For the Love of Dogs

Six-and-a-half years ago, we got a dog.  For years, I had tried to convince my husband that we did not need a dog, but I eventually decided that I did not want to be the reason he never had a dog. {Dare I say, he won that argument???} And so, six-and-a-half years later, I am a dog-avoider turned dog-lover.

The things we have done for the love of this dog!  Sugar (a boxer, named after Sugar Rays Robinson and Leonard) has cost us a small fortune in dog food, veterinary bills, consumed Kleenex, new rugs, prescription drugs, and squeaky toys. Last January, we even bought her a bionic knee. I used to think that people who had surgeries performed on their pets were nuts--now I guess I'm nuts right along with them.

Sugar after a puppyhood Kleenex massacre

Today, another nutty act: I baked...for our dog.

You see, from time to time, our Sugar dog has tummy troubles. Some mornings, for no apparent reason, she will wake up acting bizarre.  She'll back into any small corner she can find, refuse to eat, and serenade all of us with strange gurgles from her innards. As soon as she eats, she feels better, but it takes some convincing to get her to take the plunge.

Saturday was one of those days.  I remembered a story that I'd seen a while back about making dog biscuits with pumpkin, because pumpkin can soothe puppy tummy troubles, so I Googled "dog pumpkin digestion" and found this article on "How to Aid a Dog's Digestion Naturally" by Ryn Gargulinski on eHow. http://www.ehow.com/how_2364021_aid-dogs-digestion-naturally.html

One tip suggested giving a queasy dog a mixture of cooked rice and cottage cheese.  We just happened to have a little leftover rice and some cottage cheese in the fridge, and voila!  She was feeling better much faster than usual.  The article also confirmed that small doses of pumpkin given regularly to dogs can help prevent minor canine tummy trouble. So I looked up the pumpkin dog biscuit pin on Pinterest, gathered the ingredients, and today, baked for my dog.

Time will tell if regular consumption of these biscuits "aids our Sugar dog's digestion naturally."  They were pretty easy to make, though, so I figure it's worth a try. Here is the link to the original blogger's post, which is a fun read--love the pictures of her dog watching her bake!  http://simmertilldone.com/2009/10/07/retriever-retriever-pumpkin-eater/   Instead of cutting out adorable dog bone-shaped biscuits like she did, I sliced mine into rectangles using our pizza cutter.  (If you read my Christmas cookie post, you know that as much as I love to bake, cut-out cookies are not my bag.  What I'm not willing to do for humans, I'm certainly not planning to do for our dog.)  I don't think our beloved Sugar will mind my taking the cuteness down a notch, though, especially if it helps her tummy feel better.

Happy New Year! ...Sorry I'm a little late.

Ironic that what's on my mind today is punctuality, and my title for this post is 29 days late... Hmmm...

I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions in the traditional sense, but rather in taking action to improve one's situation on an ongoing basis.  If you're making excuses and procrastinating until a New Year to begin positive change, how serious are you about wanting to make your life better?  Maybe that's the reason New Year's resolutions are so rarely stuck-to, that "resolvers" are so rarely successful--they don't really want to change in the first place.

But I digress...  Every week--every day, it seems--I set out to be impressively on time.  (Or rather, not noticeably late, as no one notices when a person is on time, but tardiness attracts [negative] attention.)  And yet, in spite of having gotten up in plenty of time, in spite of watching the clock, we were running out the door to dance class this morning...late.  I used to be a punctual person.  I believe that it is rude to be late.  I am not new at this parenting thing, and still, being on time has become the exception rather than the rule.  What is the matter with me???

This morning's epiphany: For five years, I have been planning our mornings according to how long it should take to get ready...not according to how long it will take to get ready. 

I should be able to get the girls out of bed in about 5 minutes. But it will take closer to 15.  We should be able to eat breakfast in about 20 minutes.  But it will take more like 30.  The girls should be able to get dressed in about 10 minutes.  But they will be upstairs for at least 20. 

The thing is that if I tell them to hurry, I might as well say, "Flibbity floo-floo fly."  They say "okay," but it doesn't really mean anything to them.  It doesn't make them march up the stairs without lingering at each spindle on the railing, tracing the curves with their fingers.  It doesn't make them brush their teeth without starting at their tongues in the mirror for 2 or 3 minutes.  It does absolutely nothing to silence the princess dolls and fairy toys that seem to beckon to them in their room.  It does not increase their understanding of the finite amount of time we have before school starts, nor how or why it is wrong for us to be late to dance class.  What does late even mean?

So I resolve today to plan our departures in consideration of how long it will take to get ready, not how long it should take.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies

In recent months, I have made so many cakes (with leftovers for our family to enjoy), that the arrival of the Christmas season did not bring with it the usual excitement for baked goods.  In fact, I was relieved that no one made a birthday cake for me a couple of weeks ago--I don't think I could have stomached it!  But visions of sugar plums have once again danced in my head over the last few days, and I've revved up the kitchen Ferrari (red KitchenAid mixer) once again. 

Over the weekend, I baked a batch of rolled sugar cookies for the sole purpose of indulging my five-year-olds in their desire to decorate Christmas cookies.  I know what my favorite Christmas cookie recipe is and that it is not conducive to cut-out cookies, and so I made this other recipe...and was cursing under my breath the whole time.  They were a sticky mess, even rolled out on parchment paper, and I had to start over with the dough multiple times before finally putting enough of a mix of flour and powdered sugar on my work surface to get the cut cookies to survive from counter top to cookie sheet.  (I had to reassure my husband that I am not pregnant, as the last time he saw me so angry in the kitchen I had surging twin pregnancy hormones to blame.)

For rolled sugar cookies, they came out tasting pretty good, but not amazing.  And when you have a recipe for amazing sugar cookies, "good" won't cut it.  So I sent half of those cookies to work with my husband--those guys will eat anything--and I'm taking the other half to my daughters' preschool Christmas party tomorrow.  (You may have noticed that preschoolers may be picky when it comes to dinner fare, but are much less discerning when it comes to sweets.)  Another mom is bringing cookie-decorating supplies, and I'm sure that after the kiddos douse their cookies in icing and sprinkles, they'll be deliriously happy regardless of what's under the sugary coating.

So yesterday, I baked a batch of my favorite Christmas cookies.  They are buttery, light (in texture, not calories!), and just sweet enough.  This is an evolved version of a recipe that I found in a Christmas around the world book when I was in middle school, had copied onto a recipe card, and sadly lost for what seemed like an eternity.  Several years ago, I ran a search online with the ingredients I could remember, and found almost the exact recipe.  Soon thereafter, I found the same book with the original recipe in a public library when we were living in Louisiana... And then, when I was at my parents' house for Christmas that year, I found my copy of the recipe that I had hand-written in middle school in my mom's recipe file--where I had looked again and again for it over the years.  This recipe was meant to be!  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Sugar Cookies

Cream the following ingredients together:

• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. butter, softened
• 1 c. vegetable oil
• 1 c. confectioner’s sugar

Add the following and mix well:

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¾ tsp. almond extract 

Sift together the following ingredients, and then add them gradually to the above mixture:

• 4 ½ c. flour
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt

Refrigerate dough at least one hour, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°.
Roll the batter into small balls (about 1 inch diameter) and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Grease the bottom of a round drinking glass, dip it into sugar (or colored sugar), and then flatten the dough balls to about ¼ inch with the sugar-coated glass.
Bake 10-12 min. or until just golden.