We've frequently been open about our cooking disasters here in the cafe.
Today's post is sort of a disaster turned success.
The background - go ahead and laugh at me, but I'm a novice in this pet owning thing. Fenway is the only dog I've ever had and my experience is limited. So when I found a dead flea next to him last week, I kind of freaked out. Because of his cancer and chemo, and some skin issues, the vet and I had discussed flea med options, but nothing seemed right.
Until the flea arrived. Then the need to eradicate them overrode other concerns so Nexgard entered the picture.
Fast forward to Saturday. I'd bought a good organic chicken breast at the market and was set to make a nice harvest meal.
And then I began vacuuming and cleaning and washing, etc.
And while the chicken was cooking, I noticed Fenny scratching. Oh NO!
Yes, I found a live flea on him. It must have been affected by the meds because it was easy to catch and kill, but in the process...
I FORGOT ABOUT THE CHICKEN.
By the point I remembered, this is what it looked like!
I wrapped in up and stuck it in the frig, but by the next day, I had the idea to try to salvage it by turning the charred carcass into soup!
And it worked!
First I simmered the chicken breast with herbs and garlic. That softened the meat. I added carrots and celery, but the best addition was ............. drumroll............ APPLES!I chopped a couple of apples and threw them in.
The result was. The chicken had softened enough that it was quite tasty again.
And the apples... they gave the soup a gently sweet flavor.
So, all is not lost. The soup was salvaged.
Have you had to salvage a meal when your attention got diverted?
On another note, my neighborhood is getting ready for Halloween.
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| This was so cute. I |
I passed a mother walking with her small daughter. The girl looked at this tree pit and solemnly informed her mother that someone was buried there. When I passed, the mother was trying to explain it was only decorative.
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| Is it Halloween or Christmas? |
I'm so glad your salvage soup worked! Even though the chicken looked dried out, it worked well!
ReplyDeleteAbout those fleas... I don't treat the pets for fleas. I use a flea spray and treat their beds and the floors around them. The fleas don't survive, and I haven't had an infestation in years.
I did try the Nexgard a couple years ago - but Thatcher had a bad reaction. He threw up daily for a month (a known side-effect, but most dogs don't experience that one.) It wasn't fun, and we haven't used Nexgard since. :-/
I hear you, Jan. I was really worried about the Nexgard, but he seems to have tolerated it well. Fingers crossed.
DeleteI bought diatomaceous earth to spread on everything because I really don't want to do chemicals in my house.
Mary Cate, I've definitely had to salvage things a time or two, though nothing comes to mind right now. Isn't your neighborhood the one who does Halloween really big? I seem to recall that.
ReplyDeleteAnd poor Fenway. We have our two dogs on monthly flea/tick maintenance, but those little boogers still show up occasionally. Let's just say this mama is not a fan.
Yes, Mindy. REALLY big. I'll take more photos for next week's post.
DeleteOh, I hear you about fleas... I use Simparica for the dogs and Advantage for the cats because before there were effective flea treatments, we got infested twice... and it wasn't pretty! Bug bombs... BUG BOMBS!!!!! Horrible things!!!
ReplyDeleteOh mylanta, fleas and lice are two scourges of life, aren't they?
Now the soup thing. Kate, I've done this, too! It's amazing how an over-roasted carcass can turn into a tasty meal when simmered and tweaked! And the apple touch? Brilliant! Good for you!!!!
We are heading south tomorrow to help with the annual Halloween bash at my daughter's house so there will be precious little personal cooking going on, but plenty of party prep.
I'm so glad you mentioned the apples... I love apples and nuts in chicken salad. Why not soup????
Jan, I'm so sorry that Thatcher had a bad reaction! Poor thing. He's just the cutest little Britisher....
DeleteThe vet was back and forth between Simparica and Nexgard, but he went with the Nexgard. Not sure why.
DeleteI really only found one dead one and one slow live one, so hopefully I got it fast.
Oh and don't even mention the L word. Someone swung her hair into me on the subway the other day and that was all I could think of. As a teacher, I'm always on guard.
DeleteMary Cate, I just realized I missed your post yesterday! Wednesdays are always crazy days for me with church activities.
ReplyDeleteI've done the freak out flea thing too! Last year, apparently the fleas were getting resistant to the flea med we'd been using, so our dog got fleas even while using the medication. It was a disaster. We switched him over to a new oral medicine. So far so good! If you have any trouble in your house, look for light traps. They're sticky traps with a plug-in light (like a big Christmas tree light bulb) to attract them. It works great to catch stragglers after you've treated Fenway.
I'm glad you were able to salvage your chicken!
BTW, those traps are made by a company called Victor. Victor: the Ultimate Flea Trap
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