.

Set meatballs aside.

Turn oven to broil.

Open rolls. Lightly butter each side. On a separate baking sheet, line them up. Mine took two batches.

Broil for 30 seconds to one minute until lightly toasted.

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Remove from oven. Place the tops of the rolls aside.

Turn pasta sauce burner off.

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With the other bottom half: Take a meatball. Smoosh it with your tongs. That’s right. Get all up in there. Remember how messy it made your hands and give it heck. Place it on a roll. Cover it with pasta sauce. Cover it with cheese. Repeat.

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Place in oven and broil for approximately thirty seconds to one minute until the cheese is melted and just starting to brown. Watch this! It can get burned very quickly!

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Remove from oven. Turn oven off. Cover meatball creation with the other half of the bun. Plate it. Now, this is the part where you serve it with salad and feel better about the meal you are about to eat. Except, I had no salad. So, I served it with chips (um, potatoes) and melon slices.

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And oh my goodness! These are one of my new favorite things to make! Easy! Delicious! My husband said they were the best meatball sandwich he has ever had. I love when that happens!

Enjoy!