Vegetables

By Gwen Ashley Walters | MARCH 28, 2009 | BOOK & PRODUCT REVIEWS

Warning! This is not a food post. So proceed with caution…

skycloMeet Skyclo. Skyclo is the ultimate, low maintenance pet.

More expensive than a chia pet, but so much more appealing.

We picked up Skyclo for a song (the Beatles complete anthology, for price reference.)

Kidding, but still, Skyclo wasn’t cheap.

I was lingering a bit too long over the little guy and the boutique shop girl came over to ask if I was interested in buying him.

Me: “How much?”

Her: “$5.”

Me: “Five bucks??!!”

Her: “uh, no. $500.00″

Me: “Holy @#$%!”

And then I walk away, dazed and confused. I look around the adorable little dog shop on Main Street in Park City, thinking I should trade in my chef’s knife for a hunk of clay.

A couple minutes later, shop girl says, “My boss really wants to move these things, so I can offer you a deal on the little Westie.”  Really, I say, looking around at approximately 30 other dog breeds sitting on shelves.

I spot the hairless dog. Funny, it’s the only ceramic sculpture with hair. A little tuft protruding from his little skull.

“How does $300.00 sound?” she twerps. Uh, no, I say, although I am beginning to realize that these are really works of art.

“OK! $200.00. That’s as low as I can go,” she says. SOLD!  I say. And that’s how we acquired our third dog.  We named him Skyclo, after our other two, um, more vocal Westies: Sklyar and Chloe.

A couple days later, I wandered back to the pet boutique, only to discover that it had closed. I forgot to get information about the artist, and after an exhaustive internet search (5 minutes), I can’t seem to find anything about this artist, so I can’t point you in the right direction in case you were interested in having one of your own.

$200.00 isn’t cheap, I know, and my friends have laughed at me for spending that much, but it is still cheaper than having a real dog. I know because I still have two. Now, if I can just get them all three to sit together for a family portrait.

By Gwen Ashley Walters | NOVEMBER 14, 2008 | NEWS & NIBBLES

chloe-pumpkinWho knew that a raw pumpkin could be so appealing? I returned home from an evening meeting earlier this week, only to discover that my darling little grasshopper slayer decided that she needed a piece of pumpkin, sans pie.

Chloe was perched on top of “her” chair when we returned and when she saw me turn on the light, look at the desecrated pumpkin on the dining room table, she crouched and pinned her ears back. Skylar, on the other hand, leaned up against the bar and looked at me, saying with those adorable brown, button eyes, “It wasn’t me, Mom, she did it.”

Chloe has separation anxiety issues and every time we leave the house, she finds some mischief to amuse herself until we return, even though she’s confined to the family/kitchen room. Animal experts would suggest that I put her little hinny in a crate while we’re gone. I know I probably should, but then Skylar would be uncrated and what kind of trauma would that cause? Anyone have any advice?

Chloe was subdued the rest of the evening, probably with a tummy ache, but otherwise she was fine. The next day, I talked with my friend Eileen, who owns See Spot Shop, and after she stopped laughing, she told me that pumpkin is not harmful to dogs, and that Chloe likely just got an extra dose of antioxidants. It wasn’t like I was going to make a pie with the darn pumpkin anyway… it’s best to use the small, sugar pumpkins for pie.

I just put the pumpkin there to remind me that it was fall and Thanksgiving is coming. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that when the temperature is 80 degrees outside. And Chloe was quick to remind me that even fall has a short season.

By Gwen Ashley Walters | SEPTEMBER 20, 2008 | NEWS & NIBBLES

They’ll eat anything, these two. Even if it makes them sick. I’m amazed at what they’ll  put in their mouths. A rotting apple core on the side of the road. A discarded Q-Tip (eeewwwh!) And grasshoppers–fresh grasshoppers.

I guess the grasshopper delicacy shouldn’t surprise me. And for Chloe (on the right), it was an acquired taste. She first discovered grasshoppers when one jumped in front of her and her hunting instinct took over. She caught the little sucker and immediately spit it out when it kicked in her mouth.

The next time she caught one, she twitched when the grasshopper kicked, but she didn’t immediately spit it out. But eventually she did and then she just wanted to play with it, coaxing it with her nose to get it to jump again. And after a few more catches, she finally decided that the best use of her booty was not to spit it out. So she ate it…crunch, crunch, crunch.

It doesn’t surprise me because arthropods are eaten by humans in many areas of the world, although usually not raw. I have a book in my library called Unmentionable Cuisine that describes how to prepare grasshoppers (and locusts and other various insects).

One of the chefs I met while working on The Great Ranch Cookbook, handed me a copy of Unmentionable Cuisine while she prepared dinner for her guests one night. As she slowly cut asparagus on the bias, she said that she traveled everywhere with that book. In the summer, she cooked at a high end fishing lodge in Montana. In the winter, she moved to the southern hemisphere, cooking in fishing camps in New Zealand or in the Yucatan. “You never know what kind of food sources you’ll find in some remote camps, so this book comes in handy,” she said.

One thing the book did for me was to open my eyes — and mind — to the fact that one man’s disdain is another man’s delicacy. I still don’t think I approve of Chloe’s new favorite snack, but I can’t fault her for trying new things.

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