Niagara Falls and SuperStar Dogs

A few months back I joined a great organization called HeARTs Speak, made up of artists who use their talents to promote animal rescue. One photographer, Marcia Leeder, caught my eye with a picture of a beautiful fox-like big-eared dog named “Little Dude”. I began following her on Facebook and enjoyed her postings of puppy piles and feisty kitties. Several weeks ago, Marcia announced that she was doing a photo shoot for Peachy Keen Pets and was looking for canine models; interested parties would submit a photo of themselves and their dog and then people could vote on Facebook for their favorite to be photographed in Toronto.  Thus I began a three week campaign of bribery, intimidation, and persuasion. It was an exhausting process and towards the end, I even annoyed myself.  On Friday, March 25th, Marcia announced that Carter and I had garnered the most votes and would be featured in her photo shoot! We were going to Toronto!

We had to be in Canada, 8 hours away, by Monday. On Saturday, Carter got his travel papers and had a grooming session with Tracy Poplinski, who graciously trimmed him up in the middle of her kitchen. We left Sunday afternoon and made it to our Red Roof Inn outside of Buffalo in record time. I tried to crash but Carter was far more interested in what was going on outside the hotel room than sleeping. I was up several times, getting dragged around the parking lot while he pretended he needed to pee. Add to that the ridiculously arctic temperatures and several inches of snow, and you get a pretty grumpy dog owner the next morning.

Since our shoot wasn’t until 5pm, I decided to stop by Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. We crossed the Peace Bridge (gorgeous with the ultra-blue water and snow) and then spent a few minutes explaining to the border guard that yes, we would only be there for a few hours, and yes, I was only there because of my dog, and yes, he was very handsome, and yes, he was an English Setter, and yes, he was getting his picture taken by the famous Marcia Leeder.  After he’d determined that Carter could indeed pose pretty, we were permitted into Canada.

The parking lots at Niagara Falls were empty and the sidewalks barren so we drove slowly around, scoping out the best spot for some photos. The sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue, making a perfect backdrop to this stunning natural feature.  I couldn’t get over the color of the water – a sharp deep aquamarine that foamed and thundered over the edge and onto fantastic frozen shapes.  I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

This was a great time of year to come if you dressed warmly.  There were maybe a 200 people there, a miniscule number compared to summer crowds.  Carter was enjoying the wheeling seagulls and nearly went over the fence to the falls to get to one particularly low-flying fellow. Some people gave him a wide berth on the sidewalk but plenty more asked to pet him and he even got his photograph taken – like he was some sort of Canadian tourist attraction! He had one elderly couple in stitches as he threw himself down a snow bank on his back, all four legs wriggling in the air like a demented upside-down crab. What can I say; Carter loves snow. After an hour of walking around, we headed back to the car to continue our trek to Toronto.

Wow. I wish I could have handled a camera as we drove into Toronto. What a fantastic downtown area! There are so many skyscrapers it’s like driving through a valley of green glass sitting on the edge of deep blue water. I will have to go back. I’ll be the one with my head and camera hanging out the side of the car as we go whizzing through downtown.

We stopped at the Don Valley Brickworks to check out their dog park but Carter was having none of it. He’d had enough of walking around so we got back in the car and headed for the studio. As we walked up the street we passed a bench and Carter put on the brakes, hopping up and laying down. I couldn’t argue; my feet hurt, too. So we sat, side by side, for about 15 minutes watching the traffic go by in historic Leslieville.

At 5, we met up with Marcia and headed upstairs. We waited for the white-washed studio to clear out from a previous session, watching impossible tall beauties glide out surrounded by photographers and assistants weighed down with hundreds of pounds of camera equipment. Once we were in, Marcia immediately got down to business setting up the shoot. Yes, she always wears a sailor cap (no, she doesn’t).

We were joined by two other models, the owner of Peachy Keen Pets, a hair and makeup team, and a videographer and producer from Pet TV.  There were several other dog models and Carter, who likes to show his pearly whites to dogs that invade his space, was a good boy and didn’t make a sound.  Marcia started out by shooting Niki from Peachy Keen with her pugs, Miso and Hummus, dressed up in a chic leopard print. I was a tad hungry and whenever Niki or Marcia called out “Miso” or “Hummus”, my tummy growled. Thankfully, there was real hummus to go along with my champagne. Yup. Champagne. I could get used to this.

I had my makeup done. For an hour. It was very relaxing, like getting your hair washed at the salon. But I did wonder what took an hour. My makeup routine at home takes less than a minute. I guess we’ll see. Carter found a good spot under the makeup table and pretty much slept there until we had to go on set.

