Home At Last! with Patty Gironda

  My assistant!

  It's a lazy kind of day again . . . rained all day. A little sun is just now forcing its way through the gray clouds, promising a beautiful evening. As I write I see my rottweiler, Zena, relaxing by the pool. She is such a sweetie, enjoying everything about her days here. She inspired me to find something fun to do rather than work. Zena, like most Rotties, has a wonderful imagination and sense of humor. She's fond of toys and has taken to an empty white garbage can that sits on one of the back porches. She crashes it down the stairs, slinging it around and pushing it all over a courtyard. It's a lot of noise and apparently, a lot of fun! Taking her cue, I wanted to find some good in the day so I grabbed my camera and headed out to the yard to see what was blooming after the rain! Spring is such a magical time of the year and it's worth recording and studying! So I'm sharing a few of the shots and Zena. That's my day! Not bad!

It's rained all day and there wasn't much to do but stay inside and find something fun to do-besides work! I always have frozen pizza dough in the freezer for days like this. In a hurry I can pull together small pizzas or pizza pockets – stuffed full of savory goodness and a little cheese. If the bag happens to have two loaves in it I bake gooey little pecan rolls with the leftover dough. And that's exactly what went down. I had an extra loaf just sitting there with "goo-ey" written all over it! I pulled out an oversized muffin tin and opted for six buns. The dough was rolled into a long rectangle about 8 x 20 inches. I tried reversing the roll-working from the short side rather than the traditional square. It was easier to manage and allowed for more turns. More turns-more sugar and pecans. Once sliced the pieces fit perfectly into a greased muffin tin. Before placing the pieces in the muffin tin I added 2 chopped pecan halves and a little sugar to each g...