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Preparing the entree: puff-pastry-wrapped chicken breasts stuffed with mushrooms and parsley. 

Stuffing a chicken breast so you get a lovely roulade effect is easier than it looks. You take skinless, boneless chicken breasts and then gently separate the filet using the tip of a sharp knife (not totally, just so there’s a definite flap), as I’m doing above. Then you put your desired stuffing (I sauteed some finely chopped mushrooms and garlic, and stirred in some chopped parsley at the last second) into the gap, as you can see on the chicken breast on the right.

Tip: Always use a separate cutting board for vegetables and chicken to prevent contamination.

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Sipping some Chardonnay while dicing up some mushrooms (don’t drink and chop, kids). I never cook without a glass of wine at the ready…I just don’t see the point. 

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Prepping Sampling the brie and clementines that I set out for last night’s dinner with Colin & Leslie. I always like to serve some kind of sweet spread alongside cheeses: last night it was apple butter, because, well, that’s what I had in my refrigerator, but I much prefer boysenberry or raspberry jam.

Colin & Leslie brought over the loveliest cheese, Manouri Mt. Vikos. It’s a Greek sheep’s milk cheese that has such a mild flavor and light, crumbly texture that even cheese-phobes (yes, they exist…hi, Mom!) will adore it. 

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Well, look at who decided to become best friends overnight. 

The Virgil/Lucy integration hasn’t been smooth sailing all the way through, but it has been progressing in a steadily positive direction. We didn’t ease them into it too gently, though - we pretty much judged that neither of them was a danger to the other (Lucy is wary enough of strange dogs that we figured she wouldn’t be rambunctious enough to put Virgil in any danger, and Virgil had a hurt leg for the first couple of days that kept him quiet and prevented him from freaking out Lucy too much). There’s a minor…”attraction” issue at present, but hey, they’re already snuggled up on the couch snoozing, so we must have done something right. 

Now, Lucy’s a relatively easy dog to get along with, though…so what if you’re bringing a new dog into a more potentially problematic situation? 

INTRODUCING A NEW DOG: SOME TIPS


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