If you see Duchess Poppy out and about with us this weekend, say Happy Birthday. She turned 7 years old yesterday. That is 44 in human years for a small dog. Here's a chart and link to an article from WebMD with the conversion by dog size.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino
Walking inside the Prudential Center early one rainy, wet day, Penny snapped this photo of one of our favorite small businesses, Fastachi: purveyors of gourmet roasted nuts & handmade chocolates.
Everyone, like us, who has missed them at the Copley Farmers Market, can pick up holiday gifts for themselves or others of fresh, healthy fruit and nuts.
Remember, they also have a shops on Charles Street in Beacon Hill, in Wellesley, and the main store in Watertown.
What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018 Penny & Ed Cherubino
Walking inside the Prudential Center early one rainy, wet day, Penny snapped this photo of one of our favorite small businesses, Fastachi: purveyors of gourmet roasted nuts & handmade chocolates.
Everyone, like us, who has missed them at the Copley Farmers Market, can pick up holiday gifts for themselves or others of fresh, healthy fruit and nuts.
Remember, they also have a shops on Charles Street in Beacon Hill, in Wellesley, and the main store in Watertown.
What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018 Penny & Ed Cherubino
Would you be ready to take your dog or cat to an emergency animal hospital if you had to do it in the next five minutes? Here are some things you can do to help make that stressful situation a bit calmer for you and your animal.
Angell Animal Medical Center is open 24/7/365 (directions & contact information are in the link).
Be Ready to Go
First, you should know where the nearest 24-hour emergency veterinary hospital is located and have a transportation plan and route in mind to get there. We are car-free city dwellers and, over the years, have taken taxis, rideshare cars, and accepted offers from kind friends to bring our dogs to the ER.
When traveling, we always check for the nearest veterinarian and emergency hospital. It's not a bad idea to develop a habit of noticing any signs for veterinary services when you’re on the road. You just never know when you will need one.
Do your best to slow bleeding, stabilize injured limbs, and prepare to deal with gastric upsets on the way to get help. (Photo courtesy of the American Veterinary Medical Association.)
First Aid
If your furry friend is hurt or sick, you’ll wish you knew some basic first aid and a bit about caring for a sick dog or cat. Do some reading on these topics ahead of time and consider adding a pet first-aid kit
Do your best to slow bleeding, stabilize injured limbs, and prepare to deal with gastric upsets on the way to get help. We recommend that anyone with pets keep a package of puppy piddle pads
Poppy was on the way to the ER for a sore paw, but we covered the car seat and protected it in case the ride upset her tummy.
Moving a Hurt or Sick Animal
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) suggests calling the clinic before you leave so they can be ready for you. They may also be able to give you suggestions for the best way to care for the cat or dog until you get there.
Your next challenge is moving a hurt animal to a vehicle and keeping everyone safe on the way to the hospital. The AVMA begins its advise on this topic with this warning, “Never assume that even the gentlest pet will not bite or scratch if injured. Pain and fear can make animals unpredictable or even dangerous. Don't attempt to hug an injured pet, and always keep your face away from its mouth. Although this may be your first impulse to comfort your pet, it might only scare the animal more or cause them pain.”
You might want to improvise a muzzle
In research done with Angie's List members, 65 percent have experienced a pet emergency. We know that we have made a lot of emergency veterinary visits during our years of having canine companions.
An animal emergency is the time to accept the help of others in your animal community. Especially if you are facing transport alone. Again, this is best arranged ahead of time. You can set up a reciprocal arrangement with a friend to assist one another, if needed, for an ER run.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino, Top photo courtesy of MSPCA.
(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our City Paws newspaper columns.)
Would you be ready to take your dog or cat to an emergency animal hospital if you had to do it in the next five minutes? Here are some things you can do to help make that stressful situation a bit calmer for you and your animal.
Angell Animal Medical Center is open 24/7/365 (directions & contact information are in the link).
Be Ready to Go
First, you should know where the nearest 24-hour emergency veterinary hospital is located and have a transportation plan and route in mind to get there. We are car-free city dwellers and, over the years, have taken taxis, rideshare cars, and accepted offers from kind friends to bring our dogs to the ER.
When traveling, we always check for the nearest veterinarian and emergency hospital. It's not a bad idea to develop a habit of noticing any signs for veterinary services when you’re on the road. You just never know when you will need one.
Do your best to slow bleeding, stabilize injured limbs, and prepare to deal with gastric upsets on the way to get help. (Photo courtesy of the American Veterinary Medical Association.)
