Sparkle Spielberg Presents...



*The role of the Migratory Transient is played by Susan of ArtSpark Theatre's decorated stick. THANK YOU, SUSAN!
**Lily's doin' okay--goin' back to the vet today. Hopefully after then I can give her the elizabethan collar to chew up.
***Have a wonderful weekend!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chinterrupted

I had such bold plans for chia week. I had the photos of the chia house, the chia car, and the dude from Oregon wearing his chia codpiece. I was gonna put up a clip of the old Chiammercial from Youtube...I was going to post exciting new videos made with my new FlipTM camera--a chia-related video, a this and that video--and all this la la la. Instead, my poor puppy had a major health mishap. She's much better now and on the mend, but it has been a bad time. (Plus: I kept finding her staring at me and looking like an angry little pioneer woman in a sunbonnet. Or a woeful little pioneer woman in a sunbonnet. Neither was good.) I figure maybe I'll put the thing on that she has to wear (doesn't come off til next week)--the "Elizabethan Collar"TM--after she's all better to make her feel like she was a trendsetter.
Anyhoo, thanks for all of the great comments on the chia post, and a big thanks and shoutout to Dr. Margaret Conover for leaving a comment and providing the link to her site.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-CHIA

I like to read articles about "superfoods." Whether I actually eat said superfoods is an entirely different matter. But, I figure if I read up on 'em I'll be that much closer to actually eating them. All that super knowledge will lurk deep in the shadowy back alleys of my mind, and who knows, I might be drawn to glom onto a superfood by accident when I'm reaching for a CheetoTM. Plus, eating superfoods is likely to be my only route to superherodom.

With this sincere, if cockamamie, objective in mind I read through yet another superfood article this weekend. Every day, a new list of top 10 overlooked superfoods pops up and nudges the previous list of top 10 overlooked superfoods out of the way. Basically, this list had everything my grandmother used to eat plus a few very dark horses. So, there were dandelion greens (check, many a dandelion green I dug out of the lawn and ate at the dinner table), dried plums (they're PRUNES, baby, PRUNES--don't mess with me), beets (starring in red flannel hash, featured in Wednesday night supper with macaroni and cheese and applesauce), and a whole bunch of stuff, and then...then there was...

CH-CH-CH-CH-IA
Okay, okay, okay. There was actually this:
CH-CH-CH-CH-IA
And, of course, this (doesn't that chiabunny look wrathful--it kinda scares me):
Chia seeds are a "superfood." WTF! Chia seeds are a "superfood." What's next, library paste is a superfood? Sea monkeys are a superfood? Yet, there it is in black and white: They're good for diabetics, they're good for heart patients. They have more antioxidants than blueberries. They have more Omega-3 fatty acids (a good thing, I assure you) than flax seeds--which I've been intending to start eating some day, but why bother? The mighty chia out-omegas them.

The obvious questions:

1) HOW DID THEY FIND THIS OUT? Was a hungry lab tech sitting sadly in his lab one night waiting for the overdue Domino's guy, gazing into his microscope, idly stroking his chia pet (not a euphemism), when he suddenly got an urge to TEST his chia pet's nutritional VALUE? Or, he just started grazing on handfuls of chia?*

2) WHERE DO I BUY CHIA SEEDS? Am I going to have to go to a discount store and buy 45chia pets to secure my MDR of the vital nutrients provided by the magical chia? 'cause I'll do it. Yes, I will--if it gets me any closer to superherodom, I'm there.*

Bottom line: It's Chiasaur Casserole this week and official Chia Week. At my snail-like blog productivity rate, this likely means one more chia-related post. Yet: Emperor Chia Seed, I salute you! Even as I wonder if I will grow fine, green hair all over my body if I eat you, I salute you!

(*Actually, chia is the "forgotten crop of the Aztecs" and is commonly eaten in Mexico and South America. It has a fascinating history that you can learn more about through the supersearchengine the google. And, of course, you can buy it online--as well as at health food stores, I betcha. Cake: Zzt...it's gluten-free.)

Mutual of Omaha Wild Animal Kingdom Tuesday!

Snack Time!


Fine Feathered Friends!
Two Cool Birds!
Two Cool Birds!

Four Cool Birds!

"So, my motto used to be live fast, die young, make a good-looking fossil, but I'm rethinking it."

Quirky Friday

Quirky 1: May Breakfast!
"May Breakfast" has been a tradition in Rhode Island for 142 years--it's the only state that has 'em! According to my favorite Rhode Island Web site, Quahog.org (check out the Cuisine section especially--there are a lot of foods that are unique to Rhode Island), this is what was served at the first May Breakfast in 1867: "Aunt Hannah Babcock's clamcakes (it was nice of her to share them), biscuits by organizer Ruby King Wilbur, cold boiled ham, cold chicken, cold mashed turnips, and homemade jellies and pies."

Apparently, over the years folks have ditched the cold mashed turnips (that seems like a very good idea to me), but May Breakfasts continue on...You missed a bunch this morning, tomorrow you can choose from at least 11 of 'em, and they continue on throughout the month of May.

Here's what you'll get at a lot of 'em: eggs, ham, cornbread, clam cakes, homemade pies, hash browns, pancakes, blueberry pancakes, bacon, sausages, English muffins, Danish pastry, cereal, assorted muffins, baked beans, strawberries, fruit cups, french toast, doughnuts, juice, coffee, tea. That should tide you over to mid-morning snack time.

Quirky 2: What is this?
That's right! It's this...There was really no reason to take these pictures--it just caught my eye.
Have a great weekend!