for the dogs GIVEAWAY

we just finished our second batch of sweet potato dog chews and would like to share a few. if you know a dog who might enjoy these fun treats, leave a comment including the dog's name. please, no more than two dogs per reader. all entries must be submitted before tuesday july 12, 2011, and the winner will be selected on that day. 

paikat kotoa

grillaz

last summer, our friends juan and laura made a grilled pizza that blew my mind! so when adam received a grill for father's day from my mom, the first thing i thought of was that pizza from last summer. we have already made it twice. we use the simple pizza dough recipe from vegan with a vengeance and divide the dough into four pieces, they are easier to flip when small. our favorite toppings are cashew sundried tomato "cheese", fresh herbs and grilled veggies- mushrooms, onions and garlic scapes. if you have a grill and have not yet made this, i suggest you add it to your meal plan soon. i hope to feature these little pizzas at a party we will be having for some good friends visiting from nyc this month.

lake michigan

the beach was busy as expected on a holiday weekend, but we still found a nice spot for some digging and relaxing.

debby and dorrey commented on how they found it unusual to walk through woods to get to the beach. since i grew up in this state i never thought about that before. it is good to be reminded not to take surroundings for granted, and to notice the beauty of home.

on our way back home, we made a couple stops to pick up blueberries. this place had the best ones- a family had blueberries from their yard for sale in a road side refrigerator. suki ate most of the first container within minutes and did not leave many for the rest of us. we wised up and hid the second container so that we could enjoy some as well. 

picnic breakfast

saturday morning debby, dorrey, suki and i all walked to the farmers market to get some fresh cherries, raspberries, and bread while adam made his famous tofu scramble and coffee. we packed everything up and headed over to reeds lake to eat by the water, where the air was a little more cool and breezy. we brought along some of the strawberry-ginger jam dorrey and i made the night before. it was delicious! 

after we finished our breakfast we shared some of our leftover bread with the ducks. 

fourth of july

hollyhock lane parade!

coconut pancakes! relaxation! the park! sunshine drops!

a fun day!

olive the owl

since dorrey and debby have been here, suki has been playing an invented game where she looks for an owl in all of the beds. while looking under pillows and blankets we say "hooo" and "owl, where are you?" the owl was always hiding so well that we could never find it. then, last night dorrey and debby returned from their trip to toronto with the perfect owl for this game, her name is olive. suki said that she came from the trees. they are now great friends, and i can tell they are going to have a lot of fun together.