The Depravity Of Dogs.

We thought that Mila's taste for eating chicken shit was bad until a friend of ours told us that her dog loves to roll in the stuff, and then come running in the house craving some love.

In my book that is considerably worse. The question is, can you top it?

P.

Nuke Mom!

It's no secret that the secret of great Vietnamese food is great fish sauce. Unfortunately, most Americans feel about fish sauce the same way I used to: Yuck! What is there to like about liquified, fermented fish? It smells vaguely like the fish fertilizer we used in the garden when I was a kid. That grossed me out then, why would cooking with it be a good idea now?

Still, if you like Vietnamese and Thai food, you like fish sauce. It's what gives the food that inimitable tang. Even the dumbed-down dishes that pass for Asian fare in most U.S. restaurants use this piscine prodigy, though often in lesser amounts than in their original incarnations. Also, it can be hard to come by the good stuff, even in a big city. And the good stuff is significantly tastier than the not as good stuff.

We fell in love with fish sauce, nuoc mam (pronounced something like nuke mom), when we were in Hanoi. The Vietnamese use fish sauce the way the Japanese use soy sauce and the way we use salt, as an ubiquitous basic flavor enhancer. When do you use salt? Pretty much on everything because food just doesn't taste right without it. Same with nuoc mam in VN.

The good stuff (in Vietnam, anyway) comes from Phu Quoc Island off the southwest tip of Vietnam. Here's the link to our blog about our visit to this beautiful island.

 We found the delicious Flying Lion brand

in Southern Cal and Boise. It's also available on Amazon!

Nuoc mam is rarely used straight. Spiked with chopped ginger, garlic, and chile, it makes a great marinade for chicken, pork, beef, or fish. It caramelizes on grilled meats, giving them a tangy flavor that is not at all fishy.

It is most often used as a dipping sauce that has numerous tasty applications from salad dressing to an accompaniment to bun cha and cha ca la Vong. Here are my suggestions for making a batch (adjust proportions according to your need or greed):

• Equal portions of fresh-squeezed lime juice and water
• Enough sugar to cut the sourness of the limes, but leave a refreshing tang
• Add fish sauce to taste, you'll probably add too little to begin with, but remember, you're not gong to eat it by itself, it has to be strong enough to add that incomparable zing to bland rice noodles, rice, lettuce, meat, etc. So be brave! Add more!
• Chop lots of ginger, garlic, and chile (red Thai chiles are the best, but Serranos will do). Add to the liquid and let it sit for an hour or two.

I like to make way more than I need for whatever dish I making so that I have extra for salads, sandwiches (e.g. grilled chicken with lettuce, shredded carrot, mint and cilantro on a sourdough roll dipped in the dipping sauce), etc. It'll keep in the refrigerator for a least a week, though it's tastiest fresh.

Try it out.I suspect that, like me, you will quickly become addicted.

P.

Doing The Cha Ca La Vong Cha-Cha.

Last night we had some friends over, and we made another of our favorite Hanoi dishes: Cha Ca La Vong. This is the specialty and sole dish of a famous restaurant in Hanoi called, fittingly enough, Cha Ca La Vong. Here's the post on my first visit.

 The dish features fish marinated in tumeric, ginger, fish sauce, and garlic then fried with green onions and fresh dill and served over rice noodles with lettuce, mint, cilantro, peanuts, chilies, and a lime/fish sauce dipping sauce. It came out extremely well, and we ate and drank until after midnight.

Our taste buds were dancing.

P.

Chicken Poop a la Mila.

Mila is fascinated by her three littlest sisters. Whenever they're doing their free-ranging, she's following them, just a few steps behind.

We thought it was love, but it's the poop. She finds those viscous little globlets wherever they drop them and scarfs them down with evident relish. Aren't dogs cute?

Later, of course, she is overcome with love for us and wants nothing more than to lick our faces.

P.

What's A "Haboob" To A Boob?

Apparently, a few folks in AZ are enraged that weather forecasters are using an Arabic term, haboob, to describe the massive dust storms that have been taking place there that have nothing to do with climate change because that's a hoax. It's creeping, dusty Sharia!

In vain, more grounded members of the community have noted that 1) the term has been used for a long time in meteorological circles for a long time to describe dust storms of this magnitude, 2) the reason you haven't heard it before is that there have rarely been such storms in the U.S. before now (nothing to do with climate change, which is still a hoax), and 3) English is full of words borrowed from Arabic, e.g. coffee, sherbet, sofa, mattress, cotton, etc.

Obviously the only solution is to seek out and destroy all those evil Muslim words before we're all living under the New Caliphate.

So let's call algebra "Freedom Math," artichokes "Patriot Thistles," "and haboobs "Liberty Storms."

There, I feel freer already.

P.

It's A Lovely Summer Evening In Boise.

We're taking care of John and Emily's house while they're on vacation in California. Very enjoyable, sitting by the pool, grilling steaks, and luxuriating in an exceptionally pleasant summer evening. Nice to be out of our little apartment for a while.

Mila relishes the remains of my steak.

O puts the girls to bed after a long day of free ranging.

 P.

Sad News.

Eryn's grandfather, well, she has three, so I guess I should specify, her mom's dad was hospitalized with an aneurysm last night. Today, he was pronounced brain-dead. Please join me in sending sympathy and love to Eryn and her family.

P.

