Thursday 2 October 2008

Current call for action: Rosi!



Rosi is a dazzlingly beautiful 9 year old potbellied pig lady. She was abandoned at the Hoffnung für Tiere ("Hope for animals") shelter near Dresden, Germany, when her humans divorced. Apparently there was no place for their faithful companion of nine years in their lives anymore.
Due to Rosi's age and the fact that she has developed a breast tumour, the shelter doesn't believe she will find a new home anytime soon, if ever. But you can become her "godfather"/"godmother" and sponsor her so she will be able to live the last years of her life happily and comfortably at the shelter.
Here is the shelter's potbellied pig page with more about Rosi (in German, with many pictures). If you know German you can use the sponsorship form, and if not, you can contact the shelter directly.

A pig-shaped three course dinner! With recipes!

Starters:
Nissin pig cup noodles!




Wye Jon Lee reports about the Nissin cup noodles with animal figures. There are dogs, pandas and foxes, but my favourites are of course the pigs! The soup doesn't contain any actual meat. Wye Jon Lee says the "heads" are pretty much tasteless, but the pig soup overall has an aromatic curry flavour.
You can find these instant noodles in Japan and many other Asian countries. Cup noodles are easy to prepare - just bring water to boil, add the contents of the bag to the water, and let simmer or stand in the water until the noodles are soft. Bon appetit!


Main course:
Pig pirozhki!



Saechka.ru features a recipe of Russian baked yeast dough pirogues in the shape of pigs, written by Anya (anette). The recipe is with meat filling, but you can substitute it with vegetarian alternatives. One personal favourite is a mix of potatoes, mushrooms, garlic and spinach. Saechka.ru is in Russian only, but russianrecipes.co.nz has an English-language recipe with the same type of dough. You just form the pirozhki into piggies instead, and give them "eyes" of black pepper.
To get more veggie action you can have sliced fresh cucumbers and tomatoes on the side, maybe with smetana? Of course, you can shape the cucumbers into pig form, too ...


Dessert:
Chocolate Peppermint Polka Dot Pigs!




Sarah at Once Upon a Cookie shares her recipe of lovely polka dot piggy cookies, adapted from a recipe in The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle. The mix of dark cocoa dough and white chocolate dots probably tastes as yummy as it looks!