Virginia Bluebells in the Garden

Dalai Lama and Friends

In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree

The Dogs of Mad Men

Beautiful, showy, and a natural herder. Can become extremely destructive if her energy is not directed in a positive way.
Attractive, active, and cunning, with a strong survival instinct. Vizslas get bored with repetitive exercises and ignore commands if they find something more interesting.Unambitious, yet somewhat put-upon. Becomes crazed if ignored.
Loyal to Don, her boss/owner, with good tracking instincts. Very intelligent but, as a result of being bred for the long chase, Beagles are single-minded and determined, which can make them hard to train -- although this is pretty much a good thing.
Playful troublemaker. When untrained and unconfined, Weimaraners create their own fun. They can be highly focused, but display behavioral issues as a result of isolation and inferior mental or physical exercise. Despite all this, they're still slightly lazy.
All-American inbred who's a bit of a loose cannon. Adorable but unpredictable. Thrives with discipline, but may act out in an unstable home.
Ambitious and independent, Basenjis are very clever at getting their own way. They have a strong prey drive, chasing after fast-moving, flashy, and perceived weaker objects that cross their paths.
English, pushy, and a little weird. Typically have eye issues.
Somewhat unattractive and so often ignored, Chinese Cresteds are active and alert, even though they may appear a little deranged.
Dainty and perceived as prissy, but knows how to get what she wants. This breed often comes in a pretty package, but don't mistake them for weaklings.
Unassuming but efficient and reliable. Creative and independent thinker; would probably make a fine novelist. And, of course, has chiseled features and a nice wave to the hair.

This breed just wants everyone to be happy, but also wants the most pets.

Limoncello Collins

Another cocktail for your mad Men viewing party? The Collins was most likely named after 19th-century bartender John Collins of London's Limmer's Hotel. The Tom Collins was originally made with Old Tom, a sweet style of gin that's extremely hard to find today.

Recipe: Limoncello Collins

INGREDIENTS

16 ounces limoncello (lemon-flavored liqueur)

12 ounces gin

8 ounces fresh lemon juice

24 paper–thin lemon slices

Ice

16 ounces chilled club soda

8 mint sprigs

In a pitcher, combine the limoncello, gin and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours. Press 3 thin lemon slices against the inside of each of 8 collins glasses. Add ice to the glasses. Stir the limoncello mixture and pour it into the glasses. Stir 2 ounces of club soda into each drink and garnish with a mint sprig.

Anne Leuck Feldhaus

Portrait of Hobie, a Tibetan Terrier

Working out of her Chicago studio, Anne Leuck Feldhaus celebrates life with paint. Her simplified forms, sophisticated compositions and vivid color palettes provide a bold mix of contemporary folk and urban pop art. As a pet adoption advocate, Feldhaus uses her animal-themed art to encourage support of animal welfare and shelter organizations.

Self-taught in painting, Anne retains her childhood aesthetic, which was surely influenced by many Sunday mornings staring at the stained glass windows in a Catholic church. Her color sense was further developed mixing her own frosting colors while baking cutout cookies with her mother. Many of those colors still make up her palette today.

Anne has exhibited nationally in galleries, at fine art fairs, and on-line. Specializing in custom Dog and Pet Portraits, she is also an illustrator and has licensed her designs for stationery and home decor products. Her work has appeared on expressway billboards (in Kansas & Georgia), neighborhood banners, t-shirts, movies (The Number 23 and The Break Up) and even farm fields (an 11 acre field sculpture). Press includes features in publications such as The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times, Modern Dog and on programs such as Art Beat Chicago and Animal Planet. Anne’s works hang in private collections in over 30 U.S. States, as well as internationally.

For more info, click here to visit Anne's website.

Mad Men Cocktail

The fifth season of AMC’s Mad Men premieres on Sunday night with the usual cast of hard-drinking ad execs in the 1960s. For a Mad Men–themed viewing party, we offer an old-fashioned (below), which is Don Draper’s drink of choice.

Recipe: Old-Fashioned

INGREDIENTS

1 sugar cube

3 dashes Angostura bitters

1 tablespoon club soda

2 ounces bourbon

1 thin strip of lemon peel

In a rocks glass, combine the sugar cube, bitters and club soda. Muddle to a paste. Stir in the bourbon. Add ice and garnish with a two-inch strip of lemon peel.

James Beard Award for our Friend Bunkycooks!

Bunkycooks and her gorgeous hunk, Beamer

I am very excited to announce that Bunkycooks has been named as one of three finalists in the James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards for Best Individual Blog. The awards ceremony is in New York City May 4th, 2012 and the winners will be announced then.

Visit Bunkycooks at www.bunkycooks.com.

We're Number 7

Rufus, Grand Champion Deep Acres Fields of Gold, is currently ranked number 7 among Tibetan Terriers in the USA. We are enjoying it! We know it won't last long.

Pandora Out of the Box

Pandora was awarded Best of Winners and Best of Opposite Sex for a three-point major in San Diego. She only needs one more point to earn her champion title. Way to go Pandora!

North of the Border

We spied this cute little Border Terrier in a storefront window in Toronto.

