The Wovel gets its first workout of 2012

Here we are 21 days into 2012 and we’re finally getting some seasonally appropriate weather. While I’m not a huge fan of winter and snow, I do realize that the cold dark stillness of winter is necessary for a green and vibrant spring. One thing I dislike more than snow is snow blowers. I can’t stand the noise and I despise the toxic stinky fumes. Quite frankly, I harbor a deep concern whenever fossil fuels are burned. We’ve got to cut our addiction to gas, coal and oil on every level if we care about future generations surviving on our planet.

Last winter, when hubby threatened to buy a snow blower, I took swift and decisive action. I bought a wovel online before he could get his act together and purchase a snow blower!  He rolled his eyes skyward as he watched me assemble this crazy combination of wheel and shovel in our living room.

This contraption was Time magazine’s best invention of 2006. The Wovel is super green, it is recognized by Co-op America and National Green Pages™ for its positive, pollution-free environmental standards and zero carbon footprint in usage. This wacky snow removal device performs equal to or better than a snow blower, and doesn’t hurt your back at all.  Woveling  clears away snow much faster than shoveling but is no more stressful than walking.  Unlike most things, it is manufactured in the USA.

Last winter’s frequent snow storms gave our Wovel a run for the money. It worked so well that my hubby admitted to me that the Wovel was one of my better wacky ideas.

Today’s 6 inches of snow was cleared quietly and effortlessly with my Wovel. I strongly urge you to buy one. Share it with your neighbors, so they don’t mess up the air and the planet with stinky snow blowers either!  Click here to learn more.

Happy Woveling!

“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Perhaps I got a wee bit to political with you on the last blog post talking about Mitt Romney’s lack of compassion for his dog. So I figured I’d follow up with the story of a woman and her pet grooming studio. This is a story that is filled with loads of compassion for canines, they are doing the right thing for a little Yorkie named Beckham.

Last winter, Tara and her shop,  Pawfection Pet Grooming in Bedford Hills, NY played a key player in our adoption of Edgar. Our Westie, Skippy, had been a Pawfection customer years back. Although Pawfection is not an official rescue organization, Tara and her team do everything they can to make sure that dogs and cats in the area who need a home are adopted to good homes.

Little Beckham needs surgery on his knees

Just a week or two ago, I was thinking of stopping by Pawfection to see if they could help find us  a dog to adopt. Later that afternoon, Tara called me with info on some Yorkies that might need new homes. Funny how things like that happen, huh? That weekend, I brought hubby and one of my girls to Pawfection to meet a potential new family member.

There were some super cute Yorkies at her shop that had been rescued. The biggest boy of the bunch was an 8 month old pup who had a little bit of a skip in his walk. Tara, who has extensive experience with small breeds as a groomer, pointed out that this little guy needed to get that limp checked out. Yorkies and other breeds with short legs can suffer from luxating patellas, which is basically a knee cap that slips out of its proper position.

Luxating Patella (loose kneecap!)

If left untreated, an extreme case of this tricky knee problem of a could result in painful arthritis and severe lameness. Tara’s staff provided a foster home and Tara herself offered to take the little guy to a vet to see if he’d need surgery and what that would entail.  As it turned out, both of the pup’s knees are in pretty bad shape. He’ll need surgery on both of them and it will entail some serious physical therapy to fully recover after the surgery.

Sadly, this pup with trick knees that need surgery and rehab was too much of a commitment for me and my family to take on. Tara and her staff are now providing a foster home for Beckham (his new nickname) and is working with a local vet to move forward with the knee surgeries. Pawfection is dedicated to doing the right thing for this dog, taking extraordinary steps to make sure this dog can lead a healthy life in a good home.

Pawfection will be holding a fund raiser on Monday, January 23rd

This  Beauty Event will Benefit Rescuzilla, which is a NYC animal rescue organization that is pals with Pawfection.  100% from the sales and raffles will benefit Rescuzilla Animal Rescue of NYC-a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Date: Monday, January 23rd 11 AM to 3 PM OR 6 PM to 8 PM

Location: PAWFECTION 51 Babbit Road Bedford Hills, NY 10507 914.242.8422

Special appearance by Sabria Brows. She will be on hand to shape your brows for an instant beauty lift. Contact susan@mybeautyberry.com to set up an appointment. (Sabria has cut her price for this event & will donate 50% of every brow shaping to Rescuzilla!) Many popular brands from lip balms to mascara to hair products, body creams and skin potions. Price range: $5 and up! We will be raffling off some great gifts including a 3-Day BluePrint Cleanse!

Remember: A little can SAVE a lot of dogs.