A Spectacular Wedding.

On Saturday, Emily's brother Adam and his girlfriend Danielle got married in a lovely ceremony overlooking the Boise River. It was a beautiful day, with temps in the low to mid 80s, but in the afternoon the clouds blew in and we got a few drops of rain and a couple flashes of lightning.

By the time of the 7:00 ceremony, however, the threat of rain had mostly passed, leaving only some of the most incredible cloud formations we've seen here. As the evening wore on and the sun began to set, the sky show got more and more intense. Unfortunately, all I had was my camera phone to document it. But I think I got some great shots anyway.

Others did a fine job documenting the beaming groom, the radiant bride, the dancing, the drinking, etc. You can see some of that here. I focused on the clouds.

As always, click the picture to embiggen.

P.

The Buttocks Of A Dog Thief In Vietnam.

Not worth much apparently.

Our friend Nathalie Carby, who we first met in Hanoi and is now living in Miami (miss you, N&C!) pointed out this article on dognapping in Vietnam. It seems that Vietnamese are getting sick and tired of professional dog thieves who steal dogs to sell to dog meat restaurants, but go relatively unpunished by the authorities when caught.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Ho Ba Vo, vice chief investigator in Nghe An, said “rampant” dog thefts have drawn the ire of the public over the past several years.

He said that when most local residents catch a dog thief they don’t bother to call the police. Instead, they beat the crooks to death and set fire to their remains. Vo said that lenient laws accounted for the excessively violent punishment of the crooks.

“Residents say the police just fine these thieves and let them go,” he said. “It’s true. A thief only faces criminal charges when the property involved is worth at least VND2 million (US$97). A dog is much cheaper than that and the thief is only fined for the attempted theft.”

Our students told us that this was a problem when we lived in Hanoi, but we were a little skeptical.

You might think the punishment is a bit excessive for the crime, and I'd agree, but consider this. Especially the last paragraph.

Karma? Or Dogma?

P.

4th Of July In Montana, Part 6. 'Ho-ward Bound.

We left Josie's at around 6:20 for the long drive back to The 'Ho, as we affectionately call our new home.

I grabbed a cup of espresso in Ronan, then we stopped by Ninepipes 

for a few last reflection shots.

Neither of us like retracing our steps, so we drove home via the eastern route down 93. 

The Bitterroot Mountains provided a spectacular backdrop to the first part of our journey.

As we left Montana, the scenery changed to arid semi-desert.

 This derelict house had grass growing on the roof.

 The hills and valleys along the Salmon River, though rapidly drying out in the heat of summer, 

were still covered with wildflowers and green grass.

 And the mountains just north of Boise were full of gushing streams 

and verdant meadows. It was a lovely welcome back.

P.

4th Of July In Montana, Part 5. Rocket's Red Glare.

On the evening of the 4th, we drove to Polson and found a spot on a grassy knoll overlooking Flathead Lake.

 The sun set at about 9:45. The show was scheduled to begin at 10, but by 10:15 

it was still pretty light and no fireworks were in evidence, other than 

a few amateur efforts from both sides of the lake.

 I was looking forward to taking a few shots of the show because I'd noticed that 

my camera had a fireworks setting, and I was interested to see what results it would produce. 

I used it to take this picture of the bridge. I found it took a short time exposure 

that might work well if I had a tripod, but not so much with handheld shots. Still, I was 

intrigued by the idea that I might be able to come up with some interesting abstracts 

once I was able to crop and process the raw shots.

 I think you'll see that that was the case.
Click on the pictures to get the full effect.

 P.

4th Of July In Montana, Part 4. Where The Buffalo Roam.

On the 4th itself, O and Josie went hunting for wild sage and I went hunting for photos.

I drove south on the main highway for about half an hour, then turned west to explore some

inviting back roads.

I soon found myself on a raised dike overlooking Ninepipes reservoir in the middle of 

a tranquil stretch of countryside.

 Reflections!

I decided that this would be a great place to return to at different times of the day

in order to take advantage of the changing light.

 Continuing my meandering journey, I came upon the National Bison Refuge. 

It was only $5.00 for a day pass, so I decided to check out the refugees.

I was glad I did. The Refuge is a lare tract of rolling hills and valley with a dirt road 

snaking through it. The signs warn you not to leave your car, since the bison

are understandably pissed at the way they've been treated over the years.

The first hill had a great view of the Flathead River.

 In the valleys, tiny tributary creeks fed lush growth of wildflowers and grasses. 

Signs warned that the abundant berry bushes were frequented by bears.

At the 4,700 foot summit, there was a panoramic view of the valley with 

the Mission Mountains pointing to Flathead Lake in the far distance.

 And the beautiful valley around St. Ignatius.

 Heading down the eastern slope, I found the bison herd and a sign marking the highest level 

of the former Lake MIssoula, over 3,500 feet above the current valley floor!

 It was exciting getting so close to these huge beasts, even from the safety of the car.

 There were a few calves scampering around.

 On the east side of the Refuge, the meadows were filled with wildflowers.

And wildlife.

 Pronghorns!

 They were a bit skittish, but when you're thirsty, you're thirsty.

 On the way back to Josie's, I stopped at Ninepipes again for some more reflections.

The sisters returned with bags of the best white sage just before I got back. We had a little dinner and got ready to drive up to Polson to watch the fireworks show over the lake.

P.