Filed under: animals, border collies, food, photography | Tags: border collies, dogs, food, life, photography, tucson, vegan
I’m sorry I’ve been so out of touch. Things have been so busy. It’s amazing how adding a third dog can take away half your time. (ok…I may be exaggerating. ) This is my busy season, so I should have many things to blog about. The question is….Will I have time? I suppose the biggest news is this: Your dear friend Pickles was selected to be the cover dog for the Arizona Border Collie Rescue 2015 calendar! And I got to shoot her photo, as well as her May images, Nike the July dog, and October dogs Saxon and London! The calendar is beautiful. They did a brilliant job assembling cute dogs, talented photographers and the print quality is great. Here is my girl now, in one of the photos that didn’t make the calendar:
Pickles at San Xavier Mission
You can order your calendars here: http://azbordercollierescue.com/calendar_purchase_2015.asp In July Cody Bear turned 10! O….M…G….. Time is going by so fast. Pickles is 6 and Tralee is 1. Pickles and Cody Bear still love each other, but he also enjoys sitting back and watching the two Border Collies play. I love how he smiles at them. And every now and then he will join in the fun. But he is slowing down. And how is he doing with the new, high drive, loony puppy….?
Cody Bear and Tralee Bear
He loves her. And she adores him. He is very protective of his girls and he loves having that role of protector.
Cody Bear and his greying muzzle
In even bigger news! Some of you know I have enjoyed working on my photography portfolio for several years now. Well, I was invited by the i.d.e.a. Museum in Mesa, AZ to participate in their “Jeepers Creepers: BUGS in art” exhibition running from 10/3/14 to 1/25/15! I saw the exhibition last week. I drove to Scottsdale and dragged my parents to the gallery opening. We had a great night and my parents and I were SO impressed with the gallery and the diverse collection!
Purple Hairstreak Butterfly
The i.d.e.a. Museum is geared towards inspiring creativity and education for children and they’ve done a brilliant job keeping a collection of talented artists and making it interactive and fun for kids. Please check it out, it is sooo much fun. Final October news: Goodbear has gone vegan! Today is day thirty. I had a few off days where I couldn’t avoid dairy, but for the most part it was a good thirty days and I’m going to keep at it. I will allow an occasional egg from my friends’ home chickens. I know I won’t be perfect, but I’m going to give it a shot. I decided to do it for health reasons and I could instantly see improvements in that department.
Goodbear goes vegan
Filed under: cooking, food, vegan, vegetarian | Tags: cilantro, cooking, food, recipes, salad, salsa, vegan, vegetarian
buzzy is here so we can get some work done…but i’m forcing her to eat my leftovers from last night, blogging the recipes THEN i will work on the antiques project.
one has to have priorities.
first of all, i’m so glad that some of you wanted my recipes! thanks a bunch. so here goes, from the kitchen of goodbear:
goodbear’s not-bad-for-a-gringa salsa:
1 fresh jalapeno pepper – chopped
1 fresh anaheim chili pepper – diced
3 medium fresh tomatoes – diced (i like mine chunky)
3 cloves fresh garlic(i sometimes use more!)
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1/4 cup fresh chopped green onion – green and white parts
1 can stewed tomatoes – dice the chunks
2 tbsp. diced green chilis
salt & pepper to taste
i like my salsa hot and chunky! the night before serving, chop, slice and dice the peppers, garlic, onion and tomatoes. mix em up. take your stewed tomatoes, but before adding them to the mix, slice the tomato to your preferred chunkiness. add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT the cilantro.
over night the flavors will blend and the salsa becomes a little hotter. right before serving add the fresh chopped cilantro. you can add it the night before, too, but since we have so many cilantro lovers here at cody bear’s friends….it stands out more if you add it right before serving.
serves 2 – 15 people, depending on how hungry they are and how tasty the other dishes are!
goodbear’s damn-i-need-a-side-dish easy corn salad:
2 cans whole kernel corn – rinsed well & drained
1 can black beans – rinsed well & drained
1 medium red onion – chopped
1/2 red wine vinagrette dressing
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1/2-3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
salt & pepper to taste
prepare the night before serving. in medium mixing bowl mix red wine vinagrette dressing and cumin. next add chopped onion, corn and beans. stir ingredients. and just a little salt & pepper. again, i like adding the cilantro the next day. also, depending on what brand of dressing you use, you may want to add a couple extra tbsp.s of olive oil.
this dish takes about 5-10 minutes to prepare. i have no idea how many folks it serves.
here is buzzy, enjoying her leftovers and working diligently on her defense:
thanks for stopping by!
