Woof! We mean hello tapering Prima Donna Marcia’s friends! It’s her dogs here! We know she’d want to be here to answer this week’s question but as you may know (who the hell doesn’t?) she’s tapering for the Columbus marathon and is behaving a bit strangely. Despite our best efforts (short of whizzing on the sheets) to get her out of bed this morning for her 6-mile tempo, she insisted on laying there like a diva slug until it was too late, muttering something about doing it tomorrow, hay being in the barn, too cold, to dark, etc.
So in our best attempt to cover for her we will handle this week’s question, which comes from Heather of Trials of Training:
If you had the knowledge, time and/or means by which to Organize a race – what would your “Race Info” include? Would you choose an organization to donate to? What distance would you choose? Other questions to ponder – Location? Time? Race Expo attendees (guest speakers?)? Shirt design? Get as creative as you want….!
Our, we mean her, race would definitely be called the “Cat Chase 5k.” Hey we’re Bichons, we don’t handle long distances well. The cats (declawed of course) would go off first followed by us dogs, with or without our owners, only retractable leashes allowed. Amenities would include plenty of fire hydrants along the race course, a schwag bag packed with biscuits, nylabones, Puperoni and a Frisbee.
The race would go off early, right after our morning constitutional so we won’t be sluggish and before our mid-morning siesta.
The race T-shirt would be in a paw-print theme and definitely bacon scented.
The overall winner would receive a brand new flea collar and a certificate to the dog spa.
And of course all proceeds would be split between the Anti-Cruelty Society and Adopt-A-Pet.
There you have it, hopefully Marcia will return to her senses soon before we are forced to do something poopy drastic.
by: Marcia | Thursday, October 1st, 2009 | 
Brrrrrrr! Autumn is in full swing here! The nip in the air these days has left the house on the chilly side to say the least. I will not turn on the heat! Heat in September is just wrong in my humble opinion. So this morning found me rummaging for a cozy fleece top and flipping on the oven to make this tasty, nutritious, not to mention carbolicious soup!
Roasted Sweet Potato Soup with Tomatoes
Plus a Garden of Earthly Delights
Feast your eyes on the variety of veggies in this soup–a great source of complex carbs and antioxidants galore! This is a great soup to make if you have lots of homegrown tomatoes laying around.
Serves 8 to 10
5 medium sweet potatoes
1/4C olive oil plus a Tablespoon or 2 more for rubbing the potatoes
6 tomatoes of your choice (if you don’t have any on hand a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes works fine too)
4 garlic gloves
1T balsamic vinegar
4T butter
1 red onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
6C chicken or vegetable broth
1t sea salt
1t pepper
2T fresh, or 2t dried thyme
2T fresh chives
1T chopped fresh sage or 1t dried, plus more for garnish
Juice of 2 oranges
Preheat oven to 450F.
Rub potatoes with olive oil, place on a baking sheet and roast 40-45 mins. until they are tender when pierced with a fork. Cool them then remove and discard the skins.
While the potatoes are roasting, toss the tomatoes and garlic w/2T olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Roast 30-35 mins. When cool, tear them into small pieces.
Melt butter and 2T olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook 10 mins. until soft. Add carrots and celery, cook 10 more mins. Add broth, salt, pepper and reduce heat to low.
Simmer uncovered for 20 mins. Add potatoes and dried herbs, if using, to the soup and simmer 20 mins. more. Remove from heat, stir in fresh chives and sage and let soup cool slightly.
Working in batches, pour soup into a food processor or blender, or puree it directly in the pot with an immersion blender. Add the tomatoes and their liquid and the orange juice and stir. Serve warm, garnish with fresh sage and /or chives.
If you like it spicy sprinkle a pinch of dried red pepper flakes.
Some shredded parmesan or mozzarella is nice too!
by: Marcia | Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 |
me with: