Dang, it's hard to concentrate on posting when you have three cats waiting for dinner looking down on you like vultures. I tell them they still have fifteen minutes left to go but it doesn't matter. I'll have to make this fast. We ended up taking Gambit's E. collar off a couple of days early after he managed to pry a corner up and start chewing it. He started squealing one evening and I found he'd bent it perpendicular until it was poking into his face. No harm done. Since Wednesday, we've had three trips to the dog park and Alan has him out on a walk now. He's still not making it through the night without waking us up with whining to go out but I have hopes of sleep in the near future. Just in case we can't break him off the whining habit soon, I've invested in some ear plugs.

My new favorite cooking ingredient is roasted sweet red peppers from a jar. I've tried them the past couple of weeks in stir fry, stew, soup, and couscous, and sauteed with chicken breast. Anyone have suggestions for other uses?