Cast of Characters

These are the faces that accompany the names that feature frequently in my gastronomical escapades.  As new names appear, I'll do my best to add new faces.

That's Nick, also known as MOTU (Master Of The Universe). He's my husband and the brave soul who's volunteered to taste test all these recipes of unverified origin.  He tells me I'm "too prolific for his tastes", so I'll keep his blurb short.  :-) 

This is Kini (short for Zucchini).  She's our 9 (as of November) month old, 62 (as of November) lb monster puppy.  This is probably the ugliest picture of her ever taken.  This ferocious "bully breed" (she has some pit in her) dog loves frisbees, walks, and car rides.  She loathes baths, is terrified of bubbles, and does not understand leaves dancing in the road on a breezy autumn day. She adores all people and puppies, and loses her mind if she knows you're around but she's not allowed to smell you. Her favorite place to be in the kitchen is underfoot, and while people food is strictly verboten for her, she will never stop asking. Just in case. 
She got her name from last year's attempt at a garden, which yielded these:

All we could grow, and they always ended up way bigger than expected.  I don't have small feet. 

This is Shelby.  This picture was taken because she has NEVER been this friendly to me before.  Never.  Generally speaking, she's a little possessed and a lot vindictive.  She's Nick's kitty by adoption and my kitty by marriage only. 

This hunka hunka burnin' love is my kitty, Grisgris (pronounced "gree gree"...it's a clever play on words, combining my love of climbing with the fact that he's gray).  I adopted him nearly 2 years ago, and he has been relentlessly loving and snuggly ever since.  He's not generally a lap kitty (at 18 lbs, I'm grateful of that), but on occasion I have to race him into my studio to get to the good chair first.  He wins a lot. 


And, for lack of a better picture, this is Helen (or the cake topper version), our 1985 VW Vanagon:

Helen was the first joint purchase MOTU and I made, and she's been the source of many adventures and trials since.  My first sewing project was to make new seat covers for her.  She'll feature more on this blog in the spring, once camping season starts up again.