Interruptions Are A-Okay By Me

What's up, everyone? I've got some clothing revamps coming up here soon, and tonight I was in the midst of taking some "before" shots when this happened:

{"hi, mom!"}

{she's such a happy lady}

I love my family.

Have a wonderful evening!


Jes

thankfulness, day 5: our dog, enu

There are days when I come home beaten down and completely out, and all I have to do is say "hello" to our dog, Enu. She instantly brightens up my day. Not only does she have an awesome sense of humor (she's sneaky, that one!), she can sense when we are feeling down.

My girl has become an old lady. Enu will turn 8 years old in February, and every time I think about life without her, I get super sad and feel totally dumb. Yesterday, my husband and I were watching TV, and a commercial came on that showed a dog getting older. I started crying, like a blabbering idiot. Even the mere thought of her dying one day gets me all teary-eyed. I feel like I want to say that losing her would be like losing a child (which might piss off others who've had trouble reproducing), but it's totally true! I would miss her as if I'd lost a child. She's been our girl for almost as long as my husband and I have been together.

Great, now I'm tearing up *harumph*. I'm just really thankful for my dog.

{she was so small back then! this must be circa 2005 or 2006}

Jes

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Some pics, as promised, of my fledgling container garden:

{zucchini just came up like 2-3 days ago}

{purpley-kale!}

{green onions in front, larger onions behind them}

{radishes!}

{beets!!}

{Enu with her friends next door. they're in love}

{one of the gorgeous trees in our backyard}

{hope you have a lovely weekend!}

Jes

Who Knew? Celery Leaf and Radish Salad

Last night I made my favorite "go to" veg and tofu noodles recipe and a lovely springtime salad with an ingredient I'd never tried before: celery leaves.

I had some celery killing time in my fridge for a while, and I was just going to throw the leaves into my usual veg stock batch, but then I remembered reading somewhere that you could eat them.

I hadn't eaten celery leaves since I was a kid, when I used to pluck them off of the heads of celery in our fridge (I have a vivid memory of doing that when we lived on 2nd street, remember Mom?)

To that, I added some lovely little radishes, some freshly-squeezed lemon juice, a tiny drizzle of grapeseed oil and a slight dash of salt. So clean and refreshing! It was Spring-tacular.

One of Wichita's farmer's markets opened last weekend. I went solo (hubs was still asleep). There were several more booths this year than the first day last year. I ended up with some lovely little tomatoes (delish!), a jar of sand plum jam, and a jar of homemade mild salsa that came with a big bag of chips. It was nice to get out into the sunshine.

And for the request to see more pictures of our dog, Enu, I give you this gem:

{Enu atop all 4 couch throw pillows}

Jes

VCON-Stravaganza

I recently (finally) purchased a copy of Veganomicon ("VCON") by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero and Love It. So I've been making all sorts of things out of it lately.

I made Chickpea Cutlets, after hearing all over the vegan blogosphere how wonderful they are. This was my first time. I can do better, but they were dang tasty.

{chickpea cutlets with organic mustard and a rice stirfry-thing}

I've also made:

Messy Rice {pg 118}

Chickpea-Quinoa Pilaf {pg 115}

Lemony Roasted Potatoes {pg 109} <---those are in the oven right now

Roasted Portabellos {pg 112}

Chickpea Cutlets {pg 133}

I am sure I am forgetting something... oh yeah-- Marinated Asian Tofu {pg 129} and Baked BBQ Tofu {pg 128}

{And this is the Roasted Red Pepper Pasta, though not from VCON, that I made a week or so ago. I LOVE it.}

Enu expresses my sentiments regarding VCON appropriately, I think.

Jes

My Dog, the Brave

I am so very proud of our dog, Enu. She's never been one to play nice with people or other dogs. We adopted her from the pound back when we lived in Manhattan (KS) five years ago, and she had been a street rat, living with her pack. She had several small scars, was missing two teeth (naturally, it looked like), and the people at the pound told us she'd puked up a sock when they brought her in. She was a rough biatch.

We didn't socialize her well enough though, and she got worse. She's never bitten anyone, though she nipped at my brother, but that was after our apartment flooded. She was in a strange place (a hotel room) with strangers (my brother and my mother), and she was scared and hiding behind me.

Taking her to the vet has been a trial. Last year she was so scared. She barked at the vet techs and vet, and she blew her coat out all over the room. But she got through it and eventually began to let the vet tech pet her belly.

We were expecting the exact same this year. But it was SO much better. She only growled once and barked once, and those happened when people came through the door to her room. She's a different dog once she's on the table in the examination room. She even let the vet tech scratch her back until she started to kick her leg!

I am so proud of Enu and relieved!

Enu was certainly tuckered out after coming home though :)

Jes