Ladypug Mugs

All Better

2011-05-04T12:05:00.005-04:00

Well, Winston had his last of three post-op check ups on his mouth last week and Dr. Harvey said he is all good to go. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and encouragement while he went through this surgery. I know it wasn't a major operation, but it's always major when it's your baby!

So, for a month Winston has not been able to chew on any chew toys. This has been hard since chewing is Winston's FAVORITE thing to do. He is not much of a stuffy dog. He's really not interested in that at all, his thing is "Chew chews!" You may remember his very favorite dinosaur:

Well, they told me to get rid of most of his old chew toys as they could have bacteria on them that caused this plaque build up and infection in the first place, so poor old dinosaur had to go bye-bye.

But to celebrate Winston finally being able to chew again, let me introduce: Pugasaurus Rex!!

Oh, the anticipation!

Oh, the sweet joy of chewing on your dinosaur!

It's good to be better!

Interruption

2011-04-08T08:31:00.004-04:00

AHEM. I, Clementine Peezy-Wheez Churchill, would like to interrupt this "Winston's pity party program" for a special announcement:

I'M BORED.

Enough about "poor Winston" - POOR CLEMENTINE! First off, Winston disappeared for a WHOLE day without even telling me where he was going. Then he shows back up 8 hours later, he smells like a bunch of other animals and people, he's all doped up, he doesn't even recognize me, then he proceeds to fall asleep for the next ten hours. RUDE.

Then when he wakes back up, Mami and Papi are all "awww, Winston, poooor Winston" blah blah blah. What about ME???

Then at dinner he got SOFT FOOD and chicken stock! And what did I get? KIBBLE!! The Injustice!

And worst of all - he won't play with me!! And every time I put my "Let's get ready to rumble" bark and skip and crazy face on, Mami and Papi start yelling at me and tell me to "leave Winston alone." What am I supposed to do????

I mean, Winston is usually pretty lame anyways, but this is RIDICULOUS. Plus, he still smells funny. Bleck.

So, dear readers - I implore you. What should I do?? How do I make it through this never-ending boredom fest without the Mami and Papi yelling at me incessantly and without hurting "poor wittle Winston"???? I need ideas, quick - I'm getting cabin fever!!

Recuperating

2011-04-07T07:21:00.003-04:00

Winston is back home and recuperating via extended napping:

His surgery went well, except for a few hitches. Once they got in there, they realized that what they thought was one tooth was actually two crowded teeth - there was so much plague and tartar build up, it was nearly impossible to see that there were two teeth in the one area, so they ended up removing both teeth and once they figured this out, they realized a similar issue was happening on the other side of his mouth. Rather than remove those teeth as well, they injected the gums with some sort of antibiotic that should keep that excessive plaque and tartar build up from happening on the other side as well.

He is eating well and keeping everything down - which is really good and even though he's still groggy and sleepy, he seems to be happy and feeling much better this morning. When I picked him up last night it was like he didn't even recognize me - he was so out of it. But this morning he was excited to get up and eat breakfast (duh, he IS a pug - surgery or not).

Some of you commented yesterday that you'd like to follow me on Twitter. You can find me @ladypug (shocking!) I'd love to follow you on there as well, so find me and I'll follow you back.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers and reassurances! The Pug-Blog community is so amazing - you always have support even for those of us who aren't always as on-point about our blogs and commenting and keeping in touch as we should be (ie - ME). Thanks so much.

Toofer Trouble

2011-04-05T17:45:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow morning I take Winston in to the vet to have his teeth cleaned and have at least one removed. Despite my incessant brushing of both of their teeth as well as dental treats, and high quality dog food, one of his teeth has managed to basically rot from the root up. They say it's a genetic thing and has nothing to do with how I clean and maintain their teeth. Which is both a good and a bad thing. The good thing is it's not my fault, but the bad thing is that there's nothing we can do about it happening to any of his other teeth in the future. Hopefully, though, this will be a one-time event.

In any case, he, of course, has to go under anesthesia for this, so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as this is always a tiny bit risky.

He is, however, looking forward to all the yummy canned food he'll get to eat for the next week :)

I pick him up at 5pm tomorrow night - we'll be sure to let you all know how it goes. Thanks to everyone who has already given me reassuring messages via twitter - they have all helped to make me less nervous about this. Winston hasn't been put under since his neuter when he was just a tiny puppy, so it's been a while since he's spent the entire day at the vet's office. He did just fine then, though, and I'm sure he'll do just fine this time around as well.

More Good News

2011-04-04T17:26:00.004-04:00

Remember the pug, Frodo, that I posted about in December? He went missing on December 18th and was found two weeks later, in a neighbor's pool. It was very sad, and his momma missed him terribly, but then something amazing happened.

A few weeks ago, this dog showed up at Frodo's momma's house:

She was very skinny and clearly hadn't eaten in a while, but she was well behaved and knew all her commands. Frodo's momma and daddy tried very hard to find her owner, but no one came forward to claim her, so now "Lady" belongs to them.

I like to think that Frodo led Lady to his momma and daddy to help fill the hole in their hearts. Just like Archie and Tiffy have done for Melissa and Michele.

Hope really is the thing with fur.

Welcome, Lady!

Hope

2011-03-30T17:40:00.004-04:00

Emily Dickinson famously wrote, "hope is the thing with feathers" . . . but I say, "hope is the thing with fur . . . and a wet nose . . . and a little wrinkly face" because hope is what Melissa and Michele have found in their new fur-babies: Tiffy and Archie.Hope that the holes in our hearts from our loss will be filled with the love we find in our new friends. Hope that every puppy and every rescue puggie will one day have a loving, caring home. Hope that the things we have learned in the past will help us in the future and that love is an ongoing lesson and that each being we come into contact with is continual practice.

We are SO happy to welcome both of these amazing dogs to the blogosphere and into all of our hearts.

WELCOME WELCOME Archie and Tiffy!

Not just a dog

2011-03-08T09:17:00.007-05:00

Well, it took me many weeks, but I finally worked up the courage to read Michelle and Melissa's final blog tributes to our friends, Stubby and Emmitt.

Though I knew about both of them going to the bridge, I had been avoiding reading about it, because I knew it would make me sad and cry . . . which it did, BUT, their touching tributes did something else - something that Emmitt and Stubby have been doing for a long time - they inspired me!

Stubby and Emmitt are probably two of the most inspiring dogs I've ever known. Stubby inspired his mom to start a blog, but not just any blog, one of the smartest, most important , environmentally informative blogs I've ever read. He and his mom helped share their passion for the earth and environment by giving us helpful tips and tricks to saving our mother earth - and that will live on forever.

And Emmitt - wow! Emmitt inspired his mom to change her entire life and focus on her true passion - art! The inspiration Melissa found in Emmitt not only changed her life, but all of our lives as I know all of us in the pug community adore her artwork and her wonderful blog that helps us see art in every aspect of life. And THAT will live on forever.

People often tell us "it's just a dog" or "they're pets, not people," but never underestimate the power of the pug! They are amazing, inspiring little creatures and trust me - they are not oblivious to this. Winston and Clementine inspire me every day, even if it's just the inspiration to smile and laugh and enjoy life. They inspired me to start this blog, which became a major writing outlet for me after I dropped out of my Graduate Program in Creative Writing. They were even a major inspiration for me to quit my job and start working for myself from home - so I could spend more time with them and enjoy them more. And when I sit at my desk in my home office here is a snapshot of what I look at throughout the day that keeps me inspired:

Emmitt and Melissa's art keeps me smiling all day. And Michelle and Stubby's blog kept me informed and entertained.

Yes, I cried. Yes, we will all miss having Emmitt and Stubby here on our plane of existence, but remember that all is not lost - Emmitt, Stubby and all our sweet, loving, funny, pugs will live on forever in the inspiration they give us and others.

Never. Underestimate. A PUG.

See you on the other side of the bridge, sweet boys.

Dream Home Pug

2011-02-05T20:04:00.003-05:00

So, in an act of unparalleled optimism on my part, I have entered myself to win the HGTV Dream Home. After entering, I was taking a virtual tour of the home, when I spotted something.

Turns out, we've already won the house, and Winston was nice enough to head there before our arrival to make sure everything is ready for us.

Thanks, Winston! See you in Stowe soon!

(Seriously, there are no animals or people AT ALL in this virtual tour except for this one little pug. How funny is that?)

See for yourself.

Help Foster!

2011-01-13T09:58:00.003-05:00

Pug Lover's Rescue in Rock Hill, SC, where we adopted Clementine has recently suffered two tragedies. One of their foster moms suddenly and unexpectedly died in her sleep and a second foster mom recently was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Between the two of them, they were fostering 7 dogs who now all need homes.All of these dogs are adoptable and most are completely healthy. They just need a place to stay. If you or someone you know is able to take a foster into their home or even better if someone you know would like to adopt a pug and give them their FUREVER home - please please please, let me know.

You can read about the dogs that need homes at this site.

The director of PLR sent me this short description of each dog:

Mia 10/11 years old hard of hearing & has little eyesight, very small about 13-14lbs fawn

Mugsy male 9 years just needs a home not good with small children (picture of Mugsy below - he is a sweetie)

Obi & Anna Obi fawn no issues, Anna black bonded pair Oobie is the way it is pronounce

Katy little pug female blonde mix 4*5 years old

Molly 6 year’s old fawn female kind of shy

Roxy 7 years old fawn female was a breeder dog loving but scrappy

Please Please Please, if you are able - take the time to consider opening your home to a foster dog. I would love to be able to do this, but with Clementine's aggression issues and the fact that our house is already too small for the four of us, I'm just not able. But I'm going to do everything I can to help find these puggies a good home. Please spread the word!

Christmas with the pugs

2011-01-03T13:04:00.003-05:00

The pugs got a new bed for Christmas:

I think they like it.

What did you get??

Rest in Peace, Frodo

2010-12-31T14:56:00.002-05:00

Frodo was found yesterday in the neighbor's pool. Please visit his momma's 365 project page and leave her a message, if you can. She is heartbroken as any one of us would be. Thank you for your support and help over the past two weeks. Now, let's continue our support for his family's grief and healing.

Help Find Frodo

2010-12-22T14:26:00.002-05:00

Please help find Frodo, the pug. He went missing on December 18th in Emerald Isle, NC and has apparently been the victim of theft. His owner is a member of the 365project.org and posted a heart wrenching photo and story about his disappearance. If you see this dog anywhere near that area - please call the police!! He is micro-chipped and if scanned, can and will be returned to his owner, where he belongs. Dog theft is common around the holidays - people steal dogs to take home and give to their families, meanwhile they are destroying someone else's family.

Help get Frodo back to his rightful owner!

We all know how this would feel to us, so let's all help Diana find her baby and REPOST REPOST REPOST!!!

Don't eat the yellow snow

2010-12-15T15:16:00.001-05:00

Sorry - I couldn't resist. They hate the snow so bad, they just pee on the deck.

pugrrito

2010-11-30T03:13:00.001-05:00

Puggie Papi Love

2010-11-23T14:35:00.001-05:00

This pug loves his Papi.

Gotcha!

