Beginnings

Get ready Trot, because your world is going to change quite soon.

 

 Remember how we've been searching for a sibling dog for you?  Remember the times with Sterling?  With George?

 I have your attention?  Great!  Remember even how startling it was to enter into our house and recognize you'd finally reached your forever home?  It was a wonderful feeling to have you join us, I think you felt the same that day.  
 

 

There is always enough love to go around, keep that in mind too.  The road ahead will be beautiful: it will be lit with even more love and don't your worry about it one second- no dog will ever replace you, no dog will ever be preferred.  You will always and forever be our Trot.  

 

 

 Indeed, this was a special walk, but there will be special walks of a different sort ahead of us all.
 

"The dog was created specially for children. He is the god of frolic."

Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit

The typewriter

 

It's still Thanksgiving

I may as well get it over with; as the good daughter I am expected to announce it.  With great fanfare and a little cringe, I do declare...

my father the winner of this year's Gluttony Bowl.  If you see a man hoisting a turkey trophy high over his head, running around town and saying "salt intake is key",  that would be my Dad.  Well done in your repeat, Dad.  We are all impressed if not a bit worried about your kidneys and the seriousness with which you compete.

Ok, so Gluttony Bowl is a little over the top, but to me and my family it represents all that Thanksgiving stands for: food, family, and tradition.  The beginning and ending to all those ridiculous stories that only families can share in with a clap of the hands or a roll of the eye.

another tradition: the clay pigeon shootout

Storytelling is not dead among families, unless overkill counts (oh boy, do you have tales like that in your family?).  Stories link the years and provide keys to why we are who we are.  My brother and I heard a brand new childhood tall tale this Thanksgiving.  It was a doozy lobbed in by my Dad (not yet basking in his championship) that had us rolling and amazed that we had not yet heard that one, but therein lies the beauty- there are always more stories to tell.

Thanksgiving 2012, photo story edition:

   pre-meal festivities- including eating and the Thanksgiving bonfire.  Turkey leg name cards.

 Albuquerque Turkey concert, misuse of said turkey legs, lots of birthdays to celebrate.

I'll take an extra helping of Thanksgiving, thank you very much.  The gratitude.  The family.  The love.  And all the ingredients that make for a great story: the good, the bad...

                Oh yeah, you better believe I was going to make them.

and 

 

the ugly.  

Gobbly Good

Take a peek

                                          (don't mind the photo- imagine the FLAVOR)

That right there is sesame ginger popcorn and it is out of this world incredible!  I especially like to make it this time of year because it seems Fallish to me (although I have no problem eating it during other seasons too) and because it is a good grab and go snack when slightly hectic days- like prepping for holidays- are upon me. 

Are you feeling a little under the gun with Thanksgiving,  Gluttony Bowl, house cleaning, grocery shopping, and editing photos of your 1 year old all vying for your attention?  Eat this popcorn, feel immediate relief (I replace the corn syrup with honey).  

(oh the outtakes... why, why? did you put the "scuba suit" on?)

 I came across the recipe in the 90s and curiously, when I went to goggle it to see if it was posted online, it turned out that the author has since written a cookbook. See?  I know a good recipe when I taste one.



Have a GOBBLY GOOD Thanksgiving everyone! 


xoxo,


PS:  Look- it's me:

 See the resemblance?

My birthday SEASON was fabulous.  Thank you.

Capturing Carrots

The carrots were the only thing left to get out of the garden, so when the weather warmed up last weekend I headed to my two patches.  I then distracted myself from working by deciding to take a picture which led me to tromp in to the house for the camera and then to fiddle with the Manual setting (because I am determined to learn, hear me??!!).  I was so going to take a picture like all those other blogs with the standard issue "picture shot from above with cute shoes and some sort of produce or pile of goods in it".  I snapped and all the screen displayed was carrots.  I repositioned and hit the shutter again.  Carrots, nothing else.  And again.  
Carrots, just blasted carrots.

Finally it dawned on me, OOOOH they are using a wide angle lens to take those shots!!  I grabbed my fisheye attachment and thank the Lord Almighty got my carrot pile and boot shot.

It just confirms that even the seemingly easiest pictures to take might just have a little secret of their own behind the lens.  Makes me appreciate quality photography that much more!!  The same quality that is totally lacking in my carrot pictures, but eh, there's other things one can do with carrots besides mount photos of them on the wall.

You can make soup!  Here's a super yummy, super fast recipe shared with me by my sister in law S:

Carrot Ginger Soup
2T butter
2lbs carrots peeled and chopped
2 onions
6C chicken broth
1C cream
2T ginger (I use fresh, chopped)
- put onions and butter in stockpot and heat over med-high until onions are transparent.  Add broth, ginger, and carrots.  Heat to boiling then cover and reduce heat.  Simmer until carrots are tender and then puree.  Add in cream and serve. 

Or, you can make those fruit purees your toddler is so interested in!  My prototype involves a cake decorating bag and some masking tape.  I then dig around and find any produce that would make a good puree candidate- especially if it's been hanging around a little while.

Anything and everything makes the cut: apples, pears, blueberries, cherry juice, bananas, tofu, grapes, kiwi, last night's green beans, CARROTS...

They somehow end up tasty no matter what is in them and the boys think it's simply fabulous to eat them.  My prototype is quite wasteful though and more times than not I spoon the puree into a bowl rather than a disposable bag.  My crew does not think that is half as fabulous, but now that I've solved the "picture shot from above with cute shoes and some sort of produce or pile of goods in it" I'll have more time to devote to creating a sustainable puree dispenser.