A New Mouth to Feed:

This post originally appeared on the Taste and Savor blog on June 14, 2012

With a lighter than normal work schedule this week, I had great aspirations of productivity. I had hoped that lots of planned cooking and recipe testing, would produce some great meals for my family and of course a wonderful new recipe for my blog. Well, not too much cooking happened this week and as a matter of fact, I had a hard time even getting to the grocery store. Happily, I can say that my lack of accomplishment in the cooking department was not a result of anything bad, but rather something wonderful. And unexpected and welcome distraction in the form of a small, fuzzy bundle of love who needed a home. My home.

We welcomed this precious creature, "Charlie" into our home on Tuesday of this week and have spent the past couple of days getting acclimated to each other. I wanted to share the story that lead me to this dog in need.

Exactly one week ago, Chef Nancy and I facilitated a hands on cooking class at the Cancer Wellness Center at Piedmont West. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know some of our regular participants better, learn from each other and share stories. As the evening wound down, and our guests were saying their good-byes, Chef Nancy called me over to see a picture of a dog that had recently been rescued by a lovely couple called Cedric and Amanda, who frequent Cancer Wellness. Nancy knew that I had started looking for a new dog, and also knew that my main criteria was fluffy, fuzzy, floppy eared, with a big black nose. The dog in the snapshot was the perfect specimen, in my opinion.

Cedric and Amanda, directed me to atlantapetrescue.org, where my kids and I poured over the pictures of many cuties who needed homes. Several of the dogs we were initially interested in were adopted before we could make it over to the facility in Smyrna on Tuesday morning. I was very impressed with the Atlanta Pet Rescue and Adoption center. Friendly staff, immaculately clean, and many adorable animals who were waiting to find their forever homes. Charlie (formerly known as Willis) caught our eye, as he looked remarkably similar to our wheaton terrier, who we lost at the end of last year. The adoption process was easy, and within an hour, we were on the way home with the newest memeber of our family.

So as you can see, I have been happily distracted this week and mainly trying to mix up the perfect batch of kibbles for the new mouth that I have to feed.

I feel extremely grateful to have been a part of the wonderful class at Cancer Wellness last week, which was a fun and fullfilling evening in and of itself, but even more happy that being in the right place at the right time led us to Charlie.