2010-10-28T12:25:00.007-04:00

Today we celebrate Clementine's 3rd GOTCHA Day! We have no idea when her birthday is or how old she is, but we do know that 3 years ago on October 28th, we picked her up in Rock Hill, SC from June Larson, director of Pug Lover's Rescue, and our lives have never been the same!

The last three years of my life would have been empty and boring if it hadn't been for Clementine. We may be the ones who rescued her, but she's brought just as much joy into our lives as we've brought to hers and I wouldn't trade her for a million purebred show dogs.

Happy Gotcha Day, baby girl!

A walk in the park

2010-10-25T20:37:00.004-04:00

Sunday morning, Jeremy and I took the pugs for a walk in a park very close to our house that we'd never been to before. It used to be a landfill, but the city acquired the land and turned it into acres of open meadow alongside inlets of the Elizabeth River.

It was really quite beautiful and the walking trails can take you on either a 1.5 mile hike or 3.1 mile hike (the trail is used for some local 5K's, for you runners out there who picked up on the 3.1)

The pugs liked it OK, although Clementine did need to be carried for the last half. Oh well. They're pugs. Whaddayagonnado?

This hike was good preparation for a little trip the pugs are taking to the mountains next month, where they'll be doing some REAL hiking!

I told you so

2010-10-19T20:36:00.006-04:00

I told you all that the stuffie Clover and Chewy sent was exactly the kind of stuffie Clementine loves to gnaw on . . .

Thanks, friends! I love it!

-Clementine

Gifties!

2010-10-15T08:39:00.006-04:00

Last week we received a very special package from our good friends Jess, Clover and Chewy.

They are so so sweet to send us something - just because! No reason - just because they are super sweet bloggie friends.

The contents of the package showed just how well our friends know us :-)

The package was FOOD themed!! And not just any food, but food that represented Jess' local area in Ontario, Canada! I love all things food and especially all things LOCAL food. The other thing I love about this stuff? It's all in French!

What's that? There are maple candies missing already? Weird . . . I have no idea how that happened . . .

There is also some very delicious looking spices, organic treats for the puggies and a little organic, non-toxic, chemical free stuffie that I just know Clementine will gnaw on as soon as I take it off the package - it is exactly the kind of little stuffie she likes.

Thanks again, Jess, Clover and Chewy!! You are so sweet to think of us!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Who needs a blanket . . .

2010-10-03T16:15:00.001-04:00

. . .When you've got pugs?

Pugs are Silly

2010-09-23T19:45:00.000-04:00

Winston rides the couch. It took him a while to break it, but it's completely tame now.

Christmas in . . . . eeer . . . .

2010-08-31T00:27:00.016-04:00

This is the worst Blog faux pas ever, I realize, but I have been completely remiss in blogging about the fabulous Christmas in July gifts that we got from the crew over at Ozark Mountain Cats.

We definitely did get this in JULY and have been enjoying the bounty since then, I just haven't had a minute to sit down and share it all with everyone, so here I am - 1:00 am on the last day of August and I will get this done before it is SEPTEMBER!!!

First off, we must inspect the box as it arrives . . .

then we rip it open!

Look at all this great stuff!

Winston inspects the treats - they are satisfactory.

Clementine decides that the purple boingy snake is hers.

yup - for real - she carried it right out of the kitchen, up the stairs and claimed it as her own.

Only another true animal mom could appreciate how great this gift is:

The whole box was Ozark themed, which I LOVED! And there were so many sweet gifts for me including a hand-knit scarf, some Ozark-made sorghum syrup (if you've never heard of sorghum, as I had not, check it out), a lap blanket (which I guess I'll share with the pugs) incredibly good smelling hand made Ozark soaps, even the dog treats are made in Missouri!

In addition to the boingy snakey, the pugs got a green chewy horseshoe and my favorite of all the gifts - so so so sweet personalized pillows:

These are just the sweetest things ever. I put them in the pugs' crates and they LOVE to snuggle up with them. Case in point:

A big thanks to our Ozark kittie buddies for all the goodies. We are so sorry it took us so long to show all the great gifts, but we are no less thankful for it all and for our new blog friends.

Peeking in

2010-07-25T23:06:00.003-04:00

Clementine peeking in on her bloggie friends from the safety of her Peezy-tent

Ok, so we've been gone for a while. Sorry. I'm not even going to try and catch up on everyone's blogs or catch you up on everything that's been going on in our world, but a quick recap is that I quit my job, went in to freelance writing for myself, was asked to become the director of a non-profit I've been volunteering at for many months, and am supposed to start teaching English at the Community College I used to work for in the fall semester! Needless to say, this has not left me much time to blog. But since I'm working from home now, there has been a lot of time for Winston to do some of this:

Winston sleeping under my desk while I work

I'm hoping that here and there I will find time to pop in and say 'hi'! Please don't forget about us! We miss all our bloggie friends and hope to get back into the community soon once this new chapter of our lives calms down a bit.

Foodie Friday - How Locavores do a Potluck

2010-06-09T20:26:00.006-04:00

I've mentioned that I'm a volunteer with the Hampton Roads chapter of Buy Fresh, Buy Local.

Well, this past weekend, the BFBL gang had a volunteer appreciation/meeting luncheon at a member's home. They decided it would be a potluck, which meant, of course, everyone was under pressure to come up with something that highlighted local products.

I was tasked with making a dessert. Much to my dismay the local strawberry season ended the week before the potluck and the next fruit season (blackberries, blueberries, peaches) is not quite in its prime. Fortunately, Jeremy came up with a brilliant idea: sweet potato pie!
Sweet potatoes have been and will be in season for the entire summer and into the fall. I had gotten a half a peck of them in my co-op share the week before and had conveniently (without even forseeing this issue) steamed, peeled, mashed and frozen them.
I tossed the mashed sweet potatoes (From Flannagan Farms) together with butter from South Mountain Creamery, eggs from Shire Farms and some organic fair trade sugar, and organic milk.
Delicious! As was everything else at the potluck.
Other items on the buffet included a sweet potato hummus, sweet potato and beet salad, cabbage cole slaw, zucchini casserole, zucchini bread, and cold shrimp and veggie salad.

The feast:

Dessert:

Seeing how people used ingredients that are seasonal and fresh for so many different things really inspired me to talk about the idea of food seasons.
Last week I preached a little on the idea of "cheap food" and how expensive it really is in the long run for our environment, health, community, etc.

Today I want to preach about the importance of seasonal food. Have you ever gone to the grocery store in January and seen tomatoes or zucchini or squash or asparagus and thought "hmmmm?"
All foods have seasons. Asparagus are grown in the mid to late spring, zucchini and squash don't pop up until about June, Strawberries are picked in May, corn is grown during the summer and early fall*. If you're eating any of this produce and it's not that time of year, then how exactly did that food get to you? There are a lot of answers, but the most basic one is that it got to you by the use of pesticides, herbicides, GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms) - which are meant to last longer in the field, on the truck/plane/boat, and sitting on the grocery store shelf, and a long list of other farming practices that aren't exactly environmentally sound.
Chances are good that if you're eating a tomato in December, it came from Argentina, Mexico or in the least of all evils, California.

Am I saying that you shouldn't eat produce in the winter just because it's not being grown locally? No! But I am suggesting that you be aware of what you're eating during all seasons, and think about how it may have gotten to you.
It's the easiest thing in the world to stock up on local, fresh, SEASONAL produce during the growing season, and then freeze, jar or can as much as you can fit in your freezer or pantry. Come winter time, you'll be enjoying delicious produce that you can feel good about, that was grown, picked and frozen at the peak of freshness, and didn't travel more miles than you did on your last family vacation.
(Little known fact: most grocery store produce HAS, in fact, traveled further in its lifetime than the average American family traveled on their last vacation.)

The problem with the average American consumer is that we WANT something, and we want it NOW. We don't care that tomatoes aren't going to be in season for another 6 months, we want caprese salad TODAY!

This is probably one of the hardest things about being a locavore - you have to accept and understand that you cannot have everything exactly when you want it. But there is an upside to this. When a certain vegetable or fruit's season does come around - it is like Christmas morning!
When I saw the first pint of strawberries at the Farmers Market, it was like seeing a shiny new bike under the tree! I'd been waiting for months for FRUIT! I bought loads, washed and sliced them, froze them, and have a huge bag in my freezer where I grab a handful of them every day and throw them into my afternoon smoothie.
This week I finally saw beets listed on my co-ops website - oh the joy! I spent all of yesterday afternoon cleaning, roasting, eating, freezing, and sharing them. It certainly wouldn't have warranted the same kind of celebration if I had just gone into the grocery store and grabbed a bunch of beets in the middle of October.

What's the next thing I'm anxiously awaiting? Blueberries and peaches! They should be out by the end of the month, and let me tell you - no 5 year old ever sat by the chimney waiting for Santa more anxiously than I await these delicious fruits.

Try and learn to live in the season! You will find that your patience WILL be rewarded.

*These growing seasons are indicative of Virginia's climate. Other areas of the country will have slightly different growing seasons. You can find a guide to your own region's growing season at sustainabletable.com

Foodie Friday - Locavore Challenge

2010-05-28T06:00:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned in last week's post, I'm experimenting with making Foodie Friday more locally themed, and so this week I tried to make a meal that was at least 75% locally produced. It got difficult because this week we also had a little health incident with Clementine (what's new?) that took a bit of time out of our normal routine. Nothing serious and I'll post about it later, but just a little time consuming.
Anyways, what I've found is that it seems to be the easiest to switch your breakfast to local produce first. Sometimes eggs, dairy products and cured meats are the easiest things to find locally, even if you're not in a super agricultural area.
So here's a snapshot of one of our locally produced breakfasts from last weekend:

Here's the run down:
Locally baked sweet potato biscuits made with fresh local potatoes
Locally raised and cured Virginia bacon
Pure Maple syrup from our friends' sugar shack in Monterey, Virginia (made over wood fires!)
Virginia produced wildflower honey

We put some bacon on the sweet potato biscuits (NOM), and then I use the maple syrup to sweeten my coffee and Jeremy uses the honey to sweeten his tea. We try to never eat white sugar if at all possible.

Yes, it's a simple meal, but it's a very very easy way to start incorporating local meals into your weekly ritual. See, it's not that hard! We also had some locally produced cage free eggs we could have scrambled up to go on the side if we had wanted (as well as cheese from a local dairy we could have mixed in). All these ingredients and products were purchased from two of our farmers markets - Five Points Community Farm Market in Norfolk, and the Virginia Beach Farmers Market.
The maple syrup was given to us by our friend, but I believe it's available for purchase on the Back Creek Farms website (It is SO good, and also so much better for you than sugar).

Every other meal I made this week incorporated at least one local ingredient, but this is probably the only one that was almost 100% local (except the actual coffee and tea).

Other local items I made this week:
locally grown friend okra
my afternoon smoothies with fresh local strawberries, blueberries and yogurt from a local dairy
baked sweet potatoes with butter from our local dairy
Cesar salad made with local romaine lettuce

So easy!

Ok, so it's not all about being easy, right? The second most important (or possibly MOST important) thing in the American family's dinner expectations: is it CHEAP??