Carter was outfitted in his custom collar and leash. There’s a story here, which is fairly amusing. Carter is regularly outfitted in Lucky Fiona collars, made by Shannon Barry out of Chicago. Fantastic gal, great product, Carter has over 70 of her collars. In 2007, Shannon named a collar after him in honor of an upcoming trip to the east coast. It was a red fabric with pirate skulls, starfish, and anchors – very nautical and perfect for a trip to the beach. Here’s a pic of it; Carter’s not quite two, still a puppy. Adorable, yes?  So… imagine my surprise when Marcia and Niki present me with the custom Peachy Keen collar for Carter…

Yup!! It’s the Carter LeDoux fabric! It was perfect for the shoot and looked great on him so I certainly didn’t want to say anything but I was laughing pretty hard on the inside. What are the odds!! Must be fate.

The shoot was a lot of fun. All those years of watching ANTM were completely useless. Anytime Marcia finally got me in the position she wanted, Carter moved and I moved to make him stop moving.  *sigh*  I think being a fashion pet photographer may be the most difficult job in the world. Once we got the magic of Bil-Jac treats figured out, Carter did great. He really was pretty amazing. He never grumbled or barked or drooled. He was very malleable, letting me flip him over when he was facing the wrong direction. And when we weren’t shooting, he’d just go lay down somewhere. His energy was super mellow. The TV producer thought he’d be awesome for commercial print work. Of course, I already know that since I photograph him every d*** day. 

Marcia spent over an hour photographing us, adjusting the lights, the poses, the wardrobe, the camera settings to get just the look she was after. I knew what to expect (ANTM, again) and it was a blast to be in the middle of it. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a lousy model but I’m pretty sure Carter pulled it off. Here’s one of the final shots with a quick edit.  Marcia said it’d be a couple weeks before she finished going through all the film and post-processing but I made her promise to give me something to appease all those Facebook peeps who voted for three weeks!!  Isn’t my little boy handsome?!  And yes, those are my ankles.

We stayed as long as we could, watching Marcia photograph Angella and Stella. But with another 2 hours of driving to get back to Hamburg we had to head out. The nighttime drive through Toronto was surreal; the raised expressway making it seem like we were flying through the shining skyscrapers.

Carter was pooped and declined his royal seat up front. He crashed on the (tempur-pedic) dog bed in the back and snored all the way back to the hotel. Oh, he did wake up to say “hi” to the American border guard (Yes, I was only in Toronto for the day, and yes, I was only there because of my dog, and yes, he is very handsome, and yes, he is an English Setter, and yes, he got his picture taken by the talented Marcia Leeder).

Couscous with Meat and Vegetables

I grew up enjoying a multitude of fantastic foods, courtesy of my father, a gourmet (et aussi un gourmand!) chef. One of my favorite dishes was a sweet, salty, spicy dish called “un couscous”. Meat, usually chicken, stewed in a spicy Tunisian hot chili sauce called harissa, and served over couscous grain liberally tossed with sweet raisins. The combination of flavors was addictive. When I moved to the States, I made certain that I brought with me a tube of harissa paste so that I could continue to enjoy that dish. Couscous originated in North Africa centuries ago and is now eaten worldwide. The grain “couscous” is made from semolina which is moistened and rolled by hand to make small pellets. “Un Couscous”, a singular couscous, is an entire dish which consists of the meat or vegetable stew served over the couscous grain. The recipe I grew up enjoying has its roots in Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria and is considered one of the national dishes of France.

This dish can be prepared with any number of proteins and vegetables. My favorite includes chicken and merguez (spicy lamb sausage) with carrots, turnips, and chickpeas.

Ingredients
2 tblsp olive oil
1 lb fresh merguez sausage, pricked with a fork.
2 lb lamb pieces (with bone)
10 chicken legs
2 large red onions, coarsely chopped
1/3 c chopped parsley
1/3 c cilantro
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp saffron thread, crumbled
1 ½ qt chicken or vegetable stock
2 tblsp Harissa (or to taste)
3 tblsp Tomato paste
6 carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 3 inch strips
3 small turnips, cubed
Salt and pepper to taste
2 lb couscous
2 tblsp unsalted butter
1 c cooked chickpeas
1 c golden raisins, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes and drained


Directions
Saute merguez over medium heat, turning with tongs, until well browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove the sausage, cut into 1-inch lengths and reserve. Add the chicken and lamb to the pot in batches, browning (10 minutes). Remove the lamb/chicken.

Stir in the onions, parsley, cilantro, ginger, saffron, and cook, stirring up the brown bits until the onions are soften and lightly browned, about 6 minutes.

Return the lamb and the chicken (not the sausage) to the pot, add 5 cups of stock, harissa, and tomato paste, and cook, stirring occasionally for 1 hour, or until the lamb is tender.

Add carrots, turnips and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the reserved merguez and chickpeas to the pot, cook for 10 more minutes, then taste stew for seasoning.

Cook couscous per package instructions. Add butter and the raisins to the couscous and mix.
Arrange the couscous piled high on a large platter. Top with the solid contents of the stew pot, arranged decoratively. Drizzle with a little of liquid broth mixture and serve immediately. Pass the remaining broth mixture as a sauce.