austingirl

The thing that finally got Edgar to barf was hot mustard. So....that's an option.

When Edgar chewed up a bottle of Benadryl they had to give him 4 times the normal amount of emetic for him to barf. Took about 45 minutes. Luckily he had just eaten the bottle, not the Benadryl. Both my dogs have iron stomachs.

OMG how badly did you lose your shit? I'm getting ragey thinking about it and it wasn't even my dogs. I'm glad they weren't hurt.

Mine have both eaten everything under the sun and have been fine - it being one of those small darts, pr chewed up, wouldn't worry too much if he can't barf it up. Rocket ate part of a rope toy and we didn't realize it till this. I'll spoiler because it's kind of gross, but if you want a hint, we call this pic String Butt.

Yeah...I mean at this point, you have to ask, what is it that the roux contributes to the gumbo? First, it's the dark color. In absence of a wheat flour that can toast to a dark brown without burning, Kitchen Bouquet can help. Second, it's that rich, toasty flavor. If you use low enough heat, then theoretically, you should be able to toast a nut flour as dark as you can get it without burning. The other main part is the thickening aspect. Luckily, toasted nuts in general have a thickening aspect in and of themselves, so hopefully that by toasting them as brown as you can get, they can also add a bit of body to your gumbo. It will probably take trial and error, but I do think you can get there. Please let us know. Everyone deserves gumbo, allergies notwithstanding.

https://crownandpaw.com/ The actual canvas comes in tomorrow and I. can't. wait.

Ugh, I'm sorry. My parents have pugs and they always have terrible allergies. In addition to meds they eat some super expensive all-natural food that helps a ton - I can find out the exact one if you want. Dad used to drive to Galveston every few weeks (from Groves) to buy it since they couldn't get it shipped there and because he's obsessed with his dogs, as any good dog owner is.

Ordered this on canvas for our son’s 12th birthday and while I know there are potential better uses of money this day and age I honestly don’t give a fuck because he’s going to go out of his mind with happiness when he sees it and that’s all I want to see. Our Rocket and Edgar, brothers in arms. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have not but that's an interesting culinary challenge. I would not use a straight nut flour, like almond or coconut - their inherent fat content would likely make it harder to control burning. A high-quality GF AP flour would probably yield the best results. I heard that King Arthur and Bob's Red Mill make good ones.If you can't get it to the right dark brown, make sure you brown the sausage and even the chicken before adding it to the pot - their browning will contribute to the overall color. Let us know how it goes if you try it.

2 weeks with a pinch collar and my great dane went from unwalkable to letting my 10 year old walk her by himself. I rarely even use the pinch collar anymore, mostly use a harness now but will use the collar a few times a month just to keep her honest. Yes, it worked wonders very quickly for Edgar. With Rocket we got this harness that has a leash hook on the front as well as the back, and it worked almost immediately - if they pull, it turns them around, and that stops pulling so quickly. He's around 100 lbs so this was a significant improvement for our walks.

See the bluejays are the ones I hate. Little swipey bastards.

You got this. A few tips - first, I really mean it when I say be patient with the roux. If it's your first time, you'll want to keep the heat around medium/low and it could take about 45 minutes. I usually have a fan pointed at me in the kitchen because it gets hot standing over the pot for that long. Also, overseason the gumbo - remember that you're serving it over rice and that'll dilute it somewhat.

Yikes, microwaving roux is a great way to ruin a microwave.

The thing about roux is that while it's certainly a measure of pride (and the mark of a lot of practice) to be able to make a good one from scratch, it's only two basic ingredients - white flour and a neutral oil. Without the rest of the gumbo ingredients, there's not a big flavor difference between two rouxs cooked to the same color of doneness, whether it's made fresh or from a jar.

Yes, it's awesome. After you've done that, smoke a duck and make a gumbo with it, if you haven't already. My uncle always makes a ton of smoked duck gumbo after the first weekend of hunting season. Same - I grew up eating poultry/sausage or seafood gumbo. I also like file in my seafood gumbo. My uncle is deathly allergic to shellfish so we didn't eat seafood gumbo often, because we always made enough gumbo for big family gatherings. And it's so damn expensive to get enough seafood to make a big enough pot. ALTHOUGH a few years back, in what is possibly the most southeast TX thing that's ever happened, my dad was riding his bike down Gulf (the street) behind a shrimp truck and a 75-lb bag of flash-frozen shrimp fell out. The driver didn't notice, so he waited a few minutes and when the truck didn't come back around, he went home, got his truck, went back to the bag (it was about a block from home), loaded it up and brought it home. The shrimp was still frozen so he and my mom spent the evening bagging it all into 5-gallon ziplocks and putting them in the deep freeze. They brought us several bags the next time they came to town. So that's one way to make affordable seafood gumbo.