No. It's not cheap. And why should it be? Real people making a living wage produced the food. It came farms, bakeries, dairies and sugar shacks in MY state, and I want to make sure that my local economy is strong and that means keeping my dollars here.
Sure, I could have bought butter from the grocery store for $2 less, or eggs for 99 cents instead of $2.50. I could have paid 69 cents a pound instead of 99 cents a pound for potatoes at the grocery store and $3.50 instead of $5.00 for bacon.
But the bottom line is that the extra 6 dollars or so is worth it to me to buy food from people who care about the land and animals they use to produce it.

Americans are the wealthiest people in the world and we spend the least amount of our total income on food. And did you know that the higher an American's income is, the lower the percentage of that income is that they will spend on food?

Farmers get less than 20 cents of every food dollar you spend at the grocery store. Even if you are buying a straight up fresh vegetable from the produce section - the majority of that money goes back to a giant agribusiness whose ethics about the land and animals they use are likely far below your own.

When people think about maximizing their budgets, they immediately go to things like "oh, I can buy all my groceries at "The MegaMart" and save $100 a month" or "I can buy generic brands of food instead of brand names" or "I'll just buy bulk meats from the grocery store." Aren't we all guilty of standing in the aisle at the super market scanning for whatever product is the cheapest?
This is FOOD we're talking about! This is the thing we LIVE on. It's what our bodies need to function and remain healthy. So why is it the first thing we try to cheap out on?? Are there not dozens and dozens of others ways to stretch our budget?

Buying local isn't just about spending a Saturday afternoon at the farmers market. It's about asking yourself the essential question: how important are the things that I put in to my body every single day? Is it worth $20 extra dollars a week in grocery money to buy food that is sustainable, that is grown and raised with ethical standards that conform to my own, that comes from a person who shares my community?

For me, it absolutely is.

Well, I'm stepping off my soap box before I get really crazy. If you're doing your own experiments with local food, please please please share it with me! projectdogway@yahoo.com. I'd love to see what kind of stuff you're coming up with for your own locavore challenge. It doesn't have to be something 100% locally produced, but let me know how you're incorporating local ingredients in to your every day meals.

I'm headed off to Bermuda tomorrow afternoon and the pugs will be spending the week with Auntie Anna :) (treats galore!) - so I may not have a Foodie Friday post next week, but I'll be back after that. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Don't forget to honor our brave men and women of the armed services: active and retired. Your life is better because of them, period.

Thank You

2010-05-22T06:00:00.000-04:00

As thanks for making it through my rather long winded Foodie Friday post, here are some cutie patootie pictures of the pugs. That IS what you're here for, right??

Foodie Friday - And now for something really different . . .

2010-05-21T06:00:00.001-04:00

So, I haven't done Foodie Friday in a while because I haven't had any recipes coming in and have been too lazy to document any of my own, but the other day our brilliant friend Stubby (and his mom) did a post about vegetarianism and CAFOs and such and it really got me thinking that maybe I should start doing Foodie Friday posts that talk a little bit more about eating sustainable, healthy, morally conscious food.

This is one of my soap boxes. I used to be a vegetarian (or more technically a pescatarian - someone who only eats seafood meats) when I was in college, but I went back to eating meat when I got married (weird how those two things coincided.....ahem). Nowadays I am less about rallying against meat and more about rallying for buying fresh, local, sustainable, morally conscious food in whatever form it comes in.

I'd love to make this more of the theme for Foodie Friday, but I don't want to come off as preachy or overwhelming. There is so much information about why buying local food and sustainable food is important that it can become a stumbling block between thinking about being a locavore and actually being a locavore. You can't over-think it.
So, anyways, I'm going to take my advice and try not to over-think it.
This first eco-themed Foodie Friday I will be sharing with you a non-profit organization that I work with called "Buy Fresh, Buy Local."

Buy Fresh, Buy Local is a national organization that has local chapters throughout the US. Our chapter is Buy Fresh, Buy Local Hampton Roads. BFBL's goal is to help educate people in the community about where and how to buy fresh, local produce and also to help educate people about WHY buying fresh, local produce is better for them, their environment, their community and their economy. Hampton Roads is lucky enough to be near the ocean and historic farming communities, so our local products include crabs, oysters, shrimp, clams, and fish as well as strawberries, potatoes, asparagus, peaches, tomatoes and any other kind of thing that grows in the ground. We even have a numerous amount of specialty producers including mushroom farms, bee apiaries (who bottle their own honey), dairy farms, and goat farms (for goat's milk and cheese). BFBL uses a seasonal guide to help people choose local, sustainable food sources (p.s. - I helped write the content for the 2010 guide).
It's very possible that your own town or metro area takes part in their own chapter of Buy Fresh, Buy Local. You can find out pretty quickly by going to FoodRoutes.com.
The guides are free and are distributed throughout the community at places like the YMCA's, farmers markets, community centers and then online.

So why IS it so important to buy local food? There are a lot of reasons, but here are just a few (as taken from foodroutes.com):

1.Fruits and vegetables shipped from distant states and countries can spend as many as seven to fourteen days in transit before they arrive in the supermarket.

2. Knowing where your food comes from and how it is grown or raised enables you to choose safe food from farmers who avoid or reduce their use of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, or genetically modified seed in their operations. Buy food from local farmers you trust.

3. Local food doesn't have to travel far. This reduces carbon dioxide emissions and packing materials. Buying local food also helps to make farming more profitable and selling farmland for development less attractive.

4. Fruits and vegetables shipped from distant states and countries can spend as many as seven to fourteen days in transit before they arrive in the supermarket. Locally grown fruits and vegetables are usually sold within 24 hours of being harvested. Produce picked and eaten at the height of ripeness has exceptional flavor and, when handled properly, is packed with nutrients.

5. Farmers in 2002 earned their lowest real net cash income since 1940. Meanwhile corporate agribusiness profits have nearly doubled (increased 98%) since 1990.

6. Local family farmers spend their money with local merchants. The money stays in town where it benefits everyone and builds a stronger local economy. Independent, family-owned farms supply more local jobs and contribute to the local economy at higher rates than do large, corporate-owned farms.

Those six reasons are enough by themselves to convince me, but if that's not enough, there are dozens, if not scores and hundreds more you could dig up.

So, how can you start buying locally?

Check out http://www.localharvest.org/ - this is a great site that can point you towards farms, CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture), farmers markets and co-ops in your area.
If you're not ready to jump into a CSA share, start by finding a local farm stand or farmers market and pledge to make at least one meal a week that includes something local. Once you master that, make one meal a week that is completely locally produced (it's not impossible - I did it for breakfast this morning), and go from there.

The sense of satisfaction in buying a tomato from someone with a face and not just out of a bin in a white walled grocery store is reason enough to support your local farming community. I'm not asking everyone to never go to the grocery store (for God's sake, where would I get my avocados??? No one in VA is growing those!), but I would encourage everyone to look into the idea of buying locally. There is literally no downside.

Next week I hope to be back with a recipe I can give you that I was able to prepare with at least 75% locally produced ingredients. Until then, take a look for yourself around your area - the growing season is really starting to take off in most states and you'll be surprised what kind of delicious stuff your neighborhood is growing : )

I hope I didn't bore you too much - next week will have FOOD again! Promise!

When Pugs Fly

2010-05-17T17:49:00.001-04:00

Uh-oh...

Silly Saturday

2010-05-08T18:16:00.001-04:00

Winston, that's just silly.

Old Habits

2010-05-06T09:14:00.002-04:00

New office, same spot.

People call pugs lap dogs, but in my experience, they've also earned the name "feet dogs."

"My little dog - a hearbeat at my feet." -- Edith Wharton

Meet Up

2010-05-04T06:00:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday we had our monthly pug meetup. We haven't been to one of these in a long time. Mostly because I've been in school and been really busy every weekend. But school is finally over (yay!) - so we took some time to hang out with our pug friends.

Sequoia

Sassy

Tuni

A non-pug impostor!

That little pug-impostor really wanted to play with Clementine, but she was implementing her usual reign of terror over the entire park, as is evidenced by the picture:
Yes, that's Clementine on a leash....at an off leash dog park. Because she can't seem to understand that the park does not belong to her and that therefore there is no need to antagonize and face-bite every other dog there. (Regardless of size).

Oh well. Even though Clementine isn't civilized enough to play nicely, we still had a good time seeing our pug friends.

And for anyone who reads this blog who is local to Hampton Roads - the meetup.com group is going away - the previous organizer is giving it up, and rather than continuing to use that site and pay the fees, the group is moving to a Yahoo! group called HRPugs that I organized a few years ago.
You can join us there for free - we'll be doing all the meetup scheduling and announcements through there from now on.
Click this link and it will route you to the new group site where you can request membership.

Belated

2010-05-02T16:43:00.010-04:00

Winston's Birthday was April 23rd. Whooops! I just remembered this little fact this past Saturday while we were in line at the pet store buying food and I happened to see a little sprinkley Birthday dog treat. Anyways, to make up for missing his THIRD Birthday, I bought him a rawhide donut.

For the first fifteen minutes he really had no idea what to do with it, except guard it from Clementine with his life.

What do I do with this??

I don't know what the heck this thing is, but she better stay away from it!

Hmm...this actually tastes kinda good . . .

This is delicious!

NOMNOMNOMNOM

Did you look at my Chewy??? I SAID, did you *LOOK* at my Chewy?!?!

I didn't think so . . .

It's Friday, Winston's in Love . . .

2010-04-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

I've decided I should make my rip off of The Cure a regular Friday event (especially since I haven't been getting any Foodie Friday submissions???).

This week, Winston's in love with his dinosaur. He's always in love with his dinosaur, but this week especially. We actually call this guy "Pugosaurus Rex" . . . but don't tell anyone that.

these dogs can't hold their licker

2010-04-28T19:55:00.004-04:00

It's Friday, I'm in love.

2010-04-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Well, Winston is . . . with the body pillow . . .

Thursday doesn't even start . . . .

2010-04-22T06:00:00.001-04:00

. . . to describe how crazy Clementine is.

Before and After

2010-04-20T06:00:00.001-04:00

As I said yesterday, we've been working on our home office for the past week. We did a complete overhaul of the room - got rid of all the existing furniture, painted, hung cabinets, etc etc. I have some big plans for this new office which I'll share with you all at a later date....but for now, enjoy the before and afters.

View of the room from the door BEFORE:

and AFTER:

Far right wall BEFORE:

and AFTER:

View from the window BEFORE:

and AFTER:

Far left wall BEFORE:

and AFTER:

It feels like a real office and not just a room with a bunch of stuff! And I love love love the layout because it gives us both a separate work space, while being in the same office. Hopefully this new room will inspire more blogging (???)

Caution: Work Zone

2010-04-19T17:46:00.008-04:00

This past week J and I have completely redone our home office. I mean, completely. (Before and After pictures coming soon)

The pugs, of course, helped.

Ok, so mostly they just got in the way or tried to get in the way....but still.
Check back tomorrow for the pics!

confirm or deny?

2010-04-14T11:09:00.004-04:00

I got this information in an E-mail this morning regarding the Shelter Animal USPS stamps that Ellen DeGeneres has been promoting. Can anyone confirm or deny this info??? I looked online, but wasn't able to find anything else about it, except the official USPS press releases.

