RIP Goldie

I just got off the phone with Tom who let me know of some sad news.  Amos' sister Goldie was put down today.  She was quite the bitch.  She didn't much like strangers or other dogs, but she was a faithful and loyal dog to her human family and to her brother, Amos.

Goldie and Amos in Wakefield

I first met Goldie on an outing to Wakefield, MA to help Dan & John (Tom's ex) clean out Dan's childhood home after the passing of his mother.  As mentioned above, Goldie did not particularly like strangers.  I approached Goldie cautiously who growled and showed her teeth.  Amos came trotting over and nudged her snout with his.  She instantly stopped the snarl.  I've always been in awe of that moment, of the two dogs communicating, without words, saying, "He's OK."  I would see her teeth many times after that but not in an aggressive way.  Goldie had a way of smiling by baring her teeth as if in attack mode, but with her tail wagging.

As Tom says, Amos and Goldie are back together again.

For that I am glad.

Ketchup!

Many variations of ketchup were created, but the tomato-based version did not appear until about a century after other types. By 1801, a recipe for tomato ketchup was created by Sandy Addison and was later printed in an American cookbook, the Sugar House Book.[4]

Get [the tomatoes] quite ripe on a dry day, squeeze them with your hands till reduced to a pulp,   then put half a pound of fine salt to one hundred tomatoes, and boil them for two hours.

Stir them to prevent burning.

While hot press them through a fine sieve, with a silver spoon till nought but the skin remains, then add a little mace, 3 nutmegs, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and pepper to taste.  

Boil over a slow fire till quite thick, stir all the time.

Bottle when cold.

One hundred tomatoes will make four or five bottles and keep good for two or three years.

Tom is making Meatloaf Roulade.

Ketchup will be needed!