Last week in the yard I came across a small adult mockingbird just sitting on the ground. The second the dogs spotted her she flew off, but didn't go high and landed on the ground by our fence. Edgar sniffed and pawed at her but she still didn't fly away, even when another mockingbird flew down and tried to swipe at the dogs, and then Rocket (who was in a cone) reached down and chomped on her and that was that. Looked up at me with feathers hanging out of his mouth. I wish they'd stick with rodents and not mess with the mockingbirds, but it's the circle of life, I guess.

See I always get the stuffed crabs or catfish pontchartrain there. With some of those au gratin potatoes as a side. But everything there is amazing. 🙄 Yes, really.

Here's how I make a gumbo. Brown all the andouille. I use 4 12 oz packs of Cajun Holler since it's the easiest to get a hold of in Austin. Damn I miss Nick's in PA, though. Make a roux. I use 1 cup flour to 1 cup vegetable oil. Back home though I save myself some work and use a jar of Douget's or Savoie's roux. I actually never made roux till I moved to Austin and couldn't find it anywhere but Sambet's on 183. Takes me about 30 minutes to make it these days, now that I have a lot of practice under my belt. If you're worried about messing it up, just keep the flame low and be patient. Here it is about ready: Add trinity plus a handful of garlic. I use about 2 green peppers, 2 big onions, and 4-5 celery stalks. Season with a shitload of Tony's and cook about 10 minutes, till the veggies get soft. Add about 3 quarts water or chicken broth, the sausage, and more Tony's. Cook about 30 minutes. Add 3 lbs chicken thighs, seasoned with Tony's. Cook at least an hour. Add 1 bunch each of green onions and Italian parsley. Cook another 15 minutes. Plated with a side of garlic bread. Happy Saturday, y'all! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

God, I'm sure I'd be waking up in cold sweats for the rest of my life too. I'm glad everyone in your family is ok. The other thing I keep thinking about from that article is how so many of the 911 callers had no idea what address they were at because they were vacationers. I've never thought about that before but I'm damn sure committing future vacation addresses to memory from now on.

I remember when this happened but had not read the Texas Monthly article till now. I fell asleep last night thinking about it and woke up this morning thinking about it. I can't even imagine what everyone in that house went through and what McComb still must be going through. I'm glad to see that he has remarried and had a new baby.

Truck, in my family.

I can't speak to all the pros/cons as we always had a 5th wheel/pull trailer, but my parents' standpoint has always been that it's easier to pull an RV than it is to drive a motor home while pulling a car, and 5th wheels are cheaper than motor homes, and it's a pain in the ass to get somewhere and not have any other way to get around than by driving the RV around. I'm sure you know this but you don't want to get it hooked up to water, sewer, etc and then have to unhook it to get somewhere.

I just got off the phone with my dad and he said to absolutely not get the 6.0 diesel (that's what he had at one point) but you should be good to go with what you got. He says Fords are the best he's had for towing.

My parents bought their first RV in the late 80s - a Starcraft pop-up. 30 years later, yadda yadda yadda, they're now in a 38-ft Elite Suites 5th wheel and all my childhood vacation stories involve RVs. The most memorable one was in Colorado, where we went several times but only once decided to head up to Silverton. I was in high school at the time, so it was in the mid-to-late 90s. I don't remember all the details of the day we tried to get up there, but the gist was that the map did not indicate that at one of the mountain passes, we'd have to drive through a covered bridge around a sharp turn. We were pulling a 30-ish foot 5th wheel with a large pickup and once we got up there it was clear that there was no way we were going to make it through. My dad had to back the whole rig down the mountain, and of course the road was narrow and winding. Had I been paying much attention I'd have been terrified, but I was an oblivious teenager reading a book and didn't realize the gravity of the situation until later. Anywho, my dad tows their current RV with a 2005 F350 diesel. I can find out more details if you need them.

Where in north Austin? We're in Milwood (the one by Mopac/Duval) and the light show is picking up. Dogs are going nuts with the thunder.