Have Dog, Will Travel

Karat and my daughter in the back seat

My family used to take a lot of train trips. But then we got a dog. And while you can bring a dog up to 20 pounds on Amtrak, we got a labrador. Who, though petite for a lab, still weights 61 pounds.

So if we want to take her, we have to drive.

Karat on the floor of the car

Not that we always want to take her. Winter travel, eve to a pet friendly hotel like the Kimpton chain, is problematic because you can't bring the dog to restaurants, you can't eat outside in freezing weather and you really didn't go away to sit in your hotel room.

We have found that our dog, Karat, loves to hike, so we try to take her with us when we plan to hike. And it turns out that a lot of friends who don't have dogs enjoy hiking with a dog, so this has become a group activity.

Hiking with the dog, and friends

We've learned little things along the way, like always have at least two extra water bottles for the dog on those hikes, and bring towels to wipe her down before getting back in the car, We can take off our hiking boots, but her muddy paws can make everyone unhappy.

Dog friendly has different meanings

We took Karat with us on a week-long trip looking for colleges for our youngest daughter. One bed and breakfast we stayed at in Vermont claimed to be dog-friendly, but you couldn't leave the dog in the room without being there. Once Karat has run around for an hour or two, she is content to sleep by herself, but we couldn't eat breakfast at this quaint B & B, where the summer air temperature hovered around freezing, since Karat couldn't stay in the room and we were too cold to eat on the porch.

Worried she'll be left behind

On the other hand we stayed at an inexpensive Best Western in Albany where we took Karat for a run, then left her in the room while we went out to dinner.  No one batted an eye.

Kimpton Hotels: the ultimate in dog friendly

Kimpton offers dog treats in the lobby, a dog bed and dog bowls if you've forgotten your own, and an extremely canine friendly environment.  We stayed at a Kimpton in Portland, OR, that had a 'house dog' for those who didn't bring their own pets; since we didn't fly Karat across the country, we made friends with the resident lab.

Fitness Challenge: Day 10

The thing about a 40 mile bike ride - on a folding bike - is that you don't want to get back on a bike the next day. We had planned to ride from Northampton to Amherst, MA, on a rail trail, an easy 20 mile round trip.

But after riding an extra mountainous, extremely hot 30 miles, we don't want to sit on those uncomfortable bike seats again.

And the temperature is still hovering near 100.

We opt, instead, to hike on trails near Smith College.

It's still hot. But we are rewarded at the end with great vegetarian food.

Passover dinner - Pasta-less Lasagna

Bove's, in Burlington, VT, has had a restaurant since 1941. If you don't want to ski, mountain bike, hike, leaf peep or look at colleges in Vermont, you can eat Bove's sauce on your pasta at home. The sauce is sold online, or at specialty grocery stores.

But this week is Passover, so no pasta in our home. Or bread. Or anything with regular flour. Bove's developed a gluten-free lasagna with no pasta, but with bacon. I've adapted it for Passover use, but it can be served year-round even to those who don't have a gluten allergy. And you can use any sauce; just make sure it is a thick tomato sauce.

6 whole Portobello mushrooms

1 large Vidalia onion

3 roasted and peeled red peppers

1 large eggplant

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

1 bunch chopped chives

Bove’s Vodka Sauce

12 oz. ricotta cheese

3 eggs

½ cup grated parmesan

Chopped Italian parsley

20 oz. shredded mozzarella

4 oz. grated parmesan

Take the stems off of the mushrooms, clean and reserve. Cut onion in ¼” slices and reserve. Peel eggplant, slice lengthwise in ½” thick slices.

Toss mushrooms in olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper and 1/3 of chives. Grill on both sides until somewhat tender. Place in a perforated pan and reserve. Do the same with the onions and eggplant.

Mix eggs, parmesan, ricotta and Italian parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat convection oven to 325 degrees.

Spray two standard loaf pans with non stick coating and line with foil.

Pour 2 oz. of sauce on the bottom of each pan and then layer ½ the eggplant. Over this spread 2 oz. of ricotta mixture, 2 oz. of mozzarella and 2 oz of sauce. Layer half the mushrooms. Repeat sauce and cheese layer, layer ½ of the onions and repeat the sauce and cheese layer. Top with roasted peppers, then 4 oz. mozzarella and 2 oz. parmesan.

Tent top with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Turn 180 degrees and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove cover and continue to bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Let set in refrigerator overnight. Reheat in oven and serve with additional sauce.