My old dog, Bo-a Black Lab mix, loved to play fetch. That dog could play for hours and hours, and often times he did. Bo would play fetch with just about anything you could throw, not just balls...Empty cans, balled up socks, empty milk cartons, cardboard boxes, anything. He would chase it down and return it, ready for another go.
We adopted him as a hyper-active six month old puppy. He was lanky and uncoordinated but essentially full size. At the time, we lived in a rural area in San Luis Obispo on four acres of land. Bo was a country dog for sure. No fence could contain him, trust me! The dog was like Houdini, he got out of every enclosure. He dug under fences, muscled through gates and even scaled over a fence and walked along the top, like a cat, just to get out. He even snapped one of those steel screw-in dog tethers. The ones you screw into the yard and then you attach a long leash so he still has movement. Yep, we came home from work and that baby was snapped clean off. The screw portion still firmly screwed into the ground. Eventually, we gave up containment and just left him to guard the property each morning as we went to work. He stayed nearby...most of the time...and waited for us to get home. He'd hear us drive up the single lane road that lead to our quarter mile long drive way. He would run at top speed from wherever he was, tail wagging, tongue hanging outside of his big grinning mouth. He was so happy to see us and he let us know every day. He was such a great dog. :)
So one Halloween, we bought this really large pumpkin for our porch. It was about 100 pounds, it was huge. We left it there for many months after Halloween because it was too big and too beautiful to throw away. Eventually though, we had to get rid of it. It had started to get soft in some areas. A forest of Coastal Live Oaks surrounded our house which was perched over a steep, scrub-brush laden ravine.The ravine was the perfect spot to compost this lovely gourd so we decided to roll it down the hill.
We rolled it over to the lip of the ravine and let er rip. It started to pick up speed as it lumbered down the steep hillside. Almost instantly, as if we'd thrown a tennis ball...Bo took off in a flash to chase it down. We yelled, "No! No Bo! Stop!" But he was not deterred in the slightest. He was going to fetch that pumpkin!
We laughed so hard as we watched Bo chase down that pumpkin. Of course? we thought, Why wouldn't he chase it? It was round and moving fast, just like a ball. So we waited to see what he would do when faced with this monstrous pumpkin at the bottom of the hill. The pumpkin hit hard and cracked in half. And wouldn't you know it...two minutes later, Bo had dragged one half of this huge pumpkin back up the hill! The half was literally his size. He had his teeth sunk in the flesh of the pumpkin and then he released it in front of us, panting. He looked up at us, wagging his tail, waiting, in ready position, for us to throw it back down the hill again! We laughed and laughed until our sides hurt. All the while, Bo looked at us, anxious to chase it down again. :)
I'm not sure why I woke up thinking about Bo this morning, and why I chose to write about him rather than zucchini, but I had to share this funny story about my Bo. He's been gone for many years now but I'm thankful for the wonderful memory that greeted me this morning and reminded me of all the wonderful years I had with him. Love you Bobo.
About the recipe:
These enchiladas are so delicious and have no meat in them. You know the recipe is a good one when you can fool a meat-loving husband. I gave my husband one to try for dinner but I didn't tell him what was in them. When he asked for seconds, I told him, "You realize that there is no meat in those?" He looked at me like I was crazy, "Yes there is." He replied, looking very confused. I broke the news to him and he was utterly amazed. So amazed in fact, he had three of these babies in one sitting. Enjoy!
Zucchini Enchiladas with Soy Chorizo and Black Beans (slightly adapted recipe from Cuisine at Home, July/Aug 2014, p.39)
Makes 8
10 oz. soy chorizo
1 T olive oil
1 cup yellow onions, diced
1 T garlic, minced
1 t dried oregano
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1-15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1-4 oz can diced green chiles
salt and pepper to taste
1-15 oz can of red enchilada sauce
4 zucchini, halved lengthwise
8 oz. shredded pepper jack cheese
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
For the filling, cook the chorizo in a large saute pan over medium high heat until browned, transfer into medium bowl and set aside. Soy chorizo doesn't render much fat to drain away so you will need to add 1 T of olive oil into the pan to saute your vegetables. (If you prefer to use beef or pork chorizo, drain chorizo in a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl to remove the fat. Return 1 T of drippings back to pan.)
Over medium high heat saute onions, garlic, cumin and coriander in olive oil (or drippings) until onions are softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in beans and chiles. Return browned chorizo to pan and season with salt and pepper. Spread 1/4 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of an 11 x 15 inch baking dish.
Prepare zucchini, scoop out and discard seeds, leaving 1/4 inch flesh and place in dish.
Spoon three heaping tablespoons of filling into each boat. Spoon remaining sauce over zucchini and sprinkle with cheese evenly over tops.
Other Zucchini recipes to try:
Zucchini Bruschetta
Zucchini Ribbon Summer Salad
Heirloom Tomato Salad with Maui Onions and Zucchini
