Happy Birthday Judy

 

A long time ago I promised my friend  Judy that I would make her some gluten-free Indian fry bread, because it was a treat she very much enjoys. I put it off for quite a while, but as her birthday was this month, I decided it was about time I honor my promise. 

So today Judy and Diane drove to Flown Piggies Farm for a little birthday lunch. Judy looked colorful in her flower laurels and she wore a sash that blinked on and off, announcing she is THE birthday girl. Darn right she is! I know the wee girl she used to be, long ago in Bavaria, would certainly love her future prospects. 

Her daughter Diane provided the birthday gal's pink Champagne Cake which was a heavenly delicacy enjoyed by all (and I forgot to bring out the ice cream, darn it!).

Hockey Pucks, pre-air frying

The week leading up to Judy's birthday celebration,   plenty of friends on hand to test out different gluten-free fry bread recipes.  The first batch was a fail - the fry bread batter was air-fried in my oven and... um... although my dear friends assured me the fry bread was tasty, they kindly omitted the fry bread texture wise were reminiscent of hockey pucks. 

The first batch being a failure, I channeled my inner Indigenous Auntie, settling on a recipe that seemed a little closer to my fry bread goal. The winning recipe was indeed, gluten-free, and it used both yeast and baking powder, and better yet, going full Navajo, this time the bread was deep fried. 

Ready to flip...

Flipped over, golden brown

A little history here: my introduction to Fry Bread was when I was a docent at the California State Indian Museum. The main food for the day was Fry Bread and I had a ball dishing up Indian Tacos for honored elders on their special day.
Fry bread is to Indigenous Peoples in the USA, as is soul food to African Americans, which is to say, making the best of something that was never really an honor in the first place. By that I mean, taking crap food you were given (in the case of fry bread, Indigenous people trapped on reservations were given salt, flour & oil, none of which was recognizable to them as food from their normal diet> They'd been promised meat, but didn't get any. They made the best of it and soon enough, Fry Bread - the only thing you can really make with what they were given - became a tradition. 

Behold, the Fry Bread Taco, piled high with ground
beef, black beans, lettuces, tomatoes, sour cream & more. 

Judy and Diane had tried their first Fry Bread at a Washington state Pow Wow and the fry bread tacos did indeed wow them. It was my pleasure today to serve up hot, fluffy-ish fry breads. Happy Birthday and many more to Judy, who is certainly an honored elder from another land.  

[Post Script: here is a link to a fateful 'Honored Elders Day' at the California's Indian Museum celebration back in the day. When the elders pouted a bit because some people decided Fry Bread Tacos weren't good for elders. HA! Fry bread, every once in a bit, does not kill anyone, and it does hit THE spot.  Fry Bread or not Fry Bread... that is the Question]

Grand Opening & Grand Tour at the Pet Hospital

Preparing to cut the red ribbon

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the grand opening red ribbon cutting of a state of the art Veterinarian hospital. My invite was through a friend of mine, Diane. She was in charge of getting the new clinic up and running. The 'old' Poulsbo clinic was around 1200 sq ft, and the new clinic is around 5K sq ft (if memory serves me correctly). It must have been fun (and apparently UBER stressful) plotting every square foot of the new facility, from what pee-proof flooring, to overhead light fixtures. Now after months and months of planning, the new digs were up & ready to run. After the ribbon cutting, Diane treated friends Sue & Nick, Barbara and myself to a personal tour of this state of the art pet hospital. 

The spacious Receptionist area

Exam Room where even the table drawers were special ordered
(having no slits where dirt can accumulate & clean-up is a snap)

Where the 'real work' happens!

I thought this was nifty - a very comfy tiny bedroom at the clinic, where resident and/or visiting veterinarians can  catch some shut eye after long shifts at this 24/7 hospital. 

Memorable Mugs in the Staff lunch room

Truly a work of art  - a Cat Scan for Cats... and dogs... and ferrets...

Tee Hee...

Unique to this hospital is a totally separate room where the ailing kitties are kept. That keeps them from having to be kennel neighbors with barking dogs which stresses the heck out of cats.

Separate kitty quarters for the hospital was the idea of Diane, and she is understandably proud. To the right is a cute little salute to Diane, that is sort of hidden, on the outside of the cat ward. Someday it will truly be the Diane Memorial Feline Ward. Here's hoping that particular honor is decades away.

Teeny IV & IV regulator on a kennel

I thought the most innovative thing at the hospital were the high-up monitors that held info on furry patients at each step of the way. Even I could see them and know what pup was getting what med, and when, and where the critter was in each stage of its hospital visit. I haven't seen that level of care at human hospitals. Catch up human hospitals, catch up!

[UPDATE: So late one Saturday night I woke at 1:30 AM to a phone call from my neighbor Barbara. Next thing I knew, I was dressed and driving her and her black kitty Bug the hour and a half drive to Poulsbo for an emergency pet clinic visit. Bug had woken Barb up with 'an awful noise!' and she was terrified Bug was dying and would be dead before we got to the clinic. Uh... thanks heavens, that would be a 'nope'. Bug had possibly inhaled something that got his lungs stressed out, so with prescribed antibiotics, a series of x-rays and several hundreds of dollars later, I was dropping sleepy Bug n' even sleepier Barb, back home around 5AM. Whew! What a night. Who knew we'd be back at the hospital so soon after its grand opening. With a little luck, it'll be the last visit... at least for a while.]

Hula on the Mainland

Daughter does traditional Hula while her mother sings and keeps time on the ipu

Sometimes I feel my fitness trainer is actually my event planner. She's told me when exciting things are afoot, such as when Dandelion Botanical Company opened up about a mile from my house. I am totally enraptured with that store and I get all my medicinal herbs - uh... and some crystals -  at that wonderous shop. Back on topic, recently Karina let me know there was to be a Hula presentation in the field behind the Sequim library. OMG I was so excited! She told me about the hula because I have been attempting to learn a 'simple' non-traditional hula. Most of what I learned so far is there is no such thing as a simple hula. That's for me at least, as I can't coordinate my arm and feet movements to save my life. I used to do so easily but someone seems to have cut the connection between my feet, arms and brain. Go figure. 

The lady who lead the event was brilliant and taught the gathering a ton of information, much of which was new to me. I'm not going to try to relate any of it, but will instead include this video of the lady singing beautifully as she plays the ipu as her pretty daughter danced a traditional hula. Enchanting chanting all! 

My favorite part of the demonstrations? When all those who wished for a little Hula lesson to come up front! All the little girls in the audience raced up onto the stage, and the far more timid adults, which included me of course, stayed down in front of the stage. I was surprised there was only a handful of adults - all women - who wanted to dance. I kicked off my shoes so I could feel my toes in the grass and enjoyed my 2nd ever Hula lesson - and so close to home! As usual, as I fought to hold back tears of joy as I followed along the arm movements and steps we were shown. We all managed a complete dance and I was clumsy on certain moves, but not half bad on others - you know - not ready for a prime time Luau, but my heart was in it. Can't wait for my 3rd Hula lesson - hopefully back on the islands again. 

UPDATE: Karina, my exercise trainer discovered the following photo the audience participation dance session and I'm right chuffed to have it. Thanks Karina!

"Get that arm up Miller!"   In my defense, that's my 'bad' arm! : )