Checkout these links:

www.mybeautyberry.com

Pawfection Pet Grooming Boutique on Facebook

Rescuzilla on Facebook

Edgar in the car, waiting for the rest of the Rubin Rodeo to join him

Since Edgar’s sudden and unexpected death in October, I’ve been feeling quite dog deficient. Although our little doggie had only been with us for 10 months, I had developed a deep connection with this rescue pup, spending many hours in all sorts of weather teaching him to walk on a leash and encouraging him about peeing and pooping outside. Whenever we traveled, Edgar came along as a valued member of our family riding inside our car, usually on someone’s lap in the back seat. On a long trip, we’d take him for a walk at a rest stop so he could do his “business” while the rest of the gang hit the bathrooms. Seems fair enough right?

When I heard about the Mitt Romney dog fiasco, also known as  “Crate Gate”, at first I did not believe it. How could any dog owner tie their pup onto the top of their car for a 12 hour drive to Canada?  It sounds like a stunt out of National Lampoon’s Vacation, after all, he could pass for a Chevy Chase like character.

The story is indeed true, the Romney family tied  their dog crate to the roof of their station wagon in 1983 and Seamus spent 12 hours up there. He did not have a fun time, as a matter of fact, we was sick and had a bad case of the poops. One of the Romney kids saw the evidence all over the back windows of the station wagon. So what did Mr. Romney do? He stopped at a rest area, hosed down the car and the poop covered dog, put the dog back in his crate and continued with the trip.

Doesn’t sound very caring or presidential.  As Rachel Maddow said the other night, this story has legs. Welcome to the wild wild world of the 2012 presidential campaign!

SuRu's Lamb Stew

Winter time calls for warm food. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, lamb is classified as a hot food that tonifies weakness, strengthens and nourishes both chi and blood. Although it is still not super cold here in my neck of the woods this winter, a lamb stew was calling me.

Although I did go scouting around on Food 52, a fun recipe website,  for inspiration to make an Indian style stew, I ended up on auto pilot making stew from what happened to be in my fridge. The recipe below tells the story of what I did. Remember there are many many ways to make a stew, so don’t be afraid to be creative and flexible! You could use beef or buffalo instead of lamb. You could add more veggies, like parsnips, mushrooms and turnips. Want to add a kick? Add some cayenne or chilies.

SuRu’s Lamb Stew

2 pounds lamb stew meat

1/2 cup flour

1 tablespoon spice mix

2 tablespoons bacon fat ( you could use coconut oil or olive oil instead if you like)

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, mashed

2 leeks sliced

5 carrots sliced

4 medium potatoes, cut into quarters

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 quart chicken stock (you could use beef stock, mushroom broth, water and red wine, dark beer- any of them would work!)

3 sprigs rosemary (other herbs like bay leaf, thyme, oregano, would work fine too)

2 cups green beans (I had these in the fridge. If you’ve got peas or broccoli, that would work well too)

Dredge the chunks of stew meat in a mixture of flour and spice mix.

Brown the floured stew meat in a big soup pot using bacon fat (or other oil). Remove the meat to a bowl.

Add the sliced onion and garlic and saute 3-4 minutes until softened.

Add carrots, potatoes, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary sprigs and chicken stock (or whatever liquid you’re using) and return the browned meat to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil.

Once the liquid is boiling, turn it down low to a simmer. Continue to cook, covered, for an hour.

Add the green beans (or frozen peas or broccoli) in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.

Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Fashion diva, Mikey Rubin (before she became a crazed teen)

My youngest daughter would never ever want to be considered an outfit repeater. As for me, when it comes to food, I’m not afraid to admit I’m a recipe repeater.

We buy a chicken at the farmer’s market just about every Saturday from Feather Ridge Farm. It’s not an inexpensive bird, but I do know that these chickens are well fed and cared for, so we spend the extra moolah. Besides, I get my money’s worth out of the bird by making at least 3 meals from it.

Usually Sunday night, we roast up the bird with some veggies. I often use this You Tube Roast Chicken recipe by Julia Child with garlic and lemon. Yum.

After dinner, we cut the remaining chicken off the bone and I take the bones and pop them into my slow cooker or pressure cooker to make chicken stock along with some veggies from the fridge. Here’s a recipe I posted last year on making  stock.

So here it is Monday, and I’ve got lots of leftover chicken. That means its time for Chicken Pot Pie.  I always make sure I’ve got spinach on hand, either fresh or frozen, for my pot pie. That’s because back in the late 1980′s when I was a dental student,  I waited tables in a teeny little restaurant in NYC’s West Village. They made the best chicken pot pie and it had spinach in it!

Here’s the recipe.

