Back to the Zoo Part III

Meerkats are some of my favorite animals at the St. Louis Zoo.

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They live in the "Children's Zoo,

along with my other favorites; Fennec Foxes, a Sand Cat and a Tree Kangaroo with his friend, the Echidna.

However, sometimes Meerkats are apparently quite camera shy.....

Finally, I almost got the Meerkat in the picture......









And after many tries that didn't work out, I photographed two of them playing by the side of their enclosure.....

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Of course, with the Meerkats being one of my favorites, you know that I have been watching Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet.

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Fennec Foxes are another favorite.

They look like little foxes but they have HUGE ears.

It is the smallest fox in the world, but it has the largest ears for its size. Since they live in the North African desert, the large ears help the foxes shed body heat. Just like elephants the blood circulates close to the bare surface of the ears and the foxes are cooled that way.

They also sleep underground all day

and hunt at night when it is cooler.

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Next is the Sand Cat:

They live in the Saharan Desert and, like the Fennec Foxes, their ears are large to dispel the heat of the desert.

This picture of the Sand Cat's face is from the St. Louis Zoo website.

I wanted to put it here

so everyone could see the cat's face -- it is so cute!!!

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Also in the Children's Zoo is a Tree Kangaroo:

Tree kangaroos live in thick, mountainous forests, where they have become well adapted to life in the trees. They can climb tree trunks like a cat because they have long, sharp claws on their front and hind feet.

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They also can jump like the kangaroos that we are all familiar with but Tree Kangaroos jump in the treetops. They can even jump down to the ground from up to 30 feet high in a tree all without getting hurt!

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The Echidnas are in the same area as the Tree Kangaroo.

The zookeeper that day told us that

the Tree Kangaroo really likes to sit in the tree and watch

the Echidnas walk around on the ground.

Other than watching, they are both solitary animals.

Echidnas are the only egg-bearing mammals in captivity.

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"Penguin and Puffin Coast"

is pretty cool inside.

In fact I believe that they said it was 45 degrees

but it was also very smelly!!!

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This is the outside of their Zoo habitat.

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Well, now it's time to head out of the zoo.....

Back to civilization!!!!!

Back to the Zoo Part II

This is an Asian Elephant. Right now I don't know which Asian Elephant it is but the new baby is not on display yet.

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We also saw camels and zebras. They are next-door neighbors here at the zoo.

Back to the Zoo

OK, the butterfly doesn't actually belong to the St. Louis Zoo, but it was visiting and it was beautiful!

I'm not a huge fan of birds but the kids we were there with did like them. I do think that they are quite pretty but I still have that bird-phobia!

Now this is how the hippos look above the water.......














And this is what is actually happening
underneath the water.....



I have no idea what those fish are eating off of the hippos....Perhaps I don't want to know.....



The flaminos were absolutely beautiful.
See, I like birds better from a distance! The St. Louis Zoo website says that:

"Flamingos owe their peculiar looks to their feeding habits. Their elongated body, neck and legs allow them to wade into much deeper water than most shore birds, thereby expanding their food choices. (They can even swim, if necessary.)

Even the flamingos’ notoriously-colored plumage is a result of their diet. Their brilliant red, hot pinks, corals and oranges come from the carotenoid pigments in the algae and in some of the crustaceans that the birds eat (similar to the pigment in carrots)."

Later I will have more zoo pictures after some editing.....

Guy's "Saigon Subs"

We watched "Guy's Big Bite" on Food Network and Guy made two types of pulled pork. Now I love pulled pork and had to try both of his recipes. This is the Saigon Sub with his picture. I'll write my changes after his recipe!

2-pound pork butt, cut into 4 pieces

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup chili garlic sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup peeled and thinly sliced cucumbers

2 tablespoons olive oil

Italian party hero bread, cut in 1/2 lengthwise

1 cup mayonnaise 3 tablespoons

Sriracha hot sauce

1/4 romaine lettuce head leaves

1 tablespoon minced fresh mint leaves

1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves

Season pork pieces with salt and pepper. Place in a braising pan and add 1/4 cup soy sauce, water, chili garlic sauce, ketchup, and 1/4 cup vinegar. Braise for about 2 1/2 hours, covered, until fork tender. Remove meat with a slotted spoon and "pull" with forks until shredded. Add braising liquid, to taste. Cool.

Mix the remaining 1/4 cup vinegar, brown sugar, wine and the remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Add the cucumbers and marinate for 10 to 15 minutes.

