Good Dog Treats

Wow, I really feel like a stranger around here. Life has gotten in the way of blogging lately...

For instance, it was shocking to discover a lump the size of a lemon on Jolie's side. The vet operated the next day, and she got her stitches out two days ago. It scared me so much I took myself in for a mammogram. It wasn't so bad.
The girls put their heart into making some treats for our Good Dog.



GOOD DOG TREATS

1/2 cup cornmeal
7 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup water
1 tsp Kitchen Bouquet







Preheat the oven to 35o* F. Mix all the ingredients together well. They each made their own batch, and we shared the extra treats with some good dog friends, Suki & Mattie.

If the mixture is too tough to stir, encourage them to use their hands to knead the dough. Dog treats are the perfect recipe to let the kids fully experiment.



My kids are always jones'n to work with knives. Only certain meals warrant a butter knife at the place setting, and cutting up the spaghetti by yourself is about as big as it usually gets.

The point is, Abi was thrilled to divide the dough into 4 parts.






Roll out the dough, doing only one section at a time to keep it manageable for little hands. It should be about 1/4 inch thickness before busting out the cookie cutters.

Bake 40 minutes.






Making homemade dog treats is a great way for kids to practice their culinary skills. I let them take the leading role every step of the way giving them skills with a no risk recipe. The treats always turn out, and not one has gone to waste. We talked about Jolie's surgery, stitches, life and death, and it felt good to celebrate our dog together.





Abi likes to assist Jolie's special talent of













balancing treats on her nose!



Let the kids do the cooking for a special dog in your life!









This is our favorite way to get around town. It's hard not to feel smug passing parked cars with the breeze in your hair and then parking right by the entrance. Segue: See our Obama sticker on the side? Art did the music score for the upcoming film, "Third Term," which explains the connection between McCain and Bush. This is a food blog, not a political one, so I'll leave it at that, and ask that anyone interested can check out the trailer and watch for parts of the documentary to air on TV soon, in selected theaters and on DVD.