Chicken Pot Pie in the Oven

SuRu’s Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

Leftover chicken, cut into bite size pieces

Olive oil

Chicken broth

1 medium onion, chopped

2-3 carrots sliced

1 cup green beans, or broccoli, or whatever veggie you might have around

1 package frozen spinach, or 3 cups fresh spinach.

Puff pastry- I’m picky about this. I use good puff pastry, made with BUTTER, not vegetable oil. The product I buy is DuFour Pastry, its a bit pricey, but this is a special treat!

Saute the onion in olive oil until translucent. 3-5 minutes

Add the carrots and other veggies.

Add the chicken,

Add the spinach. Saute until spinach is no longer frozen.

Add a bit of broth if you need some liquid.

Take this mixture and put it in some oven proof class containers.

Cut the puff pastry into strips, and weave it across the top of the pot pies.

Put pies into the oven until the puff pastry rises all sorts of puffy! (follow package directions)

PS: if you don’t want to use puff pastry, a layer of yummy mashed potatoes works well too.

Occupying the kitchen. Candles & headlamps

We’ve been out of power at the Rubin Rodeo since Saturday afternoon’s wacky storm that dumped a food of wet snow on our leaf filled trees. Unlike most of our neighbors who have fled the ‘hood for hotels, we continue to occupy our home. Its a family adventure that I highly recommend.

Its all a matter of perspective. Here’s what we have going for us this time. Let me count the small things working in our favor that are enabling us to occupy our home in these unusual circumstances.

#1 We can leave if we want to. Unlike the mini-tornado that hit our block last summer, we are able to drive the heck out of here! That helps mentally and physically. We can go to the Black Cow in Pleasantville for a cup of tea and to charge our computers. We can hop a train into the city for the Halloween parade since Halloween didn’t happen here due to the downed powerlines still buried in snow.

#2 We have both a wood burning stove and a fireplace. We are toasty warm most of the time. We’ve got plenty of wood because hubby cut up all the trees that came down during Hurricane Irene.  There is something very soothing about sitting in front of a fire late at night. Especially when the TV is not competing for attention.

#3 We have water. The town water continues to work during this long emergency. Water is handy for drinking, washing and making hot water bottles.  It would suck if we had no water.

Dinner by candlelight: Fish, beans, squash and spinach. Delicious.

#4 We have a gas stove. Making it super easy to heat water for tea, hot water bottles cooking and even bathing (bird bath style!). If the propane were to run out, we could use the wood burning stove to heat our water, but we’re not there yet. A gas stove makes life with no electricity very bearable. We’ve had some nice meals in a past  couple of days.

#5 We have lots of good candles. Not the stinky scented kind, the good beeswax kind along with some unscented tea lights make lovely mood lighting in the kitchen and bathroom. Note: exercise caution when using candles. They can burn your house down if you’re not mindful.

#6 We have groovy headlamps. I bought one for every family member after Hurricane Irene. They strap on your head and provide strong light in whatever direction you like. Great for walking down dark halls or reading a book in a dark bedroom.

#7 We have cars with gas in the driveway. This allows us to charge our Crackberrys and iPhones. The smart phones enable us to read others updates on Facebook and Twitter, so we’re still connected to the outside world.

#8 We have a handy refrigerator right outside our front door. Just put the milk in the snowbank and it stays cold and fresh.

The inconvenient truth is that these wacky storms will continue to hit here and everywhere else as global weirding continues to become the new norm. The sooner we learn to adopt an attitude of resilience the better off we’ll be.  Running away to the Ramada Inn or the Ritz Carlton when the power goes out can be unsustainable financially and it doesn’t bond your family or block together as occupying your home does.

Stay tuned for more posts about simple strategies to build resilience in your home for unexpected storms and “long emergencies”.

Snow + leaves = snapped trees

Now that the planet is one degree warmer, the wacky weather continues to get weirder and weirder with each passing week. Let’s review:

Climate change makes the weather weird.

The hots hotter

The colds colder

Heavier rains, more frequent severe hurricanes.

Cold snaps in strange places.

Add to that the latest twist: 10 inches of snow and high winds in October when the trees are still filled with leaves.

Mother Nature had things all figured out: snowstorms didn’t come until leaves we’re gone from trees. Trees we’re never meant to handle the heavy weight to ten inches of snow.

Floods in Thailand

But as we continue to put carbon and other pollutants into the atmosphere, Mother Nature has been co-opted and wacky weather is causing a long slow emergency that is more than just an inconvenience.  Here in the northeast, millions are without power. But over in Thailand  they are experiencing the worst floods in 50 years.

Here at the Rubin Rodeo, we are entering day #3 with no power or heat. We do have water, we have a nice fireplace and a gas stove. So we’re making do. Inconvenience is all relative, right? We are warm and dry and well fed. We’ve actually been making some great meals in the dark!