First Aid
If your furry friend is hurt or sick, you’ll wish you knew some basic first aid and a bit about caring for a sick dog or cat. Do some reading on these topics ahead of time and consider adding a pet first-aid kit
Do your best to slow bleeding, stabilize injured limbs, and prepare to deal with gastric upsets on the way to get help. We recommend that anyone with pets keep a package of puppy piddle pads
Poppy was on the way to the ER for a sore paw, but we covered the car seat and protected it in case the ride upset her tummy.
Moving a Hurt or Sick Animal
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) suggests calling the clinic before you leave so they can be ready for you. They may also be able to give you suggestions for the best way to care for the cat or dog until you get there.
Your next challenge is moving a hurt animal to a vehicle and keeping everyone safe on the way to the hospital. The AVMA begins its advise on this topic with this warning, “Never assume that even the gentlest pet will not bite or scratch if injured. Pain and fear can make animals unpredictable or even dangerous. Don't attempt to hug an injured pet, and always keep your face away from its mouth. Although this may be your first impulse to comfort your pet, it might only scare the animal more or cause them pain.”
You might want to improvise a muzzle
In research done with Angie's List members, 65 percent have experienced a pet emergency. We know that we have made a lot of emergency veterinary visits during our years of having canine companions.
An animal emergency is the time to accept the help of others in your animal community. Especially if you are facing transport alone. Again, this is best arranged ahead of time. You can set up a reciprocal arrangement with a friend to assist one another, if needed, for an ER run.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino, Top photo courtesy of MSPCA.
(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our City Paws newspaper columns.)
Today we want to encourage all our food loving readers to click over to Food Waste Feast, the website that helps you, "Cook more creatively, and stop throwing away perfectly good food."
This site comes from Mei and Irene from the Mei Mei food truck, restaurant, and catering company. We have deep admiration for all the wise, generous, and sustainable decisions this family has made as they've found a place for themselves in the competitive food world.
Now they have found a way to help you become more sustainable by using the food you might be tossing out. Earlier this week, we published a post that explained that "Your Most Expensive Food Is the Food You Waste."
The next step is to buy just what you will use and use what you buy.
The Food Waste Feast team is building valuable resources for those of us who no longer feel that wasting food is acceptable. You can find recipes by ingredient for what you have on hand. For example, the photo above is a recipe they call, "Pasta with Wrinkled Cherry Tomatoes."
They say,
"Because sometimes you get super excited about tomato season, and you purchase three large local containers of cherry tomatoes, and then some of them inevitably linger a bit longer than you wanted them to and get all wrinkly and forlorn on the countertop….anyone else ever find themselves in that position? Just me?"
We say,
Irene and Mei you are not alone. We've done that too. But, from now on when that happens, we'll click over to the recipes by ingredient section of Food Waste Feast and find inspiration for a dish to use them.
Food Waste Feast also gives you information about the issues surrounding food waste and tips on how to buy, store, and use up the things you do purchase and, sadly, when to toss them. For example here is the section on "Veggies that are actually fruits" like those tomatoes we're all overbuying right now.
This is a deep treasure trove of useful information. We suggest you make an initial visit and click around to find the areas you need right now. Then bookmark Food Waste Feast on your phone and make that your reading for times when you have to sit around waiting. Penny has been doing that for the past few weeks and has picked up useful information and been inspired to make new dishes by reviewing the recipes.
What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos and screenshots: courtesy of Food Waste Feast
Today we want to encourage all our food loving readers to click over to Food Waste Feast, the website that helps you, "Cook more creatively, and stop throwing away perfectly good food."
This site comes from Mei and Irene from the Mei Mei food truck, restaurant, and catering company. We have deep admiration for all the wise, generous, and sustainable decisions this family has made as they've found a place for themselves in the competitive food world.
Now they have found a way to help you become more sustainable by using the food you might be tossing out. Earlier this week, we published a post that explained that "Your Most Expensive Food Is the Food You Waste."
The next step is to buy just what you will use and use what you buy.
The Food Waste Feast team is building valuable resources for those of us who no longer feel that wasting food is acceptable. You can find recipes by ingredient for what you have on hand. For example, the photo above is a recipe they call, "Pasta with Wrinkled Cherry Tomatoes."