Drizzle the olive oil on the bread. Brown lightly, if desired.
Spread the mayonnaise on the bread and drizzle with hot sauce. Arrange the meat on the bread, top with the lettuce, marinated cucumbers, mint, and cilantro. Slice in half and serve.

This a picture of my "sub" which is clearly an open faced sandwich without the mint, cucumbers and cilantro! We did have the cucumbers the first time that I made it. My change for this was that I roasted roma tomatoes at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes but still have the romaine lettuce and mayo. Oh, and also the kosher dill pickles.

Quite excellent!!!!!

Lazy Sunday in St. Louis....

Willow and China Cat are thoroughly enjoying the screened-in porch today.

The temperature is only 90 degrees this morning, which actually is quite a cooling trend from last week--mostly over 100 degrees!We are off to Strassenfest and will have pictures later today!

Here are the Strassenfest pictures!!!!!

Father Time is always at any festival that we attend, so I have quite a few pictures of him. He seems to enjoy every one of them!

This, of course, is looking toward the Arch. The flag always is draped in the center of the view.

Here is the main reason to go to the Strassenfest:

Potato Pancakes!!!!!

Now this is the man who did the actual cooking of our potato pancakes.

And here they are, in all their glorious potato-ness. We, of course, had plenty of condiments: horseradish sauce, butter, apple sauce, sour cream, salt and pepper.

In addition, one of the most important items to go with a potato pancake at a German Strassenfest is a good cold German Beer!

I don't think that I am forgetting any but will consider this longer! We love condiments!

Now this is the part where we are leaving the festival. Note: the sign did say $10.00 when we arrived and it had dropped down to $5.00 at our departure time!

I asked the keeper of the lot if we could get our $5.00 back, which we clearly overpaid, but was denied.

No surprise there, but it never hurts to ask!!!!!

(The highest we have seen parking prices was $20.00!)

Auf wiedersehen!!!!!

Rams Training Camp Today!

Today the Rams are having a scrimmage at their morning training camp and we are going to see it! OK, it was my idea and I'm very excited about it but RDG is not exactly thrilled with my plan.

2006 Training Camp Schedule Dates and times are subject to change. For up-to-date information, call the Training Camp Hotline number at 314-516-8852.

Open Practice Sessions

Thur. July 27 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Rams Park

Fri. July 28 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. Rams Park

Sat. July 29 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Rams Park

Sun. July 30 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. Rams Park

Mon. July 31 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Rams Park

Tues. August 1 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. Rams Park

Wed. August 2 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Rams Park

Thur. August 3 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. Rams Park

Fri. August 4 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Rams Park

Sat. August 5 10:15 a.m - Noon Rams Park

Morning Practice/Scrimmage

Mon. August 7 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Rams Park

Tue. August 8 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. Rams Park

Thur. August 10 7 p.m. Edward Jones Dome
Game vs. Indianapolis Colts

Sat. August 12 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Rams Park

Sun. August 13 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. Rams Park

Mon. August 14 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Rams Park

Tues. August 15 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. Rams Park

Wed. August 16 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. Rams Park

Thur. August 17 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. Rams Park

The picture and training schedule are from

http://www.stlouisrams.com/TrainingCamp/PracticeSchedule/

Willow thinks that if you sit by your food bowls long enough, someone will eventually fill them for you!

Huge Blackberries from the Farm!

We went to Thies Farm over the weekend.




They were having a Sample Tasting Festival. And we found these HUGE Blackberries after we had sampled all kinds of fruits and vegetables.



I have never see blackberries this big before and they taste wonderful!

Saturday's Barbecued Ribs

This is RDG's version of a recipe that we saw on PBS with Steven Raichlen.

Buy $13.00 worth of spare ribs, rib tips removed but included in the package. Truck said ribs home. Remove from package and rinse in cold water, using fork, fingers and whatever to remove all of that membrane from the back of the ribs.

Rub judiciously with whatever commercially available pepper based steak rub that you prefer.

Light grill and prep for indirect grilling. Add enough charcoal for 1 1/2 hours. Stand ribs up on grill above the drip pan on tin foil. Place cover on grill and wait 1 hour and 15 minutes for rib goodness!

We should have taken the picture before we ate most of the dinner!!!




Hint: After the 1 hour and 15 minutes, wrap in heavy duty tin foil for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve with fresh Missouri sweet corn and sliced home-grown tomatoes!