We are also able to leave the Rodeo because there are no trees blocking our street, gotta be thankful for small things, right?

Stay tuned for more blog posts about how to create resilience in your residence so that you can weather the upcoming continual stream of wacky weather that is no doubt coming our way.

Edgar came into and out of our lives suddenly. He will be greatly missed.

My world came crashing down yesterday morning as my dog, Edgar, pulled his leash loose from my grasp and ran in front of a speeding van. He was killed instantly as the van was driving too fast on a small road near my house.

If you’ve been reading this blog for any time, you know that we rescued Edgar last December on a whim. We had been missing our dog Skippy who had passed on in March.

Thanks to Edgar, I walked outdoors every day last winter, despite rain, sleet, snow or ice. He was my mindfulness guru who kept me moving and gave me a new appreciation for the 9/10s of an acre of land that we live on.  Thanks to Edgar, I was up every morning, no need for an alarm clock with this little guy on our bed eager to face the day and chasing some early morning chipmunks in the yard.

Edgar showered my girls with the kind of unconditional love that only a dog can deliver. He was cuddly, feisty and so much full of fun.  There was never a dull moment with Edgar in our home. His time with us was way too short.

It was unbearably painful to share the news of Edgar’s death with my three daughters who were away at school yesterday. How do you tell your child that the dog they love is gone? Phone calls don’t cut it. Hubby got the first phone call. He hopped the next plane home from Chicago once he heard me on the phone.

We buried Edgar’s body late last night in the light of the full moon last night in a quiet ceremony in our back yard. His spirit is off to a better place.  I hope we never forget what it was like to see him racing across the yard at full speed. I hope my kids never forget what it felt like to have him jump all over them as he bubbled with excitement and happiness to see them. I know he was happy here. Its so hard to believe he’s gone.

We love you, Edgar. Always will.

Downed tree taking the wires down with it.

So the family vacation did not work out. Summer is almost over. The back to school vibe is filling the air.

This weekend, hubby and I worked to move two daughters into two different college apartments. Fun, fun, fun.

After filling up two cars with my eldest daughter’s belongings, the sky got dark. The wind suddenly picked up. We ran back inside, figuring we’d leave after the thunderstorm finished up. Nice idea, right?

As we drove out of the driveway 20 minutes later, we soon learned that this was no ordinary T-storm. Trees were snapped everywhere, our block looked like a war zone. No power. No way to get of the block with multiple trees blocking the road.

Dinner prep by candlelight

We ended up stuck at home, with no power and no way out. It was interesting to experience this situation with my daughter  – the range of emotions that accompany this sort of mini-crisis: anger, denial, and finally acceptance. We’re weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

As the daylight faded, we broke out the candles and made dinner by candle light. Fortunately the gas stove works without power.

These sort of power out/ trees down emergencies seem to be happening with greater frequency in the past few years.  I have no choice but to wonder if man-made climate change is playing a roll in all the tornadoes, “microbursts” record setting rainfall and other wacky weather.  Is global weirding here to stay?

I for one, am going to plan to be better prepared for future problems. I’m going to look into a solar battery & phone charger, some more candles and more ice packs for my freezer. Moving frozen ice packs into my fridge helped save our food from going bad during the 20+ hours of no power.

In addition to preparing for emergencies at home,  I’m planning on a little adventure at the end of this week that will hopefully send a message to the White House about climate. Stay tuned for more details.

The beach vacation that wasn't

Sometimes things just don’t work out like you think they will. This year, our family vacation fell into that category.

Life with three girls is never boring. As they advance in age, so does the complexity of their lives. One just returned from 6 week summer semester in Europe studying “food sociology”, another just got back from a snorkeling trip in the Carribean and the littlest one just finished 4 weeks of acting and one week singing and dancing on Broadway.

For us to have a family vacation where everyone is in the same place for a week is like threading a very fine needle. This was the only week that all 3 girls would be here. Two leave the following week to go back to college.

We had high hopes as 3 out of 5 of us packed up the car and travelled to Montauk, on the end of Long Island. The older two were set to meet us there 2 days later.

Yippee, a week at the beach with the whole Rubin Rodeo. Sounds great, right?

Upon arriving, we soon discovered that the house we rented via Craig’s List was unlivable. The downstairs was boarded up. You could only get into the house via a steep rickety staircase to the upstairs deck. After much searching to find another place to stay, even for the night, we were out of luck.  We headed back home.

And then the rains started. A record 8 inches of rain in a few short hours at JFK airport in NY delayed daughter #2′s flight.

We found a way to grab one day at Robert Moses State Park. Before the pre-college packing chaos kicked in.

Oh well, maybe next year.