Potato Salad

A cute picture of Argus's daughter Viva today. She picked up two specialty weekend majors a couple of weeks ago and needs 4 singles to finish, so hopefully will be done soon. Her breeder/owner Donna kept Viva as an Agility dog and is really excited about her potential.

When we were in Ohio last weekend, Phil drove over from Pittsburgh with Como so we could see how she was doing. She remembered me of course, and if she doesn't see me for another year she will still remember me. What a cutey. It will be fun to follow their tracking career.

A nice group of Dals training at Animal Inn on Tuesday. Tate, Sam & Jax were in the handling class practicing for the upcoming shows. Sam is a brother to Chs. Ben & Rita, and needs a major to finish his championship, while Tate (and his owner Stephanie) & puppy Jax will be making their debuts. Stephanie has Tate entered for the whole weekend, so they are doing Dog Show Immersion. A recent trip to the chiropractor really made an enormous difference in Tate. He was bought back from a home that turned out to be far less satisfactory than I had anticipated, and Stephanie & Mauro have done a great job restoring his self esteem and getting him in condition. Puppy Jax is doing great. His family has put a lot of work into raising him properly - and it shows.

Darling Charlie/Calhoun was at class too, doing his first night of Puppy Kindergarten. He looks stunning and has a wonderful personality. Like his dad Argus, Charlie seems to think life is a party, put on his personal enjoyment. Spotting is really spectacular and he has as pretty a face as you could put on a Dal pup. Gotta take my camera next week. Brooke & Michael seem to be enjoying him, and Brooke says there is nothing like a happy puppy to lift your spirits at the end of a hard day at work. I couldn't agree more.

Perfect Potato Salad
Potato salad is not something I enjoy or eat by choice as it is normally tasteless & gummy. Ick. My mother makes good potato salad, but mine never tastes quite like hers so I rarely try. Ron loves potato salad, any potato salad, so I've been watching for an interesting recipe. I recently came across an article on potato salad - can't recall the publication - and the author lamented how bad most of it is. By a process of trial and error he came up with an easy solution.

Cut red potatoes in half and boil until just cooked (do not overcook), drain and cut into chunks. Now here's the trick. While they are still hot, cover the potatoes with a mixture of equal parts vinegar & water, including any herbs you wish, and let them soak in the vinegar for half an hour. They will absorb the flavor from the vinegar & herbs and will no longer be tasteless white blobs. I used red wine vinegar plus fresh oregano, thyme & basil (because they grow in my garden) but any vinegar will do, and herbs are optional. Drain, add any extras & dressing of your choice. I added finely chopped onions & celery, chunks of hard cooked egg & sliced radishes and used a dressing of Light Miracle Whip, mustard, sugar & vinegar. Mayo would have been better of course, but we watch the cholesterol around here. It was excellent, and what little was left over was even better the next day. Takes a bit longer to make, but it is well worth the effort - even if you think you don't like potato salad.