Friday Things
1. Last Friday, Duke had his last round of vaccines at the vet and weighed in at 35 pounds. The vet said he is growing fairly quickly, and predicts that he’s going to be on the larger side of the spectrum for a Golden Retriever. We weren’t surprised to hear that, since we noticed that his paws are actually larger than Einstein’s. Crazy!
2. The butter keeper that I bought last week from King Arthur Flour has seriously changed my life. Well, the bread-and-butter-eating part of my life, anyway! I absolutely loathe cold, hard butter from the refrigerator. Spreading it on bread is a nightmare and waiting for it to soften is tortuous. After researching butter keepers, which create a water seal that allows you to safely keep butter at room temperature, I finally bought one. SO. AWESOME. Soft, spreadable butter at my fingertips! Plus, it tastes a million times better than cold butter. I highly recommend getting one of these!
3. I tend to go in spurts when it comes to salad dressing; I was on a big ranch kick for the better part of a year. Sometime in the last few months, I’ve transitioned over to a Thousand Island run. I can’t get enough of the stuff when I make salads!
4. I picked up a few of the new Essie Winter 2013 colors…
Shearling Darling, Warm & Toasty Turtleneck, and Sable Collar (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th from the left)… I put Sable Collar on my toes and it has more grey tones than I anticipated, but it’s a perfect cold-weather color. I think I’m going to LOVE Shearling Darling. Have you bought any of the new colors yet?
5. If you are a big fan of prints and posters, check out this new Kickstarter campaign for a product called Stiicks – pieces of wooden frame embedded with magnets, so you simply place artwork or posters between two Stiicks and, voila! It stays in place. Really, very cool idea, and easy to swap out pieces.
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address, and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
6. Let’s do this…
7. So, Homeland… I was already in withdrawal by Tuesday. Coincidentally, on Tuesday night I had a nightmare (I never have nightmares) related to the last episode. Perhaps I’m a little too wrapped up in the show ;-)
8. This week I started a new practice that I’ve read about a million times, but have never implemented… I tackled the most-dreaded task on my to-do list first thing in the morning. You know what? Not only was it easier to knock off first thing in the morning, but by the time I crossed it off my to-do list, I felt insanely accomplished. SUCH a great idea!
9. I made a stovetop s’more a couple of nights ago with a peanut butter cup instead of a Hershey bar. Seriously… best s’more ever. I will never go back.
10. TGIF! We’ve been having a lot of snuggle time at our house!
Love the dog photos! Thanks –
BEB – love this blog and have much enjoyed watching the furry boys…but your pets are not projectiles. Please put them in a harness or crate and seatbelt or secure those boys in when traveling in a car. It could save their life!
I’m so getting the butter keeper now. I kept debating whether it was worth it. I’m so tired of tearing my toast up with cold hard butter in mornings.
A peanut butter cup is fabulous in s’mores… but I also recommend Nutella instead! :)
Michelle,
Duke sits so nicely in the car. My crazy dog would be jumping all over the place. The puppies are just so cute.
Annamaria
OMG!! How funny that you would mention your taste in salad dressing changing from ranch to Thousand Island….I have done exactly the same thing!! My favorite TI dressing is Marie’s yogurt version of it. Love it and it has lower stats, too!
Duke and Einstein are so cute together! Thanks for the butter keeper – definitely getting one of these for the house – tired of dealing with the hard butter too and it’s cute to boot!
Oh my gosh — I love that your dogs cuddle together — SO sweet. Love those new Essie colors, too. Can’t wait to try them!
My husband’s family always makes S’mores with Fudge stripes, peanut butter and the traditional marshmallow. ;) They are yummy!
Thank you, thank you for mentioning the butter keeper. This truly is an argument with my husband — he’s a bread eater and HATES that he can’t spread the butter. I REFUSE to buy him Country Crock or anything ‘fake’ — I will only buy real butter and it’s an ongoing debate in our house! I am definitely buying one of these and we can both get what we want! You may have saved my marraige!!