"A new stamp is coming out the end of April called "Animal Rescue: Adopt A Shelter Pet Stamp" featuring shelter dogs and cats. The purpose of the stamp is to raise awareness to the millions of dogs and cats in shelters across the U.S. To launch the stamp EllenDeGeneres is giving one million meals to shelters when people buy the stamps. The cost is the same as a regular stamp - 44 cents.

Money from these stamps is going to HSUS.
Ellen has not been shy about her support of HSUS. Money given there will not go to animals in shelters. HSUS's 2008 tax returns revealed that less than 1/2 of 1 percent of their budget funds a traditional (dog/cat) shelter.

Money given to HSUS goes instead toward lobbying, anti-animal ownership legislation and attorneys.

Please DO NOT BUY these stamps and advise your friends to do the same."

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-07T18:08:00.001-04:00

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

well crap....

2010-04-06T18:28:00.002-04:00

I'm going to have to give in to the creepy pugnacious pug-army (see previous post). . . .
They have a LADYPUG!!

Seven Puggie Army

2010-04-06T12:45:00.004-04:00

Today, The Daily Puglet wrote about a gift they received in the mail of this little guy:

Which reminded me that when I was in Seattle last month, I happened across an entire ARMY of these guys at this totally random shop at Pike Place.

It actually creeped me out a little....

I mean....I AM a crazy pug lady.....but this is a little ridiculous.

And Puglet - I've been scanning my photos and I do NOT see the banana pug in any of them - so maybe your "pugnacious pug" is very rare!

Good Friday

2010-04-02T09:50:00.006-04:00

Hello, bloggie friends. Today is Good Friday, and although the name sounds happy, today is all about the idea of sacrifice.
So on this Good Friday, I am coming to you to ask you all to sacrifice something much smaller than the ultimate sacrifice this day remembers: I'm asking you to sacrifice just a few dollars to help save Carina's life.
Carina is a pug puppy who was rescued by Pugs 'N' Pals of Southern California. She has one of the worst cases of demodex mange I've ever seen.
This case is very near and dear to me, and here's why....

Carina when she was first rescued:

Clementine when she was first rescued:

Clementine also had a severe case of demodex mange, fleas, ticks, anemia, low blood cell count and essentially all the same symptoms as Carina. Carina is also about the same exact age Clementine was when she was found and rescued by the wonderful people at Pug Lover's Rescue in South Carolina.
But what I want to say is this: Clementine survived. She is now a healthy, happy pug with a loving family. And she only made it to where she is today because some very generous people donated money for her care and recovery.
Please, please, please - in honor of Good Friday or just in honor of your own pug-baby who could easily have found themselves in the same situation as Carina and Clementine - DONATE! Help these helpless animals.
Lots of people would have looked at Carina or Clementine and called them hopeless, had them put down, not given them a second chance. But thankfully there are rescue volunteers who can see beyond the lack of fur, beyond the eye infections, beyond the scars and infections and see a little wagging tail.
Please be one of the people who sees the potential in these dogs that the rest of the world has given up on. DONATE NOW.

Three Things Thursday

2010-04-01T13:26:00.000-04:00

Three things Clementine would rather have in her bowl besides her kibble:

1. Winston's Kibble

2. Carrots

3. APPLES (They can hear an apple being sliced from across the house, I kid you not.)

Sleepy Sunday

2010-03-28T20:10:00.003-04:00

What a long week this was! We hope everyone got to do a little bit of this today:

and some of this:

Awards!

2010-03-18T19:50:00.003-04:00

This week we were contacted by the lovely people at Dogster.com. They wanted to give us an award that showed we are "Pawesome Bloggers"!
We are so excited and honored to be recommended by them. Dogster.com is a fantastic website that educates people about dog breeds, adoptions, health and care. They work hard to create communities for people who just love dogs. If you have never been to their website, make sure to check it out - it is a great resource for all dog owners.

Thanks again, Dogster.com!!

Irish Pugs

2010-03-17T06:00:00.000-04:00

The pugs wanted to wish all their Bloggy friends a Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

PAGES

2010-03-16T14:14:00.002-04:00

It seems that blogger has finally gotten on board with the whole "pages" concept. So now, below our blog header, you'll see links to pages on the blog, the first being home and the second being "Foodie Friday."
Rather than list all the old Foodie Friday recipes on the sidebar, I've put them all on the FF page. Now it is a convenient one stop page if you want to go back and find an old recipe.
If you see a recipe missing from that page, or if you have any trouble accessing any of the links on that page, please let me know.

Spring Break

2010-03-14T20:42:00.006-04:00

Sorry we haven't been doing much of this lately

But I've been in the city where this is:

And the very first one of these:

AND the very first one of these:

(It's Nordstrom)

And this crazy thing:
(A.k.a. Freemont Troll)

(hint: it's SEATTLE)

I went for spring break to see my best friend and sister in law, Jen! We had an awesome time, but it did not leave me much time to blog. We hope to be around to see you all soon!

Foodie Friday - Zucchini Bacon Pasta

2010-03-05T06:00:00.001-05:00

This week's recipe comes from Kelly, aka Pug(s) and Bugg's momma. Don't ask me how she even has time to cook right now between her multiple blogs, planning a wedding and getting a new job, but kudos to her!
This recipe makes me pine for summer and all the wonderful zucchini we would get in our CSA - so make it something to look forward to this season. Enjoy!

I found this recipe on Blissfully Domestic (a great site everyone should read) and tried it out. It needed a lot of work to fit our tastes - we felt there was too much pasta and not enough zucchini. We also felt that adding bacon would really jazz it up. So without further adieu, here is our "Sweet & Salty" Zucchini Bacon Pasta!

Ingredients:
-4 zucchinis of average size (can be altered to taste)
-1 head of garlic
-Olive oil
-5-6 ounces (weighed uncooked) of angel hair pasta, preferably wheat or wheat blend
-4-6 strips bacon, cooked
-1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (minimum - add more to taste)

It is important to prep your ingredients early because this recipe is hands-on. Have the bacon ready before you start cooking. Also grating the Parmesan earlier will make you happier later. Oh and put that water to boil early!

Start by coarsely grating the zucchini. I used the biggest side of my grater, as you can see.

Oh zucchini you will be so tasty!

You also start by smooshing the garlic. You know. Mincing is probably the word. But that's a LOT of garlic so I used the garlic-smoosher-press-thing from Pampered Chef. This picture is from early in the process, there was a lot more garlic when I was done.

Make sure you have your bacon done.

Saute the garlic in a little bit of olive oil. After a few minutes add the zucchini. The pan will need to be a saute pan- it won't fit in a frying pan. I had them on a good medium heat. You will need to stir it near constantly until it is done, 10-15 minutes.

You've already grated your Parmesan cheese right? I wish I had a better grater for the cheese! I got tired of doing it which is why there are two sizes. I need to get a good Parmesan grater.

If you put your water on early enough, you can multi-task efficiently. As your zucchini cooks down, watch your timer. Note the time the pasta will take to cook. Subtract one minute and put the pasta in when you have that much time left. For example, my pasta took 7 minutes so I put it in the water when there were 6 minutes left on the zucchini. That way, I took the zucchini off the heat, and had a minute to test the pasta and what-not, and then took it off as well.

You will need to have your bacon crumbled. I mixed it with the cheese to make them easier to add.

Return the pasta to the pot after draining. Add the zucchini garlic mixture.

Dump in the cheese and bacon mixture, and stir well. Because there isn't a thick sauce, everything doesn't stick super well to the pasta. It is better on a plate so that the good bits don't fall to the bottom of a bowl.

If you are not lazy, garnish with some Parmesan and some bacon. Or just pile it on and eat it! It makes 2 huge servings or 4 smaller one. You can easily alter this recipe to suit your likes and dislikes.

Thanks, Kelly! This looks delicious, and the photos are wonderful!

If you try this recipe, make sure to snap some pics and email them to me so I can share them in a kitchen adventures post.

And if you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on Foodie Friday, email it to me at projectdogway@yahoo.com

Have a great weekend!

Tax Time

2010-02-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

It's Tax Time and we'd like to advertise the Ladypug Mugs latest online service: Certified Puggie Accountants!
They'll do your taxes for you in half the time it would take you to do it yourself. Fast, easy and certifiably puggie!

And we don't just advertise for the CPA service, we're customers too!
Clementine worked diligently at our taxes until we had the maximum kibble-return possible!
Call now to make an appointment with your own highly qualified CPA - spaces are still available!

Peek-A-Boo Monday

2010-02-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

Where's the Peezy?
There she is!
Wait - where'd she go?
There she is!
Hope this made your Monday a little cuter!

Foodie Friday - Chicken Pot Pie

2010-02-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Foodie Friday is back - I hadn't given up on it, I just didn't have any recipes sent to me until this past week, Kelly (aka Pearl's momma) sent me this recipe. It's a great winter staple, so make room in your weekly rotation for this week's . . .

"I have been meaning to send you this recipe for Foodie Friday. It's a new winter comfort food favorite in our house!

This recipe was originally a Paula Deen recipe, but I created some shortcuts and healthy-fied it a bit, so it's no longer really true to her recipe.

I am including some pictures of the process.

Paula Deen's Chicken Pot Pie- modified by me

2 cups cooked & chopped chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken for this)

1 cup frozen mixed veggies (my bag had peas, corn, carrots, and green beans in it)

1 can cream of chicken soup (I bought the healthy choice one)

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Salt & pepper, to taste

1½ cups Bisquick (I bought the Heart-Smart Bisquick)

1 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter (Paula uses twice this amount, but I really thought 1/4 cup was plenty! Maybe even too much!)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 2 quart baking dish with non-stick spray and add the first five ingredients into it. Mix well.

Combine Bisquick and milk in a bowl and pour this over the casserole. Drizzle the melted butter over the top and bake for 40 minutes (or until top is golden).

This is a delicious and very easy meal! I also used leftover turkey in it @ Thanksgiving and it was great! Hope you all enjoy!

Thanks,

Kelly (and Pearl!)"

Thanks Pearl and Kelly! This is one of my favorite meals to make during the week - so easy and delicious!

If you try this recipe, make sure you take some pictures and email them to me - I'll feature them in a future Kitchen Adventures blog post.

And if you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on a Foodie Friday post, email it to me along with a short description and pictures (if you have them) at projectdogway@yahoo.com

Have a great weekend and a Happy Valentine's Day!

snow puggies

2010-02-01T11:12:00.008-05:00

This past weekend we had the most snow that this area has had in over a decade. In my part of town, we had about 8 inches total. Which I realize is like a regular snow fall for a lot of you, but for the southeast, it's practically a blizzard.
The pugs had never seen snow like this before. They've been around for a dusting or two, but nothing like this.
Clementine was not a fan, but Winston seemed to be OK with it.
Check out the scenery!

Jeremy bringing the dogs in from a walk:

The dogs on the back deck:

Clementine *hates it*!

We tried to build a snowman with the neighbors....but Winston came along and peed on it.
(don't eat the yellow snow-man!)

