...and now back to regularly scheduled blogging!

I've been missing in action for a few days--I know, I know! And I had promised three salad recipes last week and only produced one. You have my apologies. It was a busy week over here, though, and it mainly involved this little dude:

That's Dom, one of our dogs, and possibly one of the world's greatest. 

We took him to the vet Tuesday night to get his DHP shot. We had taken him in for it last month, but apparently  he only got his rabies vaccine so we had to take him back. He's had a skin tag on the lower eyelid of his left eye for about a year and a half. The vet told us to watch it, make sure it didn't get too big, but they didn't want to remove it if it was too small. That confusing enough for ya?

It had grown to a point where we thought it was time to get it removed--his eye was red and irritated, and he had almost scratched it off and it was bleeding. 

We didn't see our usual vet Tuesday night, and it's probably a good thing we didn't. The new vet at the practice looked inside Dom's mouth, something the other vet had never done. 

She found a growth in his mouth, something called an epulis. They're very common in boxers and can be caused by gingival hyperplasia, another "boxer thing" that Dom apparently had. It's where the gums start to swell and grow over the teeth. She wanted to remove the growth, clean his teeth, and remove the skin tag all at tonce. We said okay, we'll call to schedule something when we can take a few days off work. 

Then that night I started Googling epulis and oral growths. It was sort of scary! I talked to my husband and we decided we couldn't wait to schedule the surgery--sometimes an epulis can be "bone destroying" and the dogs must have entire jaws removed. We didn't want to take the risk. We scheduled the surgery for Friday. I didn't eat or sleep well for two days.

I've always been afraid that our dogs will get cancer. It's just something that happens in boxers. In fact, our vet once told us that they breed is often called "cancer boxes." Lovely. Dom is 7.5 and Lilly is 5.5. The average boxer lifespan? Eight to 10 years. 

Every bump, every lump, every cough, every stumble, every missed meal...it makes me wonder if the ball is about to drop. Every vet visit or surgery makes me think, "Is this it? Is this when our fight begins?" I just sort of have this feeling that cancer will take both of our dogs. 

You might think I'm crazy, but my mother-in-law also has a boxer. He's three-years-old and in December they found a mast cell tumor on his leg. It was cancer (yes, at three!), but they didn't think it was too aggressive and suggested the "wait and see" approach instead of doing radiation. 

Dom's epulis was a benign tumor, but they did have to remove a tooth in the process. The vet doesn't think it's anything to be concerned about, so we're very relieved for that. Very, very relieved. 

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have two dogs who want to snuggle.

BabyCakes Cupcakes: Making Me Drool for Three Years and Counting

In Kansas City's River Market there's a great little shop called BabyCakes. To say that I'm in love would be putting it mildly. After I first discovered the shop a few summers ago, my work friends and I would make weekly (okay, sometimes daily) trips to BabyCakes. Then the weather turned cold and we didn't feel like getting out in the snow, so we stopped going as much. And, let's be honest, after my weekly trips in which I would sometimes get two or more cupcakes (how is a girl to choose?! I wanted to try them all!), my clothes were starting to not fit. I've had to limit my BabyCakes consumption since then because I can't eat just one. Or four.
 
Anyway, they're not the biggest cupcakes you'll ever see, but they are some of the best. 

 
I read a review once (I believe in the KC Star) that said Jesus Himself came down and made BabyCakes' carrot cake cupcake. That reviewer? They weren't playin' around.

 
 
I love how they always put a cute little carrot on top of the cream cheese frosting. 

 
This is the chocolate with peanut butter butter cream frosting.

 
It had me at "peanut butter." 

 
This is one I have never tried before--banana cake with vanilla buttercream. I actually told myself, "Banana cake? My husband loves banana! I'll get it for him--he'll love it!" 

 
What do you think the odds are that my husband will actually get to eat the entire thing?

 
Yeah, I didn't think he stood much of a chance either. 

Summer Salad Week: Avocado Salad

This week I'm going to be giving you recipes for three great summer salads. It's been raining here in Missouri and it's been getting hot and humid during the day, so I'm trying to prevent turning on the oven. Salads it is! 

Like pretty much all of my recipes, this is another one I got from grandma. I think she got it from her sister-in-law (my great-aunt) several years ago, and I'm not sure where she got it, but I'm in love. 
 
The title on the recipe card from grandma is "Guacamole Salad," but I call it Avocado Salad because there's nothing really guacamole-esque about it (other than the fact the dressing consists of mashed up avocado). 
 
Anyway, the ingredients:
 
romaine lettuce 
tomatoes
avocado, sliced
shredded cheese
crushed corn chips
sliced black olives
sliced green olives

green onions

I didn't list amounts for any of the items because the great thing about this salad is that you can throw in however much you want. Like green olives? Toss in a bunch! Hate 'em? Leave 'em out! It's totally up to you. Also? Pretend I have the shredded cheese and green onions in that pic. 
 
For the dressing:
1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
1/3 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/2 cup sour cream

1 tblsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

 
In a blender or food processor, combine ingredients for the dressing, and mix together. 

The dressing is also great as a dip. Yummy!

 
Now you can do this one of two ways. You can either:
(1) Do as the recipe says and put the lettuce in a large bowl and top with sliced tomatoes, avocado, olives,  green onions, and then pour the dressing into the bowl and toss together. Then top with cheese and corn chips. 

or
 
(2) Place the lettuce in a bowl, but don't mix everything together. Since I make this recipe for only my husband and myself, we usually have tons of leftovers. To keep everything fresh, we add the toppings to our individual salads and we don't combine everything at once. This way, the dressing doesn't make the corn chips soggy, the lettuce doesn't start to wilt, etc. 

But if you're preparing it for a large group, I'd suggest mixin' it all together. Either way, though? It's pretty dang good, and a great salad for a warm summer night.