Pampered pooch pilfers pan of pickled peppers

In truth they were not pickled. The pan was full of roasted mushrooms and bell peppers, but pickled has a better ring to it.

Peppers prepared for people

Ernst came home the other day from Costco with gobs of produce. Great, we love our veggies. But of all the weeks! With four long days of volunteer work ahead of me and a last minute house guest thrown in, what was I to do? The rule should be - you buy it, you cook it. But life being life, I got busy and had a Veggie Chop-a-Thon, because I love to celebrate the fact that my husband lives on plants and never complains about it. I made three dishes that required lots of washing and chopping, dicing and slicing: a yellow curry Thai dish, a nice big salad and a large pan of roasted peppers and mushrooms. I spilled some raw veggies on the floor, but the dog would have nothing to do with helping me clean up. Finally, I had the produce under control, dishes loaded, sink and counters cleaned, floor wiped up and dinner almost ready to be gobbled down. Ernst got a little taste of the roasted vegetables and declared them delicious. I decided to wait for the rice to finish, but man did those mushrooms smell good.

While crashed out in bed, I heard Molly barking. I could see she was in the kitchen and could hear she was very unhappy about something. "Ernst, go help Molly, I think she got her tennis ball stuck under the cabinet." She was not barking at the ball. She was barking at the now cooled pan of roasted veggies Ernst had left sticking out of the oven. Did she want them? That ship had sailed - she was barking because she had almost polished them off and was mad that she couldn't quite reach the rest! That night we all had a plant-based dinner - Molly was sent to bed without any kibble.

Poor pan of pilfered peppers

Pretending penitence for purloining produce