St. Pat's Dogs

Of the many legends surrounding St. Patrick, the ones that resonate for us involves this most famous of Irishmen and dogs. Around 400 A.D. legend has it when he was sixteen, Patrick was captured by Irish marauders who enslaved him, he then endured six years as a half-naked shepherd with only a dog and some sheep for companionship. One day he had a dream that his favorite sheepdog, in the guise of an angel, told him to escape to a ship on the coast that was over 200 miles away—the ship from Gaul filled from stem-to-stern with Irish Wolfhounds. Making his way to the ship, the exhausted Patrick begged to come aboard but his pleas were refused—until someone noticed that he had a calming effect on the feisty Irish canine cargo. So they let him on in exchange for some dog caring and training. It didn’t take long after that for Patrick to come up with his first miracle. The ship had crashed upon the shore of northwest Gaul, the men and dogs soon were starving, having run out of food. The men, pagans all, turned to Patrick and taunted him to ask his Christian god for help. Patrick prayed all night, in the morning a herd of wild pigs magically appeared from the forest, and he quickly set the hounds on them. The now well-fed crewmembers were so impressed that they became Christian converts. After about twenty years spent on the continent, Patrick, who had made quite a name for himself there and became a priest, decided to come back to Ireland. But upon landing on the Emerald shores he was met by Dichu, an Irish pagan prince, out hunting with his favorite hound. Dichu put his Wolfhound, Lauth on attack alert but when the dog lunged for Patrick, he uttered a few words and the dog went into an immediate down-stay and licked his outstretched hand. According to Irish folklore, this kindly saint repaid all his doggy pals by allowing the legendary Irish hero Oissain to take his hounds to heaven with him.

The Best Broccoli Ever

“Oh my God,” said my dad. “This is the best broccoli I’ve ever had in my life.” Later he said: “If parents made this broccoli for their kids, kids wouldn’t hate broccoli. They’d beg for it.”

Preheat oven to 425.

Take 4 to 5 pounds of broccoli (we just got two large bunches), cut into florets (but relatively big ones.) Here’s the key - dry them THOROUGHLY. That is, if you wash them. I saw an episode of Julia Child cooking with Jacques Pepin once when Pepin revealed he doesn’t wash a chicken before putting it in a hot oven: “The heat kills all the germs,” he said in his French accent. “If bacteria could survive that oven, it deserves to kill me.” By that logic, then, I didn’t wash my broccoli; I wanted it to get crispy and brown. If you’re nervous, though, just wash and dry it obsessively.

Now, it’s easy. Put the broccoli on a cookie sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. (5 Tbs olive oil, 1 1/2 tsps kosher salt, 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper, but I just eyeballed it.) Now add 4 garlic cloves that are peeled and sliced and toss them in too.

Roast in the oven 20 to 25 minutes, until “crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.”

When it’s done, take it out of the oven–and here’s where it gets really good–zest a lemon over the broccoli, squeeze the juice of one lemon over the broccoli, add 1.5 Tbs more olive oil, 3 Tbs toasted pine nuts, 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and 2 Tbs julienned fresh basil.

Yum!

Super Duper Cooper

Cooper is Almost Nine Months Old.

Dog-friendly Yard Work

It’s springtime, the warm weather and longer days give us time to see how our gardens and yards can be made more dog-friendly. One way is to make sure they’re free of plants that might make them sick; another is to add a few small amenities they’ll enjoy more than digging up the flower bed. Here are some ideas from Maureen Gilmer, landscape designer, horticulturalist and dog lover. More can be found online at moplants.com, where you can also download The Dog-Scaped Yard: Creating a Backyard Retreat for You and Your Dog, the eBook from which these were adapted.

Fleabane Herbs
Through the ages, fleas have been the bane of existence for humans as well as dogs. Before pesticides, it was common to strew herbs over the floor of a home, pub or castle to control vermin. The oils in many garden herbs are historic flea repellants, which led to them being dubbed “fleabane.” To use them this way, simply cut the branches and strip the leaves to line the bottom of a dog house. Or, dry the herbs and leaves and stuff them inside the lining of the dog’s bed, which naturally discourages the pests through the winter months. Some of these herbs may also discourage ticks as well.
Fleawort (Erigeron canadense), annual
Fleabane/pennyroyal (Menta pulegium), perennial
Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare), perennial
Wormwood (Artemisia absinthum), shrubby perennial
Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis), shrub
Sweet Bay (Laurus nobilis), tree
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus), tree

Al Fresco Nibbles
Rose hips. Lois the Rottweiler would sit on my deck and eat the ripe hips off my Rosa rugosa plants. The fruit of the rose softens and becomes very sweet in the fall, rich with vitamin C and many other beneficial nutrients. The vet concurred that they were equally as healthy for dogs as for people, and probably gave Lois some of the vitamins her body craved. Moreover, he said that the astringent quality of ripe rose hips would protect her from urinary tract infections. So feel free to plant roses for the dogs and let them forage in the fall!

