Peep season has begun!

Poodle pictures, on the other hand . . .

I've got a LOT of those.

(Posted from my cellphone.)

Poodle tchotchkes

A discussion came up recently with other poodle owners about poodle tchotchkes. Because, if you have a poodle, it's inevitable that you will have some other poodle stuff. In some cases a lot of poodle stuff.

You may remember my little rant about this. So I thought I'd take an inventory of my poodle collection.
You've seen the pin on the left before, my souvenir from the Alameda Antique Fair. The one on the right was a gift from my sweetie and lives on my suede jacket.
Two more gifts: A goofy little hanging ornament that verges on too cheesy for me. But! It's got Sophie's name on it, so I like it. And the requisite pink fuzzy poodle with magnets in the paws. It lives on the towel rack for now, and has also adorned a lamp pole and the fridge.
Another gift, cute and useful, the poodle ruler! (Seen previously in my pasta-making adventure.)

And finally, puchased for maybe too much money on eBay, but I have yet to see another like it (and I've looked):
Sophie says: "I never go anywhere without my Enid Collins box purse!"

And that's it except for a couple of Christmas ornaments: a pink metallic poodle and and an ornament from my childhood, featuring a black poodle in a basket that was "personalized" with the addition of several little tufts of black and cream yarn to represent my first poodle, Henrietta, and her puppies. I'd show them, too, but they're packed away.

What do you collect?

KALEidoscopic!

After viewing yesterday's Nutella-fest, you may feel the need for a little detox. Feast your eyes on this!
At the grocery store on Saturday night I felt a hankering for some greens. I really wanted chard, but they were out. Instead, I found this fabulously huge and healthy bunch of kale for the whopping price of $2.

It's as big as my head! And, it matches my hat.

I'd been seeing people rave about roasted kale, so I thought I'd try that.
It's very simple. Tear or cut your kale from the tough stems in chunks. Doesn't have to be too small, since it shrinks down when it cooks. Rinse it thoroughly and spin it dry or pat it with paper towels. Toss it with a splash of olive oil and a little salt and pepper. You can add garlic, or lemon zest, or a little sesame oil. But I opted for plain-Jane to start with. Spread it in a foil-lined pan and bake in a 400-degree oven. After 5 minutes, toss it a little, then keep checking it every few minutes. Some people like it more green, and some more browned and crispy. I took it out when it was still a little of both. It's a very interesting flavor and texture! Rather on the chewy side. I think I like it crispier, so I'll let it cook longer next time. Makes a good snack!

But I didn't use all of it. How could I? BIG AS MY HEAD! What I really wanted was some sauteed greens to put on pasta.
So I chopped up some more and tossed it in a pan in which I'd already cooked a little onion and garlic in olive oil and a dash of sesame oil, stirred it and let it cook for a minute, then added oh, half a can of chicken stock, covered it and let it cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile I cooked some herb-y trumpet pasta.
There was a hint of nutmeg or maybe cinnamon in the pasta that worked nicely with the slightly bittersweet greens. And a sprinkle of shredded parm on top is de rigueur for me. Tasty!

And I still have some kale left to try roasting it again.

(P.S. from Tuesday night: I just roasted the rest of it, and I believe the trick is to leave it in the oven much longer than you think you should. I didn't time it, but I'd say 15 to 20 minutes, tossing occasionally. Much better! Crispy and crunchy but still with a little bit of chewy.)

You may hate me for this

The basic no-knead dough recipe works just as well with sweet things as savory. Pull out a hunk, flatten it a bit, smear on a very generous application of Nutella and roll it up.

Bake at 450 covered for 15 minutes, then take the lid off and start checking it after another 5 minutes. You don't want it to burn. (Mine started to a little on one end.)
Here it is, sliced, after some cow-orker depredation. And appreciation. It's very yummy. I recommend serving it warm if at all possible.

So much for crocuses

We're back to monochrome outside. Thank goodness for a little bit of color in!

Sophie doesn't mind the snow. She's probably relieved that her big shaggy coat is seasonally appropriate again. Besides, what's a little snow when there's a bone still containing some molecules of marrow?

Here's the view from the window seat. The snow must be coming up from the south for a change, to plaster the glass this way.
Originally 1-3 inches were forecast. Now they're saying 3-6, and it's a bit on the windy side. Sophie will enjoy her walk. Me, not so much.

Spring teaser

All week we've been warming up and today it hit 75! And here's my first crocus spotting of the season. Not in my yard, alas, but I do have what looks like crocus foliage coming up, and tulip shoots, so there's hope yet.

