Sambal, essential oils, and I have a Britney moment.

My stay-at-home human has a lot of a.r.o.m.a.t.h.e.r.a.p.y essential oils and floral waters.

They sit in a cool dark corner of an old cupboard. The cupboard smells very nice every time she opens it.

Sometimes, she uses her floral waters on Mr Thumper and me. She washes our cuts and scratches and bites with lavender and lemon tea tree floral water.

Every day, my stay-at-home human burns a little pot of essential oils. She especially likes the ones that say: "calming and relaxing" and "cleansing and disinfecting".


Maybe that's why I'm such a calm, relaxed and clean dog.


My stay-at-home human has one essential oil she uses ONLY FOR ME!

Chilli oil. Someone in the dog park advised her that this was exactly what she needed to spray on things to stop me chewing them. EXACTLY what she needed!

When she sprayed the oil, my stay-at-home human coughed! and coughed! and COUGHED! until she heaved and tears ran down her cheeks. It looked very painful and not at all calm and relaxing.

I gave everything she sprayed a good long sniff and couldn't see what the problem might be.

This only made her more agitated.

My stay-at-home human doesn't use my special chilli oil anymore.

Her new favourites are ones that say "strengthens and fortifies the spirit".

***

My out-at-work human also likes chilli a lot:

Mr Tang's Homemade Chilli-Garlic Sauce

*1 kilo of large and small [bird's eye] red chillies. [If you can tolerate only a little heat, use only large chillies. If you really, REALLY can't tolerate heat, skip this post.]

*Approx 1 whole garlic to 500g of chillies [assuming you like garlic a lot. If not, use less.]

Clean chillies, remove green bits.

Peel garlic.

Combine in blender with a little water and salt to taste.

Blend till fine.

Store in jars in fridge. Good to freeze.

Sambal

*Chilli-garlic sauce

*Shallots or onions [preferably red]

*Garlic - to your taste

*Belacan/shrimp paste - to your taste [available at Asian food stores - looks nasty, tastes brilliant]

*Optional - har-mei/dried shrimp

Blend shallots with garlic till fine.

If using har-mei, blend that separately.

There should be about an equal amount of blended onion/garlic to chilli-garlic sauce.

Heat wok/pan with a good quantity of oil. Fry the blended shallot/garlic mixture till fragrant. Stir frequently. It might take some time.

If you're using har-mei, add that in now and continue frying.

Once fragrant, add chilli-garlic sauce, stir well and continue frying.

Add fish sauce, light soy, salt, A LOT of sugar, belacan. Stir well and continue frying. How much seasoning? To suit your tastebuds.

WATCH IT! Stir frequently to prevent burning and sticking.

Once it's very fragrant and quite dark, it's ready. Store in jars in fridge. Good to freeze.

Ginger-Vinegar Chilli Sauce

*Chilli-garlic sauce

*A piece of ginger - thinly sliced and julienned

*White vinegar

Combine all above.

Make when needed [this goes with Hainanese Chicken Rice - previous post].

 ***

Ooops! I did it again!

These days, my humans trust me enough to leave me in the house when they're out.

 

This is what they came home to yesterday afternoon.

This is one of my Naughty Corners. I have many.

I had to help clean up and didn't get to go out to play with my friends.

Are those my cushions?

p.s. After my stay-at-home human stopped screaming and cleaning, I noticed her knee didn't smell funny anymore. "It's A Miracle!" she said.

She's still crabby when I push her though.

***

!!! We dogs don't mind a little holistic healing, but if you're going to use a.r.o.m.a.t.h.e.r.a.p.y on us, please be careful and check with Dr Dog first!!!

http://dog-care.suite101.com/article.cfm/essential-oils-and-aromatherapy-for-dogs