I was pruning roses this weekend when one of my sons came over to borrow tools to fix his dirt bike. He brought his little dog with him. I worried because the little thing weighs less than five pounds. Her name is Francine Anita – I’m assuming she was named by Dereck’s girlfriend. Anyway, the puppy is so tiny that I worried she’d be snatched up by a swooping hawk or owl.

So I took a break and picked up Francine Anita and cuddled her on my lap until she stopped shivering. She was afraid of our dog Sally, the barn cats and even the chickens. Eventually she settled down and I took her with me as I tackled the rest of the rose bushes.

I kept an eye on her while I worked and she never wandered far – happily bounding back when I spoke to her. She rode on my lap in the golf cart as I carried brush to the burn pile. She’s cute and has an underbite that gives her a defiant look. She was always happy to see Dereck as we drove by, but was enjoying our adventure too. I mused that it might be like having a grandchild. I’m not quite ready for a grandchild, but enjoyed having a granddog for a couple of hours.

Dinner was leftover brisket sandwiches. They are like grilled cheese sandwiches, but with a lot more stuff. The layers included a slice of wheat bread with Dijon mustard, Monterrey jack cheese, sliced brisket, prepared horseradish, sautéed onions and peppers, more Monterrey jack cheese, mayonnaise and a slice of wheat bread. I heated each side of the sandwich in olive oil leftover from sautéing the onions and peppers.

Sometimes dinner needs to be simple and those sandwiches were great comfort food after working outside all day.

Sunday afternoon, I tried a recipe recommended by a Leader reader. She suggested that my husband might find it more interesting and appetizing than some of the other quinoa dishes I’ve tried.

Quinoa Blondies
1/4 c. softened butter
3/4 c. almond butter
2 eggs
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. quinoa flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Beat butters together until smoothed. Add eggs, brown sugar and vanilla, continuing to beat.

Mix quinoa flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until blended. Then add chocolate chips and nuts.

Spread into a greased foil-lined pan and bake 25-35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out cleanly.

I made the blondies and they were very sweet, so David liked that. I did grind my own quinoa flour and perhaps didn’t grind it finely enough. I liked the texture, but David did not. I also used a tri-colored quinoa blend, so the blondies were really more of a dark-blonde to light brown – my hair color before the gray.

I entered the recipe into an app that provides nutritional information and assumed the recipe made 12 servings. With 328 calories and 7 grams of protein, I realized that the recipe could make a great protein bar – if I reduced the amount of chocolate chips and added more nuts. Perhaps raisins or dried cranberries and whole oats would be good too.

I am happy to have the dessert recipe and love experimenting and playing with new ideas. The reader also sent a quinoa cookie recipe, so I’ll have to try that soon.