The main road by our house:

The creek in our neighborhood:

The table on our deck turned in to a giant powdered donut:

It was actually really pretty.....except it won't go away. Everything is shut down again today, and I'm going on my third day at home. The pugs are sort of enjoying it, except they seem exhausted. Going out to pee in the snow is WAY more tiring than peeing in the grass. In fact, Clementine wouldn't even go in it for almost the whole day yesterday. When she finally realized it wasn't going anywhere, she pooped in the middle of the frozen sidewalk. Oh well. At least it doesn't happen very often here.

Hope everyone is staying warm today. Happy February!

The Triumphant Return of . . . .

2010-01-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

woooohooo!!!

This week's recipe combines sinfully delicious and health conscious. Don't think it can't be done? Well, leave it to Laura (aka - Salinger's mom) to come up with a tastey, health-conscious, and EASY recipe to make for those afternoons when you absolutely have to satisfy your sweet tooth, but are doing it on a caloric budget.

Enjoy!

5 Minute mug cake….healthified

There are a TON of recipes if you google “5 minute mug cake”, but most are loaded with fat and sugar. NOW….I totally understand that if you’re craving cake…there’s really not much you can do about it but HAVE SOME, but I played around with the recipe and made it a bit better for you. Since it’s a mug cake…you have the added bonus of portion control!
In a big sprayed coffee mug….add the following:

3 Tablespoons flour (I used the whole wheat pastry flour) 4 tablespoons splenda 2 tablespoons baking cocoa
¼ teaspoon baking powder
TINY pinch of salt 1 egg 3 tablespoons milk1 teaspoon canola oil
2 tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt (use whatever yogurt you have OR nonfat/light sour cream) 3 tablespoons chocolate chips(OR save them to sprinkle on top to melt into “frosting”) A small dash of vanilla flavoring

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).
I saved the chocolate chips for the top. Add something whippy to the top if you like.

Wow! I had no idea you could do that! This is awesome!!

If you try this recipe, make sure to take some pictures and send me your kitchen adventure for a future blog.

And, as always, if you have ANY recipe you'd like to share with me, email it to me with a short description and pictures IF you have them to: projectdogway@yahoo.com

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Help us bring back Foodie Friday

2010-01-15T11:35:00.002-05:00

You may have noticed that I took quite a few months off from Foodie Friday. However, for Christmas this year, I received SO many cooking/kitchen gifts (A Le Creuset cast iron Dutch Oven, a Pampered Chef stoneware baking dish, a mandolin slicer, a hand stick blender and mixer, a new automatic crock pot, an instant read oven safe digital meat thermometer, new silicon cutting boards, etc etc....) that I've been inspired to start it up again!

I know it's the near year, and so people are trying to eat healthier, so I'd like to welcome you to send in any health-conscious recipes you might be utilizing right now. Even weight watchers or other diet approved recipes are welcome. And of course, your sinfully delicious recipes are welcome as well.

Email them to me along with a short description and any picture you may have (although pictures are not necessary) to projectdogway@yahoo.com

And as soon as I start getting some in, I'll start posting a new recipe each Friday.
I'm looking forward to what you all have cooking up this year!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T17:59:00.006-05:00

We hope you all had a very fun and safe new year. The pugs and I would like to wish everyone the best, most blessed 2010! 2009 was rough for a lot of people, so here's hoping that 2010 is a little brighter and better.

For now, the pugs are doing a lot of this:
Since J and I have finally gone back to work. I think it really wore the pugs out to have us home so much. I mean, really - they need their 21 hours a day of beauty sleep!
They looked relieved when I left the house this morning.

Meanwhile, I go back to school next Monday, so don't expect to see too much of me around the blogs, unfortunately. One day I swear I will not be in school anymore. One day......

I'll leave you with a few be-lated Christmas pictures of the puggies unwrapping their gifts.

Biggify this picture to see Clementine's crazy face!

What could it be?

A new bed!

And blankets!

Good-bye, Holidays. Hello, 2010!

Merry Happy!

2009-12-27T14:40:00.008-05:00

We hope everyone has had a great holiday season and a very Merry Christmas. The pugs got pretty spoiled this year, including gifts from a special bloggie friend.

A package came in the mail from Mr. Harry Pugalicious himself for Miss Clementine "et al" - Yes, even Winston.
Pugs' loot:

two toys, snowman cookies, and a baggie of yummy mixed treats!

Peoples' loot:
a BEAUtiful puggie ornament!

Thanks so much, Harry and Heather, for sending us such a thoughtful Christmas package!

The pugs tried really hard to share their toys....
But that didn't last for too long, thanks to "Queen Peezy" . . .
Winston, dejected, gives up and heads to the toy box for something else . . .
Oh well. Apparently, Clementine hadn't heard that Christmas is the season for sharing.

We'll be back soon to talk about some other Christmas gifties!

Christmas PSA

2009-12-18T18:09:00.004-05:00

From the Christmas party queen herself:

"Stay safe this Christmas season! Puggies, don't let your mommys and papis go out to parties and get all slurry-wordy and then drive home. Just give them the guilt trip face and convince them not to go out and leave you all alone at all. At home with the puggies is the safest place to be - not to mention, the BEST place to be!"
-Clementine peezy-beez Churchill

Jewelry for pugs

2009-12-14T10:59:00.002-05:00

Once again, this Christmas season, I am selling jewelry for pug rescue. I should have posted this earlier, but...you know. Life and what not...

Anyways, an album of all the jewelry I'm selling can be found through my flickr album. Here are a few pieces to give you an idea of what I've got:

20% of all the sales of this jewelry go directly to pug rescues! And for my Blog friends, there is no shipping charge! Unfortunately, at this point, I cannot guarantee that it will be to you by Christmas, but I will try my best if you order ASAP. Payments can be made with check, money order or we can do a paypal transaction.

The flickr album has all the prices and descriptions listed, but email me if you have any questions at all: projectdogway@yahoo.com

Get yourself or someone you love a beautiful piece of jewelry AND help support pug rescue organizations at the same time - win, win!

circle of friends

2009-12-13T17:20:00.004-05:00

Waaaay back before Thanksgiving, Harry Pugalicious gave us the "Circle of Friends" award. Thanks, Harry!

Here's the award:

And here are the rules:

1. Publish a post on your blog - referring who awarded you.
2. Share 5 things you like to do .
3. Share or pass this award to 10 friends.

Ok, so to be honest, Harry actually gave this award to CLEMENTINE....so I guess I'll let her take care of all that.
HEY GUYS!!! Remember me?? Clementine peezy-beez Churchill??? My secretary (aka - Mommy) has not been super good at blogging lately. This lapse of duties will most definitely show up in her annual review. But until then, I guess I have to take care of this stuff myself.

Ok, here goes:

1. Well, I guess she took care of that already. Ok, so she is good for SOMEthing.

2. Five things I like to do:

-run around the house like a crazy dog in a futile attempt to get Winston to play with me
-play fetch. sometimes the mommy says I'm half retriever. Whatever, mom. Just try and take me hunting and see how that goes over.
-take whatever Winston has away from him. Just so he knows who's boss.
-Nap. on the stairs especially and also in my "donut" that the mommy makes for me on the biggabed.
-go for walkies. not long walkies, but just around our neighborhood.

3. I'm supposed to give this award to 10 friends, but since it's Christmas and all, I'd like to give this award to EVERYone! If you read our blog, please feel free to take this and post it on your own blog.

And thanks again, Harry!!! (xoxoxo-Clemmie)

Ohla!

2009-11-28T09:19:00.002-05:00

Hang in there, everybody. Christmas is only two weeks away, and 2010 is a mere three weeks away! As soon as my school shuts down for the holiday on the 23rd, I'll be following Clementine's lead and taking a few days to just relax!

turkey time

2009-11-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

by the time you read this, Jeremy and I will have made our trek to the mid-west (Ohio, to be exact) to spend Thanksgiving with his family right outside of Cleveland. The pugs will be doing a lot of the above illustration while spending the week at my parents' house. Although, more than likely without the pink snuggie, as I really can't see my mom and dad wrangling Clementine into that thing....

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and has much to be thankful for this year. We certainly do!

Winston kills at Trivial Pursuit

2009-11-23T17:55:00.002-05:00

Particularly in the "history" category.

Sleepy Sunday

2009-11-15T11:45:00.003-05:00

Oh, the Ladypug.

Sorry I've been MIA again...I thought things had settled down, but then I got an internship for my professional writing graduate program. So I've been working at that, plus my other graduate class, plus the 30+ hours a week I work my regular job at a college (which is in full swing spring registration - gah!).
Basically I've had to make a choice between actually spending time with the pugs, or blogging about them, and of course, I've chosen to spend time with them.
And now the Holidays are upon us! Ay-yi-yi!

Thanks for continuing to visit us and comment. I hope to be able to read up on some blogs this afternoon. If you'd like to see what I'm up to on a daily basis, the best way is to follow me on twitter. Twitter has become my back-up blogging outlet since it takes so little time, but still allows me to post pictures of the dogs and what I'm up to. If you're on twitter, check us out.

Have a wonderful, sleepy Sunday!

Puggie Snuggie

2009-11-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sooo...I *may* have bought Clementine a pink Snuggie.....

Art Fair

2009-11-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

A few weekends ago I participated in an arts and crafts fair at the horse farm of my parents' neighbors. The pugs had a fun meet 'n greet afternoon...

Fall fun!

Butt to Butt

2009-11-04T22:13:00.003-05:00

Couch buddies for life.

Wordless Wednesday - The dog can't hold her licker edition

2009-10-28T11:19:00.001-04:00

(RT from twitter.)

Foodie Friday - cilantro lime chicken

2009-10-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

This week's recipe comes from Jess, aka Clover and Chewy's mom. This is a special recipe because it's her re-creation of a dish she had at a restaurant in Williamsburg while here on meet up. Here's a picture of all of us (Jess is on the far left in the back) enjoying the original dish!

Hi Rachel!
I really loved my meal from Food For Thought in Williamsburg, so I tried to re-create it at home. Here is my recipe:

Marinate 4 chicken breasts in 1tbsp olive oil, zest from 1 lime, juice from 1/2 a lime, 3 tbsp chopped cilantro and 1 clove of garlic for 4 or 5 hours, in the fridge.
Bake chicken in oven.
15 minutes before chicken is done, coat with 1/2 tbsp olive oil, zest from 1 lime, juice from 1 1/2 limes, 1 tbsp parmesan cheese, dash of salt and pepper.
I served mine with whipped red-skin potatoes and seasoned green & yellow beans. The presentation wasn't very pretty, but it tasted quite good. Next time I will probably use only one lime instead of 2 because it was a little too tangy I think.

Yay! Great recipe, Jess - and I think it looks delicious!
And now, a new addition to Foodie Friday - because I now have SO many former recipes, I can start suggesting other recipes that would be good with this week's dish! So my suggestions for Jess's chicken:

1. Melissa's black bean and tomato quinoa
OR
2. Kelly's grilled corn salad
AND for dessert
3. Sandra's Suspiro Limeño

Both would be delicious alongside this main course.

If you try this recipe, take some pictures and email them to me and I'll post on a future Kitchen Adventure.

And, of course, if you have a recipe you'd like to see featured - send it on! projectdogway@yahoo.com

Three Things Thursday

2009-10-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

I've been totally remiss on updating about bloggy meetup '09, but I've been swamped at work these past two weeks. Today I wanted to list three things we did on meetup and then one bonus thing we did!

