- Sweet French Dressing

Dear Fans of Dogs Who Cook,

I, Eli, had to whip up something for conciliatory purposes this afternoon, so I made my Person, who calls herself "Me", a flavorful French dressing for her greens that she was to eat before going out to mow the lawn. (The garage sale was postponed til tomorrow due to her unreadiness and other obligations.) You may wonder why conciliatory cooking was necessary. Let's just say I helped myself to the loaf of Apple Tumble Bread prematurely yesterday and she was not gracious about it. She had had her slice and wantonly left the rest of the loaf there. It's lucky I didn't get hurt on the long serrated knife she carelessly left next to it. I think she should have worried a little more about that and a little less about the smaller offense. (I ate it without chewing, in hound fashion, and am still feeling the gastronomic distress. I admit it wasn't a great idea, but I'm not really wired to take a dainty bite and leave the rest for Gute or another.)

So, I made her a luscious french dressing to grace her greens and blue cheese crumbles and I'm pretty sure we're settled up now. Here was my ingenious method.

Sweet Eli's French Dressing
Me's Independent Rating: 3 of 3*

Mix together equal parts of the following:
Tomato paste
Honey (raw for your good health)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
50/50 split of water and apple cider vinegar (raw for your good health)

Blend in onion powder or flakes, sea salt, and paprika. Whisk til your paw is tired and the mixture is gelatinous like dressing. And, viola, it is.

If this is perplexing anyone (like a cat, for instance), I mean to say (by equal parts) that if you have 1/4 cup tomato paste, then add to it 1/4 cup honey (raw for your health), 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, and 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar (raw for your health) plus 1/8 cup water (see how that is 1/4 cup combined?). I did it this way for simplicity (and because Guthrie's usually the measurer and he's snoring in the chair by the window) and so you can remember it sometime when you're out of town and need to make it at your aunt's house. Or niece's.

Eli's Note: Some would have a special technique of whooping the olive oil with the vinegar til gelatinous and whisking in the honey/tomato paste/water gradually in a small trickle. That is more chef-like, but I did not take that approach. I am merely a hound, not a man.

Guthrie's Note: I am a little tired of the whole raw apple cider vinegar matter, as it is put on my food every day to glisten up my coat and keep me from rashes, to which I am prone. So I just slept through the whole affair. I noticed our girl enjoyed it, though. I may lick the dish when she goes out to mow the lawn. (Here is an unrelated picture of us with a small person named Wellsley. We were camping. I'm on the left; she is in the middle.)

*Independent Ratings Key:
1 of 3 = mediocre, don't save the recipe, don't try it again
2 of 3 = has good potential but not extraordinary, give it one more chance before discarding
3 of 3 = best of all possible recipes for this item, save it in your treasured Best of All Possible Recipes box**

**Note, anyone's Best of All Possible Recipes box would have only One recipe for any one item. Otherwise it would Not be the Best of All Possible Recipes for that aforementioned item. So if you find a 3 of 3 recipe, it must oust any previous recipe of its kind in the Best of All Possible Recipes box. 3s carry a very significant epicurian responsibility.