Treats for the Monkeys

We really are dog dorks, but I urge you to take a long hard look at these two and how could you not be?

Molly, the black one, recently had knee surgery and she's been living like a zoo animal in a cage in our living room. This has to go on for 8 weeks! Its been hard on all of us- she's our first dog and she's oddly humanistic in many ways. Molly is special and really, really loved. Abby, is our Golden and she's as sweet as cotton candy. We found her at a rescue shelter about 8 hours away and when she came to us, she had recently had a litter of puppies and she was so sickly. Someone had found her on the side of the road. She probably wasn't even a year old yet. We refer to her as Molly's dog, in jest, because really that's what she is first and foremorst and its her choice. She worships Molly and that's how Molly likes it.

When I have some free time, I like to make them doggie treats. I usually have the ingredients I need in the cupboard and I never follow a recipe. I just kind of mix things together, until they're similar to a biscotti or a cookie dough. Sometimes I bake them like biscotti, so they get extra crunchy. This time, I used the doggie cookie cutter and made them "pumpkin cookies".

My ingredients were, approximately:

2 Cups Cornmeal

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 Cup Oat Bran

1 Egg

3/4 Cup Pumpkin

1 Tablespoon Chicken Stock Concentrate

1 Tablespoon Miso Paste

1 teaspoon onion powder

I mix it together in a large bowl and add more pumpkin if the mixture is too dry, or I'll add more flour if its too wet. The greatest thing about this is you don't have to worry about the look in your husbands or co-workers eyes when you hand them their cookie. Our dogs LOVE all of the treats we make.

Roll out the dough on a floured board and I sometimes use a cookie cutter, or if I'm in a rush, I'll cut them in strips, lengthwise and crosswise and make little rectangular or square treats. The dogs don't care. Bake on parchement covered or greased cookie sheets at 350 degrees until they seem done. I usually over bake them, because I want them to keep longer and stay crunchy. These are good enough for us to eat, and that's what I like to feed our two furry friends.