I've spent the last two days doing yard cleanup, from dog leavings (poop and bones, oh joy) to dead leaves and stems. I did a pretty good job of this in the fall, but of course more leaves blew in and a lot of foliage died back further. It's best to get everything as cleared away as possible before new stuff starts filling in.

Did two walks today, too, and had to hose down an overdressed Sophie.

Lest you get too jealous, though, the high tomorrow is supposed to be 35, with 3 inches of snow forecast. Mother Nature is such a tease.

D'oh!

On Monday night I thought I'd make a loaf of red pepper parmesan bread to take to work the next day.

Looks good, doesn't it? I baked this maybe a few minutes too long (the crust was just starting to burn). But that doesn't look like parmesan, does it? No, it looks more like cheddar.

That's because this is a loaf I baked today. Monday night's loaf went somewhere else.

Outside of a dog, books are a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, bread dough is Very Bad Thing.

Yes, Leo ate the dough. I went upstairs while the oven was preheating. Sophie and Lannie followed. Leo did not. I heard the oven beep and went to put the dough in. Found instead a small piece of it and lots of scattered parmesan on the floor.

I confess, I yelled. VERY LOUDLY. And got this look from Leo like, "What's your problem, lady? Can we go for a walk?" Meanwhile, Sophie and Lannie were both completely cowed. "We're sorry! Whatever it is, we're sorry! Sorry sorry!"

Then I called the emergency vet. "Is this a problem?" "Yes! Bring him in now!"
Turns out, raw bread dough is an incredibly bad thing for a dog to eat. Because it keeps rising. So you have a risk of blockage. And it keeps fermenting, which can cause the equivalent of alcohol poisoning, with liver, kidney and neurological damage.

So Leo got a shot to make him throw up, and then spent the night there and at his regular vet the next day for observation and with an IV to keep him hydrated. (Reportedly, the triage area smelled very yeasty, and they were glad I'd warned them about the red peppers.)
Happily, he's just fine, as the dog park photos attest. (Hydration? No problem!) And Beeb's getting back tonight, so she'll hear all about it before she sees this post.

I think I will dub this version "Leo Bread."

Field day

I try to go to the dog park during the week; the weekends are too crowded. You risk reaching a critical mass of dogs where one crabby dog can turn it into a free-for-all, and I find there are more people who have less control over their animals.
On a weekday, though, there's lots of open space to explore without distractions. Mysterious pipes!
And sandy banks for leaping over!
Lost something? You might find it here. A missing collar ...
Or maybe a tennis ball!
The river is running pretty low today (they're doing some work on the spillways).
Squirrel? What squirrel?

	There were a few other dogs there: a hound with a funny face, and a leaping pug.

We also met another big boy poodle named Cody, who wears his Halti all the time because he likes to nip butts (!).
Sophie says, "Ooooooh! I just looooooove the park!"

Going to the park again

Big mouth

Waitin' at the DMV

Eleven - no, nine - people ahead of me. Line's moving fast!

P.S. OK, that whole visit took about 5 minutes. Bing-bang-boom to renew my plates.

Pigeon pursuit

There's a colony of pigeons that likes to hang out on the wires across the street to the south of my house. I took this photo of them from my dining room window in October.

Unlike then, today is sunny with a beautiful blue sky. I was on the front porch when suddenly a pigeon came hurtling over the front of it, swooped across the street to the schoolyard and slammed into the chain-link fence, recovered and flapped off again at high speed.

"What the ... ?!?" I just had time to think, before a peregrine falcon came hurtling after it in hot pursuit. The falcon turned neatly before it got to the fence, and they disappeared over some houses, the falcon only a few feet behind the pigeon.

Sorry pigeon, it looks like this will be your fate. (Don't click if you're squeamish.)

Park portraits

The days are warming up! I go to the park in all kinds of weather, but it's nice when I don't have to bundle up quite so much. Today was a no-hat no-gloves day. Sophie will need to be sheared soon so she's not quite so Dog of the Wilderness.
After wading in the river, Lannie has flood pants. She looks goofy because I caught her just at the tail end of shaking off. Her front legs have the shaved sections because she recently had surgery and that's where the catheters were. I should've asked the groomer to even them out a bit so it doesn't just look like a bad attempt at frou-frou.


Leo found some ducks, but they refused to come when he called.

Some people see Jesus in their toast

I'll wipe that grin off your face, Mister Stovetop.