Wheat and oat grass dog patch. Fresh wheat grass juice is a popular drink for humans. Wheat and oat grass are also good for dogs, in moderation. They will naturally graze on it when they need the nutrients it contains, rather than browsing through your flowers. If you have a dog in a small city yard, consider planting wheat grass in an outdoor patch. It grows great in low, wide troughs. Most pet suppliers sell the seeds in small quantities. For a sizeable dog patch, save money by purchasing your oat and wheat seed in quantity at a health food store. It’s free of chemicals and ideal for large plantings.

Container gardening is a good way to try out herbs with dog-appeal. Easy-to-grow specimens include chamomile, lemon grass, lemon verbena, lemon balm, peppermint, spearmint, oregano, thyme and yarrow. Not only can you reposition the containers if needed, the pots restrain notorious spreaders—mints, for example—from taking over your yard.

Keep Your Yard Foxtail Free
Foxtails are a group of grassy weeds that have seeds attached to long serrated fibers. They are designed with barbs to penetrate an animal’s fur or skin and stick there until they finally drop off somewhere else. When grasses turn brown, foxtails become quite stiff and are easily inhaled by dogs. The tips are sharp enough to penetrate through the softer parts of the paw, mouth and other sensitive spots. Once inside the body, foxtails can travel through the bloodstream and cause serious injury. Keep your yard free of these weeds by pulling all grasses while they’re still green.

Don't Tred on the Lungwort

"Don't tred on the Lungwort," that's what dad keeps telling us. Do we pay any attention?

Yes, the Lungwort is blooming in our garden and, I am sure, dad is about to put up those little fences to keep us out of the perennial beds.

Can't believe it's going to be near 80 degrees here tomorrow. Time to put my fur coat in storage!

Lungworts are perennial herbs that form clumps or rosettes. They are covered in hairs of varied length and stiffness, and sometimes also bear glands. The underground parts consist of a slowly creeping rhizome with adventitious roots. Flowering stems are unbranched, rough, covered with bristly hairs, usually not exceeding 25–30cm, with a few exceptions (P. mollis, P. vallarsae). The stems are usually upright, or slightly spreading.

The Day After Westminster

Rufus, in knit cap by Aunt Joyce, enjoying Central Park the day after Westminster.

Eggs Baked in Roasted Tomato Sauce

I love eggs. Don't all dogs? The Good News Studies have shown that people who eat eggs for breakfast tend to lose weight. Here, eggs are cooked in an antioxidant-rich tomato sauce.



Eggs Baked in Roasted Tomato Sauce


INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon chopped oregano
8 large eggs
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a roasting pan, toss the tomatoes and garlic with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the tomatoes cut side up and roast for 15 minutes; turn and roast until soft, 20 minutes. Let cool, then scrape the mixture into a blender and puree. Add the oregano.

Set 4 shallow ovenproof bowls on a baking sheet. Strain the pureed sauce into the bowls, pressing on the solids. Crack 2 eggs into each bowl and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cheese over the eggs and bake the eggs for about 15 minutes, until the whites are just set. Serve hot.

NOTES One serving 263 cal, 9 gm carb, 19 gm fat, 4.6 gm sat fat, 16 gm protein, 2 gm fiber.

The Paperwhites Are in Bloom Again

Before heading to California we picked up some paperwhite bulbs (actually we ordered them from Amazon), some pebbles from our local nursery, and the perfect glass bowl from a thrift shop. We placed a shallow layer of pebbles on the bottom of the bowl and then arranged the bulbs closely together. We then added the remainder of the pebbles to securely anchor the bulbs.

It wasn't so depressing coming back to the Midwest in winter from sunny California with these lovely blooms to greet us.

Your Dog by Nara

One of the best-know artists working in Japan today, Yoshitomo Nara draws heavily on the traditions of anime, comic books and cartoons so strongly associated with Japanese popular culture. In his paintings, sculptures and drawings, he creates a world of children and animals deceptively simple in their cartoon-like forms while subtly merging youth and innocence with an underlying sense of impish defiance.

Your Dog is one of Nara's largest and most famous art works. Its white, smooth surfaces give it a particular quality of purity while its gargantuan size lends a hint of menace.

We saw Your Dog at the Palm Springs Art Museum.

Up Up and Away

We met the cutest 12-year old girl named Sadie at the airport the other day. She was such a sweet, good girl and we love her travel bag. It's from Target, but we couldn't find it on their website.

Mixed Berry and Beet Smoothie

The color alone is enough to make me crave this smoothie. The color also tells me that it’s high in anthocyanins, flavonoids that are believed to have strong antioxidant properties. You can use raw or roasted beets.

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 cup mixed frozen berries or blueberries

2 tablespoons granola

1/3 cup diced beet, either raw or roasted (50 grams)

1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt or low-fat coconut milk

1 teaspoon honey or agave syrup

2 or 3 ice cubes

Sliced orange for garnish (optional)

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend for 1 full minute. Pour into a glass, garnish with an orange slice and enjoy.

Yield: 1 generous serving.

Advance preparation: This is best enjoyed right away.

Nutritional information per serving: 269 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 milligrams cholesterol; 52 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 82 milligrams sodium; 8 grams protein

Act Like A Woman, Think Like a Man

Suddie's Favorite New Video Jam



Don't just sit there, shake your tail!