卡加利 │ 世界上最大的牛仔競技表演？
每年的七月，在加拿大卡加利這城市，有一個為期10天，自稱為地球上最厲害的戶外表演 ─ 卡加利牛仔節 (Calgary Stampede)。

活動種類非常多，包括各小區的免費早餐 (有純素早餐喔)、市集攤位、來自世界各地的歌手表演等，還有農場動物也會來到市中心跟人類互動。看著大人小孩一邊拍照，一邊說著「很可愛啊」，可能轉個頭手裡就拿著豬扒漢堡。我相信大家是真的覺得小豬、小牛、小羊是可愛的，只是沒有意識到手裡的豬扒就是來自這些可愛的小動物，畢竟我也是這樣過了二十幾年 😫

世界上最著名的「馬車競賽 (Chuckwagon Racing)」，每年就在卡加利牛仔節舉行，你可知道每年都有馬匹因為這個所謂的傳統而犧牲嗎？今年聽說已經有六匹馬在競賽過程中不幸離世了。每一個來到這世界的生物，都有其任務，但我相信一定不是服務人類：不是生來娛樂我們的；更不是供我們食用的喔~

Calgary │ The world's largest rodeo?
In July of each year, in the city of Calgary, Canada, the 10 days event, which called itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on the planet" - Calgary Stampede.

There are many types of activities, including free breakfast in each district (with vegan breakfast), market stalls, singer performances from around the world, and farm animals will also come to the city center to interact with humans. Watching adults and children taking pictures with the farm animals and saying "so CUTE," but they may have their pork burger on their hands in the next second. I believe that everyone really thinks that the pig, the calf and the lamb are cute, but they don’t realize that the pork burger in their hands are from these cute little animals. Well, I did the same in the past twenty years.

The world's most famous "Chuckwagon Racing" is held every year at the Calgary Stampede. Do you know that horses are sacrificed every year because of this so-called tradition? I heard that there are already six horses dead in the competition this year unfortunately. Every creature that came to this world has its mission, but I believe it shouldn't be serve humanity: it is not born to entertain us; it is not for us to eat either.

#動物是朋友 #calgary #stampede #chuckwagonracing

Bowl of Red是德州的州菜(Texas state dish)，就是紅通通熱呼呼的Texas chili，非常適合冷冷的冬天來上一碗。chili的最初來源一直是爭執不下的問題，這道有著濃濃墨式料理香氣的燉菜或湯菜，在早期牛仔趕著牛群去買賣的路途上，就經常出現在在行動廚房(chuckwagon)中，除了以牛肉為主材料的chili，還有以不同食材變化出不同風味的chili，像全以蔬菜煮成的vegan chili，或是以雞肉或火雞肉為主食材，且不加入蕃茄的white chili，還有以新鮮青辣椒為食材的green chili。美國地方大不同的州都有不同做法，每個州都有引以為傲的煮法，甚至每個家庭都有家傳的 secret recipe，所以chili烹飪比賽經常就是一決勝負的方法。
我很喜歡在冷冷的冬天來上一碗chili，住在德州快二十年了，我煮的當然是Texas style chili囉！以牛肉為主食材，配上蕃茄、洋蔥、青椒和豆類，還有一定要準備的香料～chili powder。 chili powder不是單指某一種辣椒，而是綜合了不同的香料，都是拉丁美洲料理常會用到的香料，像是paprika、cumin和oregano等等，市售的產品風味都不完全一樣，而且有些已添加了鹽份。chili powder所需的常用香料家中都有，所以我都是自己調配，而且每次可以視喜好變化。
來分享我平時最常配的比例：1/4杯paprika紅椒粉(我都會混合辣和不辣兩種)、4茶匙奧里根oregano(如果有研缽可以把葉子略為磨碎讓香氣更加釋出)、3茶匙孜然ground cumin、4茶匙蒜粉和1.5茶匙洋蔥粉，將全部材料裝在小瓶子中混合均勻冷藏保存。