First off, the bloggers at the meetup in Williamsburg were Punchy (+C), Jess, Tammy (aka - "woman"), and Girlville.

1. Had some delicious lunch at Food for Thought. Tune in tomorrow for a recipe inspired by our lunch!

2. Went on a tour and tasting of Williamsburg Winery.

3. Feasted on Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that I made from Laura's recipe!

(everyone gave them multiple "yummy" points)

And the bonus . . . .

4. Punchy, C and Jess came to MY house to meet Winston and Clementine!!!!

It was so much fun! I highly recommend going to a bloggy meetup if you are ever able. It's so awesome to meet the people that you correspond with on a daily basis. It feels like seeing an old friend again or something. I wish I could have met all the pugs as well, but that's for another meetup! Barkwells, anyone??? It's right near "woman" and it's pug-friendly!!

Wordless Wednesday - autumn welcome edition

2009-10-21T07:00:00.001-04:00

Foodie Friday - Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2009-10-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

This week's recipe was submitted by Laura, aka Salinger's mom. This, I have decided, is the PERFECT fall cookie. Not to mention they are fairly simple. There is truly no excuse to NOT make these. Today. Do it.
Paradise Bakery has a new cookie out for October….Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin! Holden and I shared one the other day and so I had to come home and google for a copycat recipe. I think this is it…..

I added an extra egg yolk and about ½ cup more pumpkin that what it called for and the cookies are YUMMY and VERRRRY soft! Perfect autumnal cookie! It is by NO means “healthy” so please don’t tell my dietician that I gave you this recipe…K?

PUMPKIN OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats (we used old fashioned rolled oats)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pureed pumpkin (DO NOT use pumpkin pie filling…check the label!)
1 large egg (I added an extra yolk….I always do that for cookies to make sure they’re soft)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup raisins

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Lightly grease baking sheets.

COMBINE flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in nuts and raisins. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets.

BAKE for 14 to 16 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and set in centers. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
NOOOOM!

If you try this recipe, and I know you will, email me your adventure and I'll post it on a future blog.

And if you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on a future Foodie Friday, PLEASE email it to me with a short description along with any photos you may have to projectdogway@yahoo.com

I have no backlog right now, so any and all recipes are greatly appreciated.

I'll be back next week to tell you guys all about BLOGGIE MEETUP!!!

Three Things Thursday

2009-10-08T07:00:00.001-04:00

Three Things Winston does not like:

Halloween costumes:

Getting wet:

Raincoats (even though they would prevent the whole "getting wet" thing):
What kind of things do your puggies love to hate?

Wordless Wednesday - This cannot possibly be comfortable edition

2009-10-07T07:00:00.002-04:00

Au revoir, Weekend

2009-10-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

Don't these pictures just make you wish it was still the weekend? Drat.
Happy Monday!

Sleepy Sunday

2009-10-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

This is my sister's cat, Tyler. He likes sleeping on top of cardboard boxes, or your laptop while you're trying to work, or anything else that looks dreadfully uncomfortable that he's really not supposed to be on.

Foodie Friday - Neiman Marcus Cookies

2009-10-02T07:00:00.001-04:00

This week's recipe is from Jess, aka Clover and Chewy's mom. This is an ultra-famous recipe from an ultra-famous department store. I've never had the real thing, but I'm excited to try them myself!

Hi Rachel,

My sister and I made these Neiman Marcus cookies a few months ago, but I lost the recipe so I never sent it to you with the pics I took. I just looked it up, and I believe this is it:

Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe

(Recipe may be halved):
2 cups butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
2 cups sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal**
24 oz. chocolate chips
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

** Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.

Instead of nuts (Andrew and I are both allergic), we added more chocolate! We used 3 kinds of chips: milk chocolate, white chocolate, and butterscotch.

They were SO delicious, and probably not bad for you at all!

Thanks, Jess! Those look uber delicious. It's bake sale season, isn't it? I think it is. There. That's your excuse to make them, and save half of them for yourself. Or all of them. Whatever.

Remember, if you try this recipe, take some pictures and email them to me so I can feature them on a future kitchen adventure post.

And if you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on a future Foodie Friday, email that to me along with a short description and any pictures you might have. I have nothing for next week, and I'd love to see some great football game-day snack ideas or some yummy fall stews or something for me to do with all the potatoes I'm getting in my CSA!
Email me! projectdogway@yahoo.com

Wordless Wednesday - WHATCHOOLOOKINAT?? Edition

2009-09-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

Peek-a-boo Tuesday

2009-09-29T19:00:00.000-04:00

Peek-a-boo! Just peeking in today to give you an update and ask a favor. Clementine has an appointment with her vet this afternoon. They are checking on her anal glands again. You may remember that this past Christmas the vet thought she had a tumor in one of her glands and we went through hell and high water to finally find out it was an abscess that could be lanced and drained with no surgery. Well, this past month the vet thought he felt another mass in one of her glands and so he wanted to check up on her again. Please keep little Clems in your prayers today that there is absolutely nothing wrong with her glands and that everything is as normal as can be.
She is giving absolutely no indication that she is bothered back there, nothing has changed in her appetite or behavior, so I would find it really hard to believe that anything bad has happened in the last couple of months, but you never know. In any case, your thoughts and prayers (as always) are much appreciated.
Ever since we went through this tumor-drama, I get this icky-woozy feeling in my stomach every time I have to take her in to the vet - even if it's just for a routine vacc or something, so I'm feeling especially icky-woozy today since they are bringing this back up again.

Ok, that's all for now - I'll let you know how the appointment goes as soon as I can.

7:00PM - UPDATE: Clementine's appointment went great. The vet said he still feels some kind of mass-i-ness in one of her glands, but he is sure that it's probably scarring from when she had it lanced back in December. We have added more fiber in to her diet (pumpkin in their dinners and mini-wheats instead of traditional "treats") and this seems to be helping with her glands draining properly. She is probably always going to be one of those dogs that needs her glands expressed every month, but I can live with that. Thanks for your calming comments and prayers!

Sleepy Sunday

2009-09-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

I was home sick for most of the week this past week (hence my awesome blog-updating! I was sooo bored....). Anyways, the pugs did a lot of this. Just laying around....staring at me....waiting for me to do something besides blow my nose and cough. What a disappointment, huh, pugs??
Anyways, they were great company for me, and I'm sure in some way they helped me recuperate.

FOODIE FRIDAY - GRAND RE-OPENING!

2009-09-25T07:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the grand re-opening of the Ladypug Mugs Foodie Fridays!! I'm so grateful to those of you who continued to submit recipes while I was on my break. It's given me a nice backlog of things to post.
For the very special grand re-opening post, we have a recipe submitted by Tammy, aka Norman's woman. This recipe was originally posted on her Asheville Gardener blog and incorporates produce from her own garden. So sit back and enjoy this week's locally grown . . .

"The eggplant are coming in fast, and we're trying to get creative with our cooking to keep from growing bored. I recently had a delicious dish at a Greek-style restaurant called eggplant rollatini, so we tried our hand last night at recreating it. Spoiler - it turned out fantastic!

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

Two long Japanese eggplant or one big fat American eggplant (as our Indian friend calls them)
1/2 sleeve of finely crushed saltines plus a little extra salt
2 well-beaten eggs
Olive oil
1/4 carton ricotta + 1 egg + salt and pepper

We only grew Japanese eggplant this year, which look like this. You can also use regular purple eggplant if you can't find japanese. Your pinwheels will just be bigger!

Slice the eggplant length-wise as thin as you can get them. You are going to be rolling them up into little pinwheels, so they need to be thin.

Ian is a magician with that knife! No need to remove the skin or soak them in salt like you may have been taught in the past.

Dip each eggplant slice into the beaten egg, making sure to cover the entire slice, even the sides.

Roll the slice in the cracker crumbs. Make sure you get it covered all over.

Carefully lay each slice in hot olive oil, allowing each side to get nice and crispy. The oil needs to be good and hot at this point so you get a lovely golden finish to the breading.

Mix together the ricotta, egg, salt and pepper.

Spread a thin layer of the mixture on one side of each slice of fried eggplant. Don't get overzealous with the amount of ricotta you spread on each slice - a little goes a long way.

Starting from one end, roll the slice up into a tidy little pinwheel.

Place all pinwheels in a lightly greased baking dish.

Cover with your favorite pasta sauce, mozarella cheese and some fresh tomatoes if you've got them.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Serve over pasta, and with some sweet corn. So yummy! Prep time was about 40 minutes, with 25 additional minutes for baking."

YUUUUUM!! What a return!! Thanks so much, Tammy, for sharing this amazing recipe and these beautiful photos!

Remember, if you try this recipe, take some photos and email them to me and I'll post them on a future Kitchen Adventures post.
Also, if you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on a future Foodie Friday post, email it to me along with a short description and any pictures you may have to: projectdogway@yahoo.com

Three Things Thursday

2009-09-24T07:00:00.001-04:00

Three things that really contributed to keeping me away from the blog for the past month were the three weddings we went to during August and September. And of course, it's never just a wedding that you go to, it's the wedding shower, and the bachelorette parties, and the shopping for the wedding gifts and then the weddings themselves.....very time consuming....
Anyways, here's a re-cap of the three weddings we attended:

1. My long-time friend Margie got married August 8th to her hubby, Brian. Margie and I have known each other since birth! We were born three days apart in the same hospital (me on Dec 22 and Margie on Dec 25 - Christmas babies!)

She was the most beautiful bride!

This is me (far right) with my sister-in-law (center) and my cousin (left) at the reception - we all grew up together with Margie. BFFs!

2. My best friend from high school, Liz, married her hubby Brad on September 6th at the ocean front.

The ceremony was right out on the sand and the reception was in a beautiful, huge beach house complete with bar and pool (and yes, we did end up in the pool later that night...)

Jeremy and I with my other BF from high school, Chrissy.

(Yes, that is a steel drum band in the background - they played Pachabel AND Bob Marley during the ceremony. So amazing.)

The cake was so adorable!

The house was lit up like a Christmas tree.

Chrissy and I made the centerpieces for the wedding shower and they ended up using them for the reception as well! We were pretty excited about that.

It was such a good time.

3. Jeremy's friend and co-worker Andrew married his wifey, Natalie, last Friday, September 18th.

Their reception was at a banquet hall on the inlet side of the ocean - they made their grand entrance to the reception hall on a yacht!

The view on the inlet side lets you see the sunset - it was sooo pretty.

The whole evening was really beautiful and we really enjoyed it.

So that is a BIG chunk of what we've been up to in our time off. I don't think I have any more weddings to go to until next October when we've got one in Madison, WI!
Well, I hope you've enjoyed my version of "A Wedding Story" - make sure to check back tomorrow for the Grand Re-Opening of FOODIE FRIDAY!!!!

Wordless Wednesday - A Girl and Her Dog Edition

2009-09-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

come hither awards

2009-09-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

While we were on our blog-hiatus, Harry Pugalicious nominated Clementine for this award:

I think he missed her and wanted to rope her back in to blogging by giving her an award that mentioned food in any capacity.

Well, it worked, I guess. And Harry, Clementine blows you a little puggie kiss and says she missed you dearly during our break.

