Pets That Pack

Virgin Australia have recently released frequent flyer points for pets.

The program even has a pet ambassador, but I think my part time pets would have given Pepper a run for the top job - if only they hadn't snoozed through the nomination phase!

It made me smile as I imagine the next stage being a Virgin debit card that allows pets to get extra points when they login online and buy their fav chicken treats, chew bones and greenies.

I daresay with enough points they will be able to have their treats delivered inflight, on demand.  Sophie, one of my part time pets in San Fran knew exactly when it was 9PM and her greenie got dished out - 9:01 was never an appropriate time!

Perhaps their own private lounge if they're flying business class, where only the most discerning butts get sniffed pre flight.

Then how about the inflight meals provided by chef Luke Mangan served in crystal bowls when they get to platinum status.

I know many of my discerning part time pets prefer to stay at home and have me come by and sit with them so they get their every need met in the comfort of their own home.   But if my four legged friends gotta fly, well then I trust the flight attendants will store their cuddly rug, chew bone and favourite toys in the over head locker, just the way they like it and that their seat back and tray table will be moved for them into the upright position when they have to awake from their snooze.

By the time they get all their special stuff packed, I suspect flying a pet would require more excess luggage fees than travelling with kids!

You can check out the program here:
http://www.velocityrewards.com.au/content/ProgramBenefits/pets/index.htm

Pomegranate Power

House sitting carries the most delightful surprises.

At my sit in San Jose, the owners emails kept telling me to "enjoy the pomegranates".

I'd never tried them, although I had heard they were delicious.  Pomegranates are not widely available in Australia, well Melbourne anyway.

Sure enough on investigating the backyard the pomegranate tree was loaded.

As instructed I managed to pull a perfectly formed, big round red one off the tree and headed inside to try this treat I had seen selling for a dollar a pop at the supermarket.

Luckily I started to chop it open in the sink because first cut with the knife and bright crimson juice sprayed everywhere!

This was obviously not a first date food.

By the end of getting all those seeds out of the pod and all the white and reportedly sour white pith off, the sink looked like a massacre zone.

It also took a very LONG time to eat all those seeds one by one, and if you ate them with a spoon, little spurts of juice went everywhere.  Quite frankly it seemed a lot of work and mess for something that was nice but EXHAUSTING.

I had earlier observed there were many empty pods under the tree, which I guessed were consumed by the delightful little squirrels who raced up and down the fence.

So I figured nature makes it easy for them, maybe I should pick the already split ones. Sure did, but still the massacre in the sink to clean up. I'd keep finding spots of pomegranate juice all over the kitchen and me!

When in doubt ..... Google

But I persevered and I googled for tips and tricks on peeling them. So many tips!

The most common solution seemed to be to peel them under water, but this seemed an even messier option to me. I also didn't like the concept of losing the juice into the water.

Finally it dawned on me to peel them inside a clean plastic bag and just keep washing it out.

Worked a treat if I quartered them first - tapped out as many of the luscious seeds as would fall out naturally and then just scrap out the remainder.

The bag collected all the seeds and juice, so nothing got wasted and the pith floated on the juice.

My cunning plan to become a domestic goddess was not dead yet!

Then I got the bright idea to tip the contents of the plastic bag into my morning smoothies - YUMMO!  Taste Explosion!

I'd been switched onto Vega Powder in Canada and combined with their berry shake powder, a few spinach and kale leaves plus chia and hemp seeds........ I was rockin'

Give the Goddess of Domestication's Pommegranate Vega shakes a go!