Pup Camp

Travel is exhilarating, exhausting, amazing, fun, scary and I love it all. Except the actual getting out the door to go. If I didn't have all these 4 legged family members, that bring me more joy than any amount of stress could negate, it would be easy. I worry. Ask any of my house sitters. The list they get can be 3 pages long. Ridiculous things are intentionally left off, and it ain't easy, things like "Bean likes the first bite of his dinner off of a spoon". 
Welcome to my particular kind of pet crazy. Even I can't ask them to do this. Ronnie Chandler's Critter Keepers doesn't need a note from me yet they don't laugh when they get one. When we lost one of our dogs to cancer and had to board Beanie alone Ronnie noticed he wasn't eating enough, she fed him at the counter... by hand. Okay. It wasn't even just once. Then sent me a video of him barking at her to take him upstairs to bed with her. Bossy little thing. He's special. Ronnie treats him like his momma (me) would. Now my precious shy lil Bean, that ONLY loves me, pushes his way in past Kami (Ronnie's daughter) like "get outta my way Kami I'm going in!' We have a new special boy too. CJ is 8 and just came to live with us. He was a little nervous the first couple times then sure enough he shoved his way in on our last visit. Makes going away infinitely easier to know they are cared for in a safe, protected, home atmosphere. Spoiled rotten to boot.

And not just him, Ronnie treats me special too. Everyone there does. Rick and I came home weary from travel to pick up the boys. Exhausted, no food in the house, you know the drill. The whole Chandler family was on the porch having a dinner, Ronnie came around the corner and invited us to eat with them. Who does that? How kind. She saw how tired we were and just sent us on our way with some of  her husband, 'Pop's', fried halibut and daughter Kami's homemade tartar sauce. They had (just the week before) caught this halibut in Alaska. I have never had halibut this good. The crust was perfect, crunchy outside, tender inside, not greasy at all, seasoned to perfection. The tartar sauce was so fresh, crunchy onion and almost like a thousand island tang. I ate all of my share on the way home and Rick was watching to make sure I didn't down his. It was like really coming home. Just treating us like family. Great moments like this make a community. 

Of course they shared both recipes. I would expect nothing less from the Chandlers. 
From Ronnie~
"We were taught to do both by my Mother, Granny Morlan. Pops fish batter is: Mix together.
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp.baking powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
Add:
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup water
Stir till smooth. Enough batter for 1 pound halibut
Cut fish into small chunks. Dip in batter & fry in hot vegetable oil till golden brown. Drain on paper towels."

From Kami~

"I don't have an exact recipe but here are the basics.....it's all according to the individuals taste. The base is a jar of miracle whip. Must be miracle whip. Not mayonnaise.  1 diced onion. The rest is to the individuals taste. I start with a little and add more if needed....
Mustard
Sweet relish
Lemon juice
Garlic powder
PepperHope you have a great day! Kiss my boys for me."

Thank you Critter Keepers for treating your customers like family. There is no finer business model.