So the rules for this award...

When accepting this award, you must blog about the food you have stolen when your humans were not watching…If you have never stolen any food, you must be a really good pup!! You can accept this yummy tray of cookies as your reward! Next add the logo of this award to your Blog (optional), then nominate at least 5 other furry blogs and let them know by leaving a message on their Blogs…

Winston and Clementine are both very aware of my cooking habits. Every night when I start dinner they park themselves in front of the stove and wait for me to start chopping. Inevitably, some morsel or two of whatever's on the menu will fall to the floor and as long as it's not bad for them I'll go ahead and let them gobble it up. Winston is usually more on this than Clementine.
Clementine's real pension is for napkins. Yup, every single night when we sit down to dinner, I get about 4 bites in to a meal, look down at my lap and realize my napkin is gone. A quick scan of the room will reveal Clementine, quietly chewing on my napkin, feigning total ignorance. Weird, I know.

Sooo - we're supposed to tag five other blogs, but this went around for so long while we were gone, I really don't think I know who to pass it on to. If you haven't posted this one yet - have at it!

And Harry, this picture is for you...

we figure it's appropriate for the award.

HELLO!

2009-09-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hi there! How have you been? We've been great, and busy, and have been pining for our bloggie buddies. We have tried to drop in and check on everyone every few weeks, but that has been hard.
We've definitely been doing weekly check ups on Walter, and are SO SO happy at his progress. Do not forget to continue to pray for Walter's healing and Heather's sanity. I've been really amazed by the support I've seen for her and Walter, even though I've had this support myself during my own difficult times, but it never ceases to amaze me how wonderful and helpful and caring this blog community is.
And for that reason we have been so anxious to get back to you all! We did a lot of fun stuff during our break, but rather than spill it all at once I'll have to cover a few things at a time.

The fist big thing we did during our break was dog sit our friends' French bulldog, Thunder. It was holy terror. Honestly. Jeremy was out of town for most of the week that he was here, so it was me and three dogs and total insanity. Thunder is one year old and unaltered and is an only dog......sooo...there were definitely some behavior issues, but they did manage to have some fun together. Although you wouldn't know it based on this picture:

In this picture, Thunder has just decided to get fresh with Clementine (and/or Winston), Clementine has decided to tell him who's boss and Winston has decided to run for the hills.
More good times? Why, yes!

They are double-teaming in this shot.

Clementine attempts to tell Thunder that the stairs are her territory. Winston looks on without concern, as no one has dare tried to impede his bed-territory.

A spirited game of 'who will get who's butt in their mouth first?' Clementine found this game much harder with Thunder since he does not, in fact, have any kind of tail, curled or otherwise, to latch on to.

Momentary peace. Very momentary.

So that's adventure #1. Thanks so much for the comments and e-mails (and even awards!) during our off time. We really did miss you guys and can't wait to get back to blogging on a regular basis. Please spread the word that we're back. We have been trying to catch up on everyone's blogs this past week, but haven't had the time to comment much. We hope to drop the stalker status this week and start commenting again as well.
Happy Monday!

Wordless Wednesday - we miss you all and should be back to blogging next week edition!!

2009-09-16T10:45:00.001-04:00

a break from the break

2009-09-02T09:40:00.002-04:00

To share in my excitement at getting Heather's two books in the mail this week! I haven't started reading them yet - my grad class just started on Monday, so I've been reading for that, but I hope to get in to them soon.

If you don't know, Heather is Wally's mom. Wally was hit by an SUV last month and is undergoing extreme, intense and VERY expensive physical therapy. If you're able, please consider purchasing Heather's books. Reading is good! Reading is fun! Reading can sometimes save animals!

Not to mention the covers are fabulous - so just having them lying around your house makes you feel like a much cooler person.

We miss our bloggie friends so much! But this weekend is one more wedding, then next weekend I go out of town to see a friend, and then the weekend after that is ANOTHER wedding plus a friend coming in from out of town and THEN, finally, will be a small reprieve, and hopefully I will be back at it by the end of the September.

Hope everyone is doing well, and don't forget, you can reach us at projectdogway@yahoo.com with recipes, kitchen adventures or even just to drop us a line.

Lots of love,
Rachel, Winston and Clementine

B-day Message/Kitchen Adventure/Announcement

2009-08-13T12:07:00.003-04:00

First off, the pugs and I want to wish the Papi a very Happy Birthday today!!! Woohoo!!!

Happy 26th B-day to the best pug-papi in the world!

Secondly, I would like to share a few kitchen adventures that I've had with you guys. The first adventure actually comes from Lex, who tried Heather's blueberry boy bait. Here's what she said:

"Hi Rachel!
I made the blueberry boy bait the other day, I had originally seen the recipe on Smitten Kitchen but when you featured it on your Foodie Friday, I had to make it! I thought it was a different kind of cake, almost like a muffin in cake form. Also it wasn't as sweet as I thought it would be. But is very yummy and really easy to make. I doubled the blueberries since I had bought a lot.
As you can tell, the cake was sampled right away! We tried with the vanilla ice cream as well as with whip cream and both were equally yummy.
Thanks!
Lexie"

And here are some pictures from her adventure:

I also tried the blueberry boy bait the following week and had similar delicious results. Here's my pic:

I gave some to my co-worker who immediately asked for the recipe. Good stuff.

I also tried Lex's Zucchini fritter recipe the other night. I made big ones, then topped them off with a slice of goat cheese and home-made roasted red peppers from our CSA share. Then I drizzled the whole thing with balsalmic vinegar and let me tell you - TO.DIE.FOR.

This is like gourmet food, for real. And it was all fresh from our farm share.

Check out the recipes for Blueberry boy bait and Zucchini fritters on the right hand side bar of the blog under "Foodie Fridays."

If you try one of the recipes, take some pictures and e-mail me your adventure to projectdogway@yahoo.com

And a big "Thanks!" to Heather and Lex for sharing these amazing, seasonal recipes.

Ok, finally - a confession/announcement. You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging and commenting much lately. It has been so hard for me to get on the blog lately. Some of you know that I am a college counselor and right now registation for fall classes is in full swing. This leaves me with ZERO time at work to do things like post or read blogs. Additionally, when I'm off work, I feel like I have a zillion things going at once. I have three weddings and two wedding showers to attend this summer, including one wedding shower that I'm helping plan. I've also had multiple weekend trips, friends and family in from out of town, birthdays, work functions, dog-sitting, etc etc. I'm also starting another graduate class on the 31st.

So, the things is that I think I'm going to have to take a tiny break from blog-land. Not for real long, but maybe just until the fall semester is under way and I have time at work and in my free time to breathe and think and take pictures.

I know this doesn't really affect your lives much, but I just wanted to let you know so you didn't think I had fallen off the face of the earth. I also won't be posting Foodie Fridays until I'm back in normal-life mode, but that doesn't mean you can't send me recipes! I'd love to create a back log of recipes in my time off and then have lots of great stuff to post when I get back.
You can always e-mail me a recipe at projectdogway@yahoo.com

I may still stalk your blogs a bit, but you won't see me around as much as usual until probably mid September. Thanks for understanding. I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer and we'll see you back here next month!

Three Things Thursday

2009-08-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

Three photos I found of the pugs while working on "The Papi's" laptop...

This one is so cute! I can't believe I've never seen this one. It looks like a camera phone picture, which is the only way I think he ever takes photos...
Winston loves himself some laundry...
I love this photo. Jeremy sent to to me (from his phone) on Ash Wednesday. If you're Catholic, you'll get it. If not...eh, whatever - it's still cute. No idea how whatever that is on her head got there...

Wordless Wednesday - smile for the crackberry edition

2009-08-05T08:00:00.001-04:00

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

We're almost there!

2009-08-03T11:00:00.004-04:00

Hello All! In my last post, I gave you details on the MAPR fundable pledge drive. I know lots of you were very generous, because MAPR is now at 79% of their pledge goal!!

Remember, NO donations will be taken until the full amout of $4510 is pledged.

There are only 18 days left, so if you haven't yet, please go to the MAPR fundable site and pledge whatever amount you are able. If we don't get that last 21%, then we won't get anything at all.

Here is a story of a pug that MAPR is currently fostering.

"Jackson

Jackson is a busy little 8 week-old puppy who was surrendered to us by a back yard breeder because he has a congenital defect in his front leg joints that has left him unable to use his front limbs to walk. MAPR has consulted two vets who agree that surgery is not advised for Jackson at this time since it would require a long and painful rehabilitation and ultimately may not give him the use of his legs. The vets have recommended that we purchase Jackson a front-limb cart (or puggie wheelchair for the front legs) that he could use to get around. He is perfectly healthy otherwise and though he has limited use of his front legs, he's a happy little guy. To get around without a cart, he belly crawls in a way that makes him look like he's swimming (maybe we should have called him Phelps!). MAPR is currently raising funds to purchase Jackson a front-limb cart so that he can get around more easily. The cart will cost several hundred dollars but will give him the gift of mobility."

If you pledge just a small amount to MAPR, it can help them get a mobility cart for Jackson.

Remember, surrenders are up 30%, but donations are down 50%!

We aren't all able to foster dogs ourselves - I certainly am not. But we can help organizations like MAPR continue to care for these surrendered dogs with our pledges. Pledge now!

Help MAPR help pugs!

2009-08-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

My friend Allyzabethe, who works with Mid-Atlantic Pug Rescue (MAPR) sent me an e-mail the other day. Here's what it said:
"Last summer, you helped Mid-Atlantic Pug Rescue raise an amazing $9,000 for the pugs! Your help is desperately needed again. MAPR has over 70 dogs in foster care and we need your help to give these dogs the vet care they need! Your gift to MAPR is tax-deductible and every dollar goes to the pugs! Please view our Fundable and make a pledge today to help us reach our goal."

This year, MAPR is doing another pledge drive through fundable. Please visit their fundable site HERE and donate if you can.MAPR does amazing work - check out their website to see all the pugs they currently have in foster care - 70 pugs currently! They help a lot of dogs, and if you can find the spare change in your wallet - help them continue to help pugs in need.
Their fundables site says:
"The difficult economy is hitting pug owners and MAPR very hard. Surrenders to MAPR are up over 30% and because cash-strapped owners are deferring vet care, the pugs entering rescue have long-standing health issues that are expensive to treat. At the same time, donations to MAPR are down by over 50% from last year. Last summer, you helped us raise an amazing $9,000 for the pugs (http://www.freewebs.com/mapr/thankyoumaprdonors.htm). Your help is desperately needed again. MAPR has over 70 dogs in foster care including those listed below with serious but treatable conditions. We need your help to give these dogs the vet care they need so that they can be placed in wonderful forever homes!"

Allyzabethe is currently fostering two wonderful dogs for MAPR: Quincy and Isabella. They are an elderly pug couple that despite blindness, deafness, and obesity still have a lot of spark and are getting better every day under her care.
Please please go and pledge so MAPR can meet its goal and continue rescuing and re-homing these furry creates we all love.

