A Christmas Eve Feast

You most likely think I'm going to launch into a lengthy description of a delightful holiday meal enjoyed by our family. In reality, Chris and I just returned from United Dairy Farmers where we purchased our favorite ice cream - he, a giant chocolate chip milk shake, and I chose a peppermint-stick ice cream cone. Yummy. Not exactly the nutrionally-correct dinner chosen using the food pyramid as a guide, but tasty and filling nonetheless. Don't know if we'll really eat much else this evening.

The dogs in our family, however, were lucky to have quite a dinner tonight. Chris roasted a chicken earlier today then let it cool for several hours. The dogs have been on an "elevated alert" status all day, from the time Chris popped the chicken into the oven until it was pulled apart and served at 5:00 p.m. They've been pacing in and out of the kitchen, sniffing the floor, sniffing the refrigerator door and yes, unfortunately, getting into the kitchen garbage while we were out at UDF. (Our fault, we obviously forgot to put the bag outside in the garbage can. No self-respecting canine would walk away from a perfectly delicious bag of chicken-y garbage.)

As soon as the chicken came out of the refrigerator, the dogs congregated in the kitchen. Tango always has to weasel her way into the action, as close as she can get to the source of the food. She likes to supervise (and be in a good position to snarf up anything that accidentally falls on the floor - didn't I say she's the smartest one?).

Tyson was doing his own idiotic version of the "chicken dance" as he waited impatiently for dinner to be served. For the most part, Tandie stayed back and tried to act cool as she waited for dinner to be served (even though chicken is her absolute favorite thing in the whole world).

As Chris filled their dishes the excitement grew. He added some green beans and potatoes, and dinner was served! As usual, Tyson inhaled his food as though he hadn't been fed in days, Tango sniffed and licked and finally started eating, and Tandie worked through her food at a dignified pace.

The plates were licked clean in under 5 minutes. Don't you just love an appreciative audience when you cook? We don't do this kind of meal very often, but we figure if they're "fat and happy" tonight they'll sleep soundly and not scare Santa away. Good plan, eh? Merry Christmas Eve to All!