Your blog is the first I look at each morning hoping for pictures of Duke and Einstein. So adorable. We have Goldens too, nothing better, hands down. Please keep the pictures coming, they make me smile every Friday. Oh, and love your recipes too!!
Those snuggle pictures are ADORABLE! :D
You honestly have no idea how much I want a dog after reading all of these weekly posts! You are killing me!
Happy Friday Michelle! Can’t believe how big Duke is getting! BTW, that’s a beautiful fireplace you have, I’m jealous! :) That was one thing I really wanted in my house, the smell, the warmth, oo la la! The next time I move it’s a must!!! Love the Essie colors, I will have to pick some up this weekend. Great idea of using a butter keeper! Thanks for sharing.
Those new Essie colors look beautiful. My favorite is the second to last- I’ll have to definitely get that one. Also, thousand island is my absolute favorite dressing, I love it!
I love getting my dog fix every Friday morning. The boys are adorable and Duke for sure is going to be the BIG little brother before you know it. Being a Goden owner, you my have already seen the YouTube videos of the Golden listen to a man off camera playing a guitar. The video…Golden Loves Guitar… is being used locally, in MA, in a promotion for a health care agency. Anyway, I thought of you when I first saw it. It is funny and adorable.
I recently took an organization class at my job and one of the things the instructor suggested was doing a ‘Veggie’ task early in your day. These are tasks you don’t necessarily enjoy but are good for your business or personal health. Sounds like you have discovered ‘Veggie’ tasks. And since I think you have posted about not being a vegetable fan maybe you can count that task as a daily serving!! Have a great weekend.
Oh my gosh! What are you feeding Duke? He got HUGE! It’s like he grew over night! Wow! I love the pictures of Duke and Einstein! I will repeat it again as I did last Friday, but they are both so adorable!!!
Love me some Duke and Einstein! I have a cat I call Butter Bean because he will go nuts every time I open the butter keeper…. LOVES it!! Happy Friday, Happier weekend!!
gaaahhh Duke! I love dogs and puppies and grown up puppies. Essie nail polish…. I have an addiction, a serious one. I love all of the different colors and all of their names! Oh and the fact that most of them aren’t all that sparkly. I’m hoping to get a bunch more in my Christmas stocking.
I love the pictures of the dogs :) So stinkin’ cute!!
Never got the idea of a butter keeper but always looking for “gadgets” for my kitchen. Love the puppy pics. I show hubby every week, since we have two Goldens also. Now he is getting the urge for a male Golden and even though we “definately” are not getting one yet he already has a name for the little fur ball. Wonder what Santa will be leaving under the tree this year?? Have a great weekend and keep the puppy pics coming.
I’ve had a butter keeper on my wish list for quite a while. Maybe this will be the holiday season I can cross it off my list.
I just love the photos of the dogs. Adorable.
Einstein and Duke, made for each other! I love the pics of them. So adorable. Essie is my favorite, I like the Sable Collar.
Duke just finishes me everytime! He is the cutest, most adorable little poochie. Makes me want to run out and buy a puppy!
:) my flatcoat also loves the smell of butter (she’s not allowed any). Einstein and Duke are adorable.
Just make sure Duke never discovers the wonders of the butter keeper! I had a lab who could sniff out butter like no other – he was on the big side, too, and you just couldn’t keep him from eating any butter he could find. Not that it agreed with his system… It was terrible.
That’s crazy talk! Duke’s paws are larger than Einstein’s? ;) He’s getting to be such a big boy. Love all the snuggling they do together. I love creamy salad dressings, too. Homemade Buttermilk Ranch, Green Goddess and Thousand Island all rock. Love Essie…no new colors, yet. On the to do list for the holidays. I’ve gotta check out that KAF butter keeper! Have a wonderful autumn weekend, Michelle!
I’ve been debating about a butter keeper for years! I once posted about it on my blog, asking people if it really works and everyone said yes who had one and loves theirs. Now knowing you love yours, I think I need it. I mean who DOES like cold butter? Ick! Butter should be soft, spreadable, creamy and not ‘rip’ your toast when you go to spread it, right!
Have a great weekend, Michelle!