Foodie Friday #26 - Blueberry Boy Bait

2009-07-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

This week's recipe uses another seasonal produce: blueberries! If you are blessed enough to live in the south, like we are, then you have probably seen signs for u-pick blueberry stands popping up everywhere lately. It is prime time season for these juicy little super-fruits, so enjoy this week's perfectly timed recipe, sent to us by Heather, aka Harry's mom.
Hi Rachel (and Winston & Clementine), We tried a new recipe and think our blogger friends would like it. It's called Blueberry Boy Bait - and, like most of the recipes I love, it comes from SmittenKitchen.com. Blueberries have been so good and plentiful this year that I just had to try this (not to mention how great the name is). I was not disappointed. I only had one blooper - I didn't read the recipe to the end and put the cake in the oven without putting the "topping" on. I realized my mistake about halfway into the baking and put the topping on and everything turned out fine. The sugar just wasn't as brown and cooked in as it would have been had I paid closer attention! The cake is not too sweet - it's delicious for breakfast! Here are the ingredients, directions:

Blueberry Boy Bait

From Smitten Kitchen who adapted from Cook’s Country, which adapted it from the original

Serves 12, generously

2 cups plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I substituted Splenda and used only 1/4 cup)
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, do not defrost first as it tends to muddle in the batter)

Topping
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not defrost)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

Whisk two cups flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy, about two minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated and scraping down bowl. Reduce speed to medium and beat in one-third of flour mixture until incorporated; beat in half of milk. Beat in half of remaining flour mixture, then remaining milk, and finally remaining flour mixture. Toss blueberries with remaining one teaspoon flour. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in blueberries. Spread batter into prepared pan.

For the topping:
Scatter blueberries over top of batter. Stir sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl and sprinkle over batter. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out and place on serving platter (topping side up). Serve warm or at room temperature. (Cake can be stored in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)

Enjoy! Harry Pugalicious gives it two paws up and a big tail wag. He loved it!

Thank you, Heather and Harry!! This looks delicious! Maybe we will take a day soon and go pick some blueberries for this wonderfuly summer recipe.

If you try this recipe, or any of the other Foodie Friday recipes (linked on the right hand side bar) please let us know about it! E-mail us your adventure to projectdogway@yahoo.com.

And if you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on a future Foodie Friday, please e-mail it to us at the same address along with a short description and any pictures you may have.

Have a wonderful weekend!

poolside pugs

2009-07-28T22:16:00.010-04:00

These pictures are from a couple weekends ago at my parents pool, but it took us this long to figure out how to get them off of Jeremy's cell phone without e-mailing them all. Hooray for overcoming technology!

The puggies are waiting for Papi to return to the pool from the house (aren't you jealous of my mom's hydrangea's? I am...):

Chillaxin' by the pool:

Waiting to be served their Pina Colada's:
Winston especially likes to hang out on the deck chairs

While Clementine hangs out in the pool with me
What kind of fun summer stuff have you and your puggies done??

Christmas in July

2009-07-25T10:17:00.015-04:00

For the second year in a row, we have participated in Liss's Christmas in July Exchange. It is so much fun, and we just want to say quickly "Thank you!!!" to Liss who does such a great job of organizing this every year.

Our buddies this year were Laila & Minchie (and mom, Peggy), over at cat-a-holic. Last year our Christmas in July buddy was a cat too - some of you may know him...Angus! It is so fun to be paired with kitties because we get to shop for stuff we don't normally even look at in the store! Unlike a lot of the other pug momma's - I do not have a cat. I DO like cats - I had a wonderful cat in high school named Prada who was my best buddie. And when I lived with my sister, I sort of designated her orange tabby feral rescue, Tyler, as my own.
ANYways - our package came from out kitty friends late last week - the pugs were pretty excited while I opened it up....

Everything was wrapped in ADORABLE "Hello, Kitty" wrapping paper.
I almost didn't want to open everything, it was so cute. There was also a funny kitty card:

Then we started tearing in to the gifts!
The first one we opened was like a flash back for Winston:

He used to have almost the same exact carrot when he was a puppy. His auntie Jen got it for him, but when Clementine came along....it uh...."went back to the carrot farm so it could run free with all the other carrots"....if you know what I mean....
So Winston was VERY excited about this carrot, as you can see:
Anyways, he tore himself away from his newly beloved carrot to open the rest of the gifts.
There was even a gift for me!
A pug mouse pad!!! I was so excited! I have a pretty boring one at work and this is going right by my desk with all my other pug stuff....just in case my students weren't sure yet if I really am a crazy pug lady...now they know.

Look at this loot!
Kong ziggie treats - the perfect size treats for their pink and blue kongs, some greenie bones, a new nylabone - which is Winston's favorite, mother hubbard good-boy bones (also their favorite), Mr. Carrot, and my mousepad.

Thanks so much, Laila, Minchie and Peggy! We loved playing with you and are so glad to have met you through the Christmas exchange!
Check out Laila and Minchie's blog, and take a look at the Christmas package they got from us!
And if you've never participated before, make sure to keep up with Purs 'n Snorts - Liss usually starts setting up the exchange in late spring.

Foodie Friday #25 - Rhubarb Cake

2009-07-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

This week's recipe uses an ingredient that may be novel to a lot of us. But some of us who are participating in CSAs this summer are starting to get it in our crates and have little idea of what to do with it. Well, no fear! Melissa (and notably, her husband, Fred) have sent us this recipe to help us out!

Hi Rachel!
Fred loves to make this cake, and I wanted to share it with you.
xoxoxo
melissa

Rhubarb Cake

3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup applesauce
3 cups rhubarb, uncooked, cut into ½” in pieces
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9X13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Beat eggs, salt, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl.
Stir in flour, soda, and cinnamon.
Add applesauce, rhubarb, and nuts.
Stir until well blended.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour.
Cool; dust with powdered sugar.
20 Servings

That looks great! I've always wondered, besides pie, what is there to do with rhubarb? Now we know! And it looks delicious.

If you try this recipe, or any of our other Foodie Friday recipes (linked on the right hand sidebar) please e-mail me your adventure and I'd be happy to share it on a future Kitchen Adventures post.

And if you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on Foodie Friday, e-mail it to me with a short description as well as any pictures you might have to projectdogway@yahoo.com

I'm off to beach with some friends until Monday(!!!!!) but have a great weekend - I'll be back to reading and updating next week.

Photo tag

2009-07-19T22:21:00.003-04:00

We were tagged by Lilo, aka The Great Rock Eater, to play a photo game. The rules are:

1) open the folder that has your pet pics in it
2) choose one you haven't posted before
3) tell its story
4) tag 5 friends

Wow, I post a LOT of the pictures I take, so let's see what I can drum up....
Ok, I don't think I've ever posted this one. This picture was taken either the day we moved into our house, or shortly thereafter. That's why stuff is still on the floor, in boxes, etc. The pugs are modeling the new house with their stuffed pug, Charles. This stuffed pug belonged to Jeremy's grandmother. She always wanted a pug, but for some reason she couldn't have one, so she had this little guy instead. She died before we got the pugs so when we got Winston, Jeremy's parents sent this to us. I can't remember why I named him Charles, but it works.

OK - now we have to tag 5 people. So many people have already been tagged for this, but we'll try our best. If you have already been tagged, feel free to disregard.
1. Sequoia and Petunia
2. Harry Pugalicious
3. Salinger
4. Pug(s) and Bugg
5. Hank

maybe this time I will actually remember to go and tag all of these bloggers!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend - we went camping and tubing on the James River with some friends. It was fun and hilarious and the roughest camping I've ever done. The pugs, sadly, were not allowed on the river, and therefore could not go. But they had a fun weekend with the Grand Pawrents.
But the weekend's over now, so here's to another painless, quick work-week.

Foodie Friday #23 - Zucchini Chocolate Cake/bread/patties

2009-07-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

This week's recipes (yes, there is more than one!) are perfect for anyone who, like me, has been getting hoards of zucchini from their CSA's, backyard gardens, or friends' gardens. They seem to be growing like crazy this summer and I had literally run out of things to do with the ones I was getting until . . . VOILA . . . these recipes showed up in my inbox! So sit back and enjoy this week's highly industrious . . .
This week's recipes are courtesy of Lex, aka Gus and Indy's mom. Here she goes . . .

"I recently bought a ton of zucchini for dirt cheap at the local farmers market so I went on a recipe hunt for additional ways to go through the zucchini before it went bad.
This one I found used almost a whole zucchini and chocolate.. how could I not do it?

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 1/2c all purpose flour

1/2c cocoa

2 /1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 c soft butter

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini

1/2c milk

1 c chopped walnits or pecans (optional)

Glaze 2c icing sugar, 3 tablspoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Preheat oven to 350 F

1) Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon - set aside

2) With a mixer beat sugar and butter until smoothly blended. Add eggs one at time, beating well after each addition. With a spoon mix in vanilla, orange peel and zucchini.

3) Alternately stir in dry ingrediants with milk, including the nuts with last addition.

4) pour the batter into a greased and flour dusted 10'in bundt pan. Bake for 50mins, but test at 45mins. Or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 15 minutes and then on wire rack.

5) Drizzle Glaze over cake.

I did this a little bit differently, I didn't have an orange and I don't do nuts in cake so neither were added. Also as you can tell from the picture at the end, I don't have a bundt pan! I cooked this in a 9' round silicon pan so I didn't have to grease or flour it and I had to cut off the edges since the cake raised quite a bit over the sides before flattening. Because of the lack of bundt pan, the glaze just kind of sat on top.. which works for me! The cake ended up baking for over an hour and I rotated in the oven atleast twice, I ended up relying on the toothpick method to test doneness.

The picture isn't very pretty but the cake sure was yummy, very moist with a great taste of chocolate and a hint of cinnamon."

(ladypug note: isn't that cake that pretty pink cake stand the sweetest thing you've ever seen??)

Here are some additional zucchini recipes Lex sent along with the cake submission. They are photo-less, but sound wonderful all the same.

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

1c olive oil or vegetable oil

1 3/4c sugar

2 c grated zucchini

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 c all purpose flour

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/c chopped walnuts, pecans (optional)

1 c dried cranberries/raisins/chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F

Grease and flour 2 8x4 inch loaf pans. (or line 24 muffin pans)

In a large bowl beat the eggs with a whisk, mix in oil and sugar then zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt as well as any nuts, fruits or chocolate chips. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into the loaf or muffin pans.

Bake loaves for 60mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Muffins will bake more quickly at 20-25 minutes.

Zucchini Patties (Another version of zoo sticks)

This recipe all depends on how much you actually want.

Grate zucchini onto a paper towel and squeeze out moisture.

In a bowl add the zucchini, one egg, a dash of salt and pepper, as much garlic powder as you prefer, and enough bread crumbs to make the mixture a batter.

Mix until well combined and has a thick texture.

Heat pan with enough oil to coat the bottom, add zucchini in small balls and flatten with a fork. Cook until golden brown on one side and then flip until golden brown on the other side.

Serve with ranch dressing."

NOM! I love zucchini, and these are three great ways to utilize this summer's harvest. So get to work grating, chopping, baking and eating those amazing squash, everyone. If you do, don't forget to take some pictures and send me your adventure. I'll post it on a future Kitchen Adventures blog.

And if you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on a Foodie Friday post, email it to me with a short description and pictures, if you have them.

Have a great weekend!