Day 9: Adios, Marcelita's

When we first moved to Northeast Ohio one of the first places we were told to eat was a Mexican restaurant called Marcelita's in Hudson. The food was good, the prices were very reasonable and for many, many years we enjoyed going there. It was super popular and on a Friday or Saturday you had to wait to get a table. We most often went there for lunch when the seating was a little sparser.

Over the course of the years, my wife got to know the owner by taking care of her dog, and whenever we visited, Jeannie would stop by the table to chat. I'm not going to lie, our service was never better than after a chat with the owner.

A few years ago they decided to sell. The new people kept it up for a while and we were never disappointed, but we hadn't been there in many months because there is a terrific Mexican place very close to home. I recently heard the quality had gone down. A couple of weeks ago I heard it closed. Today I drove by and the sign out front said, "Thank you and farewell."

I never like to see a business fail. I know how hard it is to make a go of it and I'm sure these people put a lot of energy and money into trying to make it work. I don't know the whys and wherefores of it all but it still makes me sad. I also think about how sad Jeannie must be to see the labor of love she nurtured for years and years go away.

Every time I have a chimichanga I will remember Marcelita's.

Why Good Food Matters

Before May we had one dog, Leo. Then we adopted Gordy who has filled the slot of emergency back-up dog. You should always have a dog and an emergency back-up dog. I have told the story of where he came from, but the short version is he was being trained to be a service dog but didn't quite make the cut and washed out. Thanks to Sue, who works for me, we were able to adopt him. He's been a great fit for everyone and is a great dog. Here they are together, Leo on the right, Gordy on the left.

When we got Gordy we noticed that his coat was coarse and a little scraggly, and he shed a lot. A LOT. We have always fed high quality food, in our case we have long used Hills Science Diet but there are many fine brands. We give a few treats and the occasional people food, but mainly our dogs eat Hills. And come September we noticed a funny thing. His coat was significantly better. It was smooth, soft, glossy, and it just looked better, like a golden retriever should. And we have noticed a lot less shedding.

My wife the veterinarian has always touted the benefit of quality food but this is the first time we've been able to experience first hand how amazing it is. It's one thing to tell people something you've learned from the Hills sales representatives, and it's another to be able to say, "My dog..."

I want to mention the service dog facility for a minute.  They are a fine place and do great works in trying to supply dogs to people who need them, but they are a non-profit and run on a tight budget. I cannot fault them one little bit for having to save money on food. If they have X number of dollars to spend on food and they can get 100 pounds of brand A or 200 pounds of brand B they are going to choose B and I don't blame them. I would too. It's up to the forever home to upgrade foods.

Any good brand is fine, Hills, Iams, Pro Plan, and the many, many, many small label premium foods.  But don't expect instant results. It took a good four months for us to notice and we weren't looking. I guess we could have seen subtle changes earlier but for us it was kind of a light bulb moment, where we said, "Hey, do you think his coat is better?" So it pays to either be patient, or to just not be paying attention.

8 Thanksgiving foods that can kill your dog

How's that for attention grabbing headlines? Well, we don't want to se your Turkey dAy ruined by a trip to the vet. Check it out.

Helpful Tips to Kick off the Food Season

Tis the season...to eat.  Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving leftovers. Halloween candy that you hid from your kids. Christmas cookies friends made and gave to you two weeks early. Little bowls of red and green Hershey kisses at reception desks and bank teller windows. The freaking Mallomars that only come out this time of year. Parties. Office parties (they are distinctly different beasts and deserve their own category). Recipe testing for things you want to make other people. The bread/soup cook-off you signed up for at the office (okay maybe that's just a few of us). Christmas eve dinner. Christmas dinner. New Year's Eve. New Years Day football watching snacks. All the stuff you haven't eaten by January 2 but can't bring yourself to throw away.

So in an effort to help you make the food BETTER, here are turkey tips from Alton Brown, and Ten Turkey Alternatives for Vegetarians. Enjoy!


Later maybe we'll post tips for kicking off the diet season. 

Tomorrow is National Vicheyssoise Day

Today my wife tells me of a Facebook post by our nephew who is in college. He noted that today is Homemade Bread Day. Actually this is what he said: "Today is National Homemade Bread Day.....too bad I'm hungry now and can't wait 3 hours for a sandwich."