Filed under: food, work | Tags: cooking, food, southwest cooking, vegan, vegetarian
we’re grilling at the office today to celebrate the birth of my boss. he’s very excited. (not really. not at all)
m and i are in charge of the vegetarian options. here are my two entries: chips and salsa and a sw corn salady type concoction.
so fresh and yummy!
let me know if you want either recipe. they’re really good and the salad is super easy.
Filed under: cooking, farm, farms, food, gardening, health, organic, photography, vegetables | Tags: farms, gardening, organic, photography, produce, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian
as i mentioned, my friends are paying me in veggies to do their organic farm’s website. i love it. here is today’s snack…
they’re the most delicious snap peas in the whole entire world. they just have to be. i can’t imagine finding sweeter, crisper peas.
they were all normal size peas, but this little cutie, seen here with a ibuprofen…
i also had a raw organic trail mix bar….which was disgusting!!!!
but oh, …the peas….
Filed under: animals, food, friends, health, nature, vegan, vegetarian | Tags: bugs, food, insects, life, nature, vegan, vegetarian
warning: this post contains a bug. i tiny, harmless but that allegedly tastes like cinnamon!
it happened yesterday evening. i was in the back yard with cody bear, talking on my mobile. i came inside to check my email and turned my head to find a bug on my should. one fraction of a second of freak out, then i realize….it’s the mythical pentatomid.
i hung up, picked him off and sat him on my desk then ran to find one of my cameras. while i was gone, he found a comfy spot on my larabar.
“what’s a pentatomid?” you ask. it’s a very small bug that flies. it apparently….can be used for seasoning, but, as i posited before, why not just use actual seasoning.
“what’s a larabar?” you ask. its a snack bar that has no added sugar, is unprocessed, raw, no gluten, no dairy, no soy and is vegan as well as kosher. i like them….and so does my pentatomid.
….so then i let him outside and he flew away. i called my buggy friend, a, and she naturally asked if i tasted it. right! as if! she knows i don’t eat meat!
Filed under: dogs, farms, food, friends, gardening, organic, plants, vegetables, vegetarian | Tags: entomology, farming, farms, friends, gardening, life, organic, vegan, vegetables
warning: this post has a beetle in it….with mandibles!
but give him a shot! we’re talking about the weekend again.
basically, my friends have an amazing organic farm about an hour outside of town. last year i went to one of their harvests and i had the best time. yes, it was hard work, but the work felt good. while you’re picking the AMAZING produce from the fields you have time to chat with all these other people that 1. are interested in local produce, organic farming, sustainability and the great outdoors, and 2. somehow seem to be like minded about dogs and the environment, and 3. are just nice, fun people!
artichoke break:
last year i went by myself. i took my new and amazing friends, r and a! and wouldn’t you know it, they were the belles of the ball!
as entomologists and biologists, everyone had questions for them…mostly about BEES! (which i love) and they had fun, too. in fact, one volunteer, prolly about 20 years older than he, decided that r was really the pick of the day, and…engagement to a be damned, …she was gonna make her move! no harm, no harm.
its fun having a in the field because she looks for bugs with giant mandibles to scare me!
here’s the daily beetle!
there was lots of joking and talks in the field, followed by the amazing meal i mentioned earlier…but here’s the coolest part:
i’m reminded it’s never too late to make friends. i’m so glad r and a and i have become such good friends! and we have such a good time together. what’s better than veggies, the outdoors and friends you love? i guess the only thing i would have done was take cody bear, my super awesome dog.