They say,
"Because sometimes you get super excited about tomato season, and you purchase three large local containers of cherry tomatoes, and then some of them inevitably linger a bit longer than you wanted them to and get all wrinkly and forlorn on the countertop….anyone else ever find themselves in that position? Just me?"
We say,
Irene and Mei you are not alone. We've done that too. But, from now on when that happens, we'll click over to the recipes by ingredient section of Food Waste Feast and find inspiration for a dish to use them.
Food Waste Feast also gives you information about the issues surrounding food waste and tips on how to buy, store, and use up the things you do purchase and, sadly, when to toss them. For example here is the section on "Veggies that are actually fruits" like those tomatoes we're all overbuying right now.
This is a deep treasure trove of useful information. We suggest you make an initial visit and click around to find the areas you need right now. Then bookmark Food Waste Feast on your phone and make that your reading for times when you have to sit around waiting. Penny has been doing that for the past few weeks and has picked up useful information and been inspired to make new dishes by reviewing the recipes.
What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos and screenshots: courtesy of Food Waste Feast
Blossoms from Linden trees are drifting down and blanketing walkways and grassy areas where we walk our dogs.
If you look closely, you may see bees and other stinging critters buzzing among the blooms.
When you see a tree in bloom, dropping blossoms along your path, be sure to check for possible dangers to those precious paws.
When the three of us are out walking, one of us walks ahead of our dog Poppy to gently scatter the insects. This avoids having her step on and anger one of the busy pollen gatherers. Since she's a small dog, if she's walking with just one of us, we carry her through the blossoms.
We reviewed a number of articles on this topic and prefer the information in the one below from Preventive Vet.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018 Penny & Ed Cherubino
We have had Asparagus Ragout for supper repeatedly in recent weeks. We visited the Provincetown Farmers Market on a recent trip to our favorite spot on the tip of the Cape and bought a bunch of asparagus from Silverbrook Farm. We didn't want to turn on the oven in our rental apartment to roast it, so Penny remembered a Jacques Pepin cooking technique for cooking fresh vegetables in a little water and a bit of butter. We both loved the result.
After returning home, we located a Jacques Pepin video with instructions for what he calls Asparagus Ragout. (This dish is first up on this the program.)
Via Wikipedia we found this about Ragout, "The term comes from the French ragoûter, meaning: 'to revive the taste." The Italian ragù (the word being borrowed from French) is a sauce such as Ragù Napoletano used typically to dress pasta."
While this farm fresh asparagus did not need reviving, this method of cooking it certainly results in great flavor complete with a light sauce. (Naturally, Ed selected his favorite utensil – a slice of fresh bread – and sopped up every drop of the sauce remaining on his plate.)
When we returned to Boston, we bought more asparagus at the Atlas Farm stand at the Copley Square Farmers Market and had a second supper of lovely, local asparagus.
We do peel the stalks and this time we had watched the video and followed Jacques' method. If you have the time, you can make an asparagus soup from the trimmings.
We highly recommend this quick and easy cooking method for many of the fresh, local vegetable you'll be gathering at local markets this summer.
What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018 Penny & Ed Cherubino
We have had Asparagus Ragout for supper repeatedly in recent weeks. We visited the Provincetown Farmers Market on a recent trip to our favorite spot on the tip of the Cape and bought a bunch of asparagus from Silverbrook Farm. We didn't want to turn on the oven in our rental apartment to roast it, so Penny remembered a Jacques Pepin cooking technique for cooking fresh vegetables in a little water and a bit of butter. We both loved the result.
After returning home, we located a Jacques Pepin video with instructions for what he calls Asparagus Ragout. (This dish is first up on this the program.)
Via Wikipedia we found this about Ragout, "The term comes from the French ragoûter, meaning: 'to revive the taste." The Italian ragù (the word being borrowed from French) is a sauce such as Ragù Napoletano used typically to dress pasta."
While this farm fresh asparagus did not need reviving, this method of cooking it certainly results in great flavor complete with a light sauce. (Naturally, Ed selected his favorite utensil – a slice of fresh bread – and sopped up every drop of the sauce remaining on his plate.)
When we returned to Boston, we bought more asparagus at the Atlas Farm stand at the Copley Square Farmers Market and had a second supper of lovely, local asparagus.
We do peel the stalks and this time we had watched the video and followed Jacques' method. If you have the time, you can make an asparagus soup from the trimmings.
We highly recommend this quick and easy cooking method for many of the fresh, local vegetable you'll be gathering at local markets this summer.
What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?
Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018 Penny & Ed Cherubino
