Last of the Summer Somen

When the weather gets hot, I love to eat somen for dinner.  Somen are very thin, white noodles served cold with a light dipping sauce, tsuyu.  My parents brought me some from Japan as a birthday present this summer although the noodles are available from my local Asian food store.  I think the somen from my parents tastes better though. 

Somen with prosciutto, cucumber, tsuyu and cherry tomatoes

Of course, Portland didn't really get summer this year until the last two weeks of August so I didn't get to eat my somen for a while.  The temperatures stayed in the 70s and 80s for the most and it just didn't feel warm enough for somen, until the end of August and the beginning of September.  Then it got suddenly warmer than I prefer.  I spent some uncomfortable afternoons, in a puddle on the couch.  However, it was just right for somen.

This year, my parents added an admonition to keep my somen stored up high.  A few years ago, my parents brought me some birthday somen, along with other assorted goodies like Pocky and curry blocks.  We came back from dinner to find a hyper dog, a very dry water dish and little pieces of white all over the floor.  It wasn't until we found the shredded somen package on the living room floor that we realized I had left the somen in a doggie-accessible place and the little white things were the remains of the noodles.  Della had managed to eat not just a serving but the entire package.  That's five adult servings of carby noodles!  She's a 30 lb dog and, yet, she seems to have a cast iron stomach.  No ill affects what-so-ever.  She didn't even have the decency to look ashamed as she usually does when she eats something she shouldn't.  I know they say dogs don't know that they've done something bad but I don't believe it.  Della always knows but this time, she was completely unrepentant.

I've gotten better about keeping food out of her reach, but I still forget sometimes.  Just last Friday, I won some beef jerky for singing in a contest at work (it was Frontier Heritage Beer and Jerky Day, a completely made-up holiday).  I was exhausted when I got home, end of a long week, and I forgot to put my purse, with the jerky inside it, on the table.  Instead, I left it on the floor by the front door.  Della, being the perpetually hungry and inquisitive dog that she always seems to be, made quick work of it while my back was turned.  Apparently, I'll never learn.

Looks sweet, doesn't she?  Don't be fooled, she's a canine vacuum.