it was just good…another good part of an awesome weekend…
Filed under: farm, farms, food, friends, gardening, organic, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian | Tags: cooking, farming, farms, food, gardening, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian
sunday’s food specifically. we went to my friend’s farm and, as i mentioned in an earlier post, worked our bums off. we were pullin’ up organic veg for 4.5 hours, then hopped into the trucks and went to the main house for the most delicious feast. almost entirely made from herbs and veg from their farm and eggs from their chicks. most dishes were vegan, too.
she made one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian fritatta…
they’re like omelets, only not gooey or greasy because they’re baked.
other dishes! 2 different kinds of vegan pasta salad that were so fresh and delicious! one was the freshed basil pesta pasta salad, and the other was spinach bowtie pasta with really mild mushrooms! this giant platter of the freshest root veg and radishy type things with an amazing dressing. one veg i had never even heard of before and ….i’ve forgotten it. oh and the MOST delicious fresh pea pods ever! and fresh endive salad and her famous cowboy cavier. (her best batch yet)
for desert, fresh baked cookies and this honey and citrus/berry fruit dish that….had too many things i was allergic to, but looked delicious. i should have taken more pictures, but we were starving so i didn’t have the strength to hold the camera …
Filed under: dogs, food, life, pets, vegan | Tags: animals, dogs, life, pets, puppies, vegan, work
well, the weekend went well, so it was hard going back to work today. but….it didn’t turn out badly! my boss was funny and even though i screwed up for a bit, he was cool about it…and….my coworker was hardly annoying at all!
it helps knowing that my boss is seeing his bad habits, too.
i will admit, much of my mental energy was spent wondering why i haven’t heard from the border collie rescue group. i totally smothered cody bear with attention after work because he has acted so depressed lately. it made all the difference; he was SO CHEERY. so…i know a play mate is a good idea.
besides…there are way too many dog toys in this house for one dog!
i don’t have any thing juicy to talk about tonight. ‘cept maybe the super tasty meal i made myself. some sort of green bean tomato onion dealie in a mixture of seasonings and white wine served on this mixture of rices. i have to say….it was scrumptious! exciting….? no, but scrumptious.
hopefully i’ll have something silly to post about tomorrow.
Filed under: cooking, food, health, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian | Tags: allergies, diet, health, soy, tofu, vegan, vegetables, vegetarin
guess which newby vegan has developed a soy allergy….
yes…me. bummer, huh?
in late november i met with a quirky and upbeat nutritionist who was excited about my leap into veganism and urged me to stay away from soy. for the first few weeks, i cooked fresh veg and whole grains and i felt GREAT! more energy during the day….woke up without having that congested feeling. for convenience sake i needed to fall back on tofu, soy sauce, soy products.
i started getting sicker and sicker and (DUH) didn’t even think about the soy. well, there it was…. a nasty and inconvenient allergy that just kept getting worse for over a month. (i wasn’t putting two and two together). i have been without ANY soy now for exactly 7 days and am remarkably better. truly, the symptoms were gross and i am so much happier.
back to the drawing board on the vegan diet though…can’t fall back on the mock meats and the soy sauces flavorings. damn…me lovums my soy sauce…
Filed under: animals, dogs, life, pets, photography, weather | Tags: animals, dogs, life, pets, photography, vegan
i still carry my trusty power shot with me where ever i go. i had it with me as i was walking out of the grocery with my:
tahini sauce, red tail ale, collard greens, arnica cream, mr. pugsly’s peanut butter dog biscuits and a pair of cotton gloves for my friend. i couldn’t believe the sky. i love it. since i just got the 20d, a better camera, i still can’t take pictures with it that turn out as nice as the power shot.
in dog land:
cody bear is SICK of getting his picture taken. this is him on manual focus.
….his nose is missing!
cody bear was grouchy today because the garbage men took his trash. it was brush and bulky week, so i had put a bunch of wood and boxes of tree trimmings by the curb. it took them forever to load up the rubbish and cb was certainly distressed. “why are you just standing there? they’re taking our garbage!!!” poor dog….
so, to sum it up…the collard greens and the roasted eggplant was very tasty. work, was ….weird. (i won’t get into it).
and it is time to walk the dog again!
bye!
cody bear's friends 
