A New Addition To The Babbles Family! – The Weekend Whisk – 2/16/13

It’s Saturday and all week I’ve been looking forward to seeing you guys so I could tell you all about our new addition! Some of you may have already seen on the Food Babbles Facebook Page, but for those of you who may have missed it… Meet Murphy! Murphy is about 10 weeks old and just a big ol’ mush. He’s a cuddler, a kisser and like most puppies he’s already decided he’d love to eat my shoes, the rug, table legs, pretty much anything that will stand still long enough for him to get a nibble. I’ve spent most of this first week redirecting his chewing to more appropriate items. Chewing comes with the territory and is to be expected.

He’s such a good boy! He has only had one accident (knock on wood!) He has adjusted to sleeping in his new home with little to no whimpering or crying. At night he settles in within a few minutes and just a couple of gentle “shh’s” is all he needs to help him quite down. He’s already sleeping through the night with one early morning bathroom break then back to bed he goes for another two hours until the girls get up. What’s even better, he does all his outside business in mere minutes! He goes to the same spot each time and quickly comes back inside. This dog is a dream, I tell ya! I hope it lasts.

We’ve already fallen head over heels in love with this little boy. He’s stolen our hearts and we’re so happy to welcome him into our home. He’s a rescue actually so his life could have been very different and much shorter. He was abandoned outside a kill shelter in North Carolina in the middle of the night. Fortunately a rescue group came to his aid, rescuing Murphy and his three brothers. We’re not sure exactly what breed his is. We definitely know that he’s part Labrador. Just look at that face! But he may also be part Husky or part German Shepherd.

Although, here’s a fun fact for ya… did you know that dogs from the same litter can have different fathers? I had no idea! Apparently female dogs release lots of eggs and if she were to mate with more than one dog while she was in heat, she could have puppies that are different breeds from the same litter. I found that so interesting. While Murphy and one of his brothers look like they are all Lab, one of his brothers looks like a German shepherd while another looks like a Husky. So who knows? All I know is I love this little mush.

The girls are loving him and wearing him out for sure. The poor guy never gets much of a break with Maddy and Molly around. They’ve been so wonderful with him though, very sweet and gentle. We’re looking forward to all this snow melting so that we can all get outside and start romping around with the new pup. Although, I hear there’s more snow on the way. Ugh! I cannot wait for spring to arrive! So that’s the big event this week. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! Here’s what was going on around Food Babbles this week and of course, so recipes from around the web that caught my eye.

Enjoy!

~K

King Cake Inspired Braid

Black Forest Cake

And the most popular post this week was…

Orange Ricotta Tart

Babbles Bookmarks:

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken from Just Another Day in Paradise: I bookmarked this recipe which touted tender chicken tossed in an unbelievable sauce a few weeks ago. Well, this week I made it and holy moly!! It was ridiculously good! As you know Mike is the ultimate picky eater, the very worst. He gave it his stamp of approval and I have been permitted to make it again in the future. You know it’s good when Mike will eat it more than once. I sautéed some snow peas too, just until crisp tender and tossed those in with the chicken and sauce before serving. Sooo good! You need this in your life.

Balsamic Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon & Blueberries from Girl Versus Dough: So, I am NOT a fan of brussels sprouts. Not at all. I’ve tried them numerous times yet my very strong reaction is always the same. Disgust. Then along comes Stephanie with these brussels sprouts and it was like a switch was flipped. I feasted my eyes upon this lovely salad and all of a sudden my mouth was watering and somehow my brain thought, “I need to try that.” And try that I will. Very soon.

Valrhona’s Caramelized White Chocolate from Food52: Another thing I’m not a fan of? White chocolate. I really can’t stand the stuff. A little drizzle over something is ok by me but just a tad is all I can stomach. Well this week I read this article about caramelized white chocolate and I’m officially putting this on my “to-do” list because I am willing to be dollars to donuts that the caramelization factor completely changes the flavor, deepens it and makes it something worthwhile. I cannot wait to do this! The bonus? It’s super easy to do!

Tagged as: bread, cake, tart, The Weekend Whisk