Pretty funny.

Then I wondered when was the last time he's ever made bread? My guess it's never, which means it would be a lot more than 3 hours before he had anything to spread his peanut butter on, especially considering that where he lives (his grandmother's house) has none of the following: bread flour, yeast, loaf pan, a suitable place to knead.

Coincidentally, four hours before I even knew it was Homemade Bread Day, I tossed some flour, yeast, eggs, butter, and water into the stand mixer and started a batch of challah. I've been on a challah kick lately, trying to find a good recipe. So right about the time I was being told about Homemade Bread Day, we were cracking open a beautiful yellow loaf, crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.

So, back to the title. Tomorrow really is National Vicheyssoise Day. (which I'll be skipping). And yesterday was National Baklava Day (sorry I missed that). And the day after tomorrow is Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day. I swear. Look it up. It turns out every day of the year has a food dedicated to it. Some have a week or a whole month. But who decided papaya gets a whole month (September) while chocolate milk shakes get only a day (September 12)? Oh, the healthy foods get preference you say? How about Brownies at Brunch getting a month (August) while zucchini gets August 8? How many days a week do people even eat brunch?

And what were people thinking who designated Aug 3 as Grab Some Nuts Day?

There are literally 200 good jokes waiting to happen on that list of national food days. And I will be waiting, typing fingers poised,  for National Roast Suckling Pig Day (Dec.18) if only for the awesome blog entry it may yield.  

While the cat's away...

My wife is at a veterinary conference out of town and she has left me with the care of all the mammals who live in our house. This includes one human boy, a dog, and four cats. One would think, given that my job is to care for mammals who live with other people that it would be a snap. One would think that the same guy who obsesses over making sure all the water bowls are topped off, and that every single dog has the correct amount of food, and all the medicines are properly distributed, and that they're not out too long in the cold, February snow, would just bring those skills right into the house. It doesn't seem to work like that.

The human boy is easy, as he's 17 and can hunt and gather his own food (from the kitchen) and can get himself up and drive himself to school, and such. And the dog--I should mention the dog.. He's a 90 pound floppy eared Doberman named Titus. I don't mind sharing his name because number one he won't read this and number two, I've not used it for any of my passwords. Titus lives a life of routine. First thing in the morning we let him out of his crate (more on the whole crate thing another time), and he scrambles to the back door, spinning in no less than four complete circles, regardless of how many chairs he rams into. We let him out, he rushes to do his job, then slams into the back door mere seconds later so we can let him in for his breakfast, which is the reason he lives. In the evening, when he feels it's time to eat, when he just knows that any second he'll drop over from starvation, he pesters us mercilessly until we feed him dinner, which is the other reason he lives. So it's pretty hard to forget to feed him, and since I regularly share in his feeding, it's ingrained. I'm not so good with the water, however, and my wife usually keeps it full so when she's gone the only indication I have is Titus' metal ID tag clanking on the water bowl. So the boy and the dog are easy.

The cats are a different story. I never care for the cats. It's not that I don't love the cats, it's just that their food and water do not fall under my jurisdiction. And anyone who knows me knows that if it's not something that's a habit, it's probably not going to get done.

So she left me with one admonition: don't forget to feed and water the cats. One of the cats is old and I'm told that he cannot go without water. Cannot. So I was reminded of the various places she has placed the cats' water bowls, which are spread around the house like Serengeti watering holes, and instructed me to keep them full. Sounds easy. (Wait, I better go check them now).

Okay, all full. Anyway, it's easy to get caught up in other stuff and before I know it a water bowl is a little too low. But it turns out the cats owe a very big thank you to the dog, whose metal tags clanking on the bowl reminded me to water not just him but the cats. I have gathered the cats together and given them crayons and paper and told them to make Titus a nice card. So far they've made little progress.

So if my wife is checking the blog from Columbus, she can rest assured all of the animals are still alive and happy. Especially the boy, who has a snow day today.

And as for the kennel, those dogs have it good. Their water bowls are full, the heat is turned up a notch, they have finished their breakfast, and are resting happily on their blankets. I think I'll go out and toss them a cookie.