Blog — "recipe"

This past Sunday was Lilah's fifth birthday. While she is starting to grey a little in the chin, when most people ask us how old she is, they are shocked to find out that she's not one or two years of age. We've been told by many of our friends that she has mellowed out considerably in these five years, but she truly is one of the happiest dogs I've ever met and just doesn't slow down.

Andrew and I...

This past Sunday was Lilah's fifth birthday. While she is starting to grey a little in the chin, when most people ask us how old she is, they are shocked to find out that she's not one or two years of age. We've been told by many of our friends that she has mellowed out considerably in these five years, but she truly is one of the happiest dogs I've ever met and just doesn't slow down.

Andrew and I usually give Lilah something special for her birthday, so this year we decided to make her some biscuits. They were quick and simple to make and boy does she love them! Between her high level of energy and the fact that she snarfed her biscuit down so quickly, I gave up all hope of capturing a photo of her for this blog post. After glancing at several recipes, I decided that I could have a go at making my own concoction that would please Lilah based on some of her very favorite things. This recipe includes simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry, and is fairly healthy. Lilah will eat just about anything and can put on a few extra pounds quite quickly if we're not too careful, so I kept that in mind. In addition, we've still only been giving her one biscuit about every other day so as not to overdo it.

Homemade Dog Biscuits

What You'll Need

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth (please make sure it is low sodium! too much salt is not good!)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 mashed banana

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix flour, oats, and baking powder. Stir in the broth, peanut butter, and banana until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball on a floured counter. Kneed the dough for about 30 seconds to make the dough smooth. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about a third of an inch thickness. Use a dog bone shaped cookie cutter to cut biscuits and place the biscuits on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes until the biscuits are crunchy.

And from one dog family to another, we hope that your pups enjoy these biscuits as much as Lilah does!

Do you celebrate your dog's birthday? Have you made dog biscuits before? I'd love to hear about your recipes!

Yesterday was Saint Patrick's Day (as you all know), but instead of the normal sunshine and 65 degree weather we tend to have around this time of year, we got dumped on by several inches of snow. This winter in Baltimore has been rough. I mean really, really rough. I've really tried to stay positive through it all and hopeful of warmer weather making it's way into the forecast, but I'd say I'm...

Yesterday was Saint Patrick's Day (as you all know), but instead of the normal sunshine and 65 degree weather we tend to have around this time of year, we got dumped on by several inches of snow. This winter in Baltimore has been rough. I mean really, really rough. I've really tried to stay positive through it all and hopeful of warmer weather making it's way into the forecast, but I'd say I'm probably not alone in this city (or this country, for that matter) when I say I almost feel like it has gotten the better of me. So when the snow started falling on Sunday night, I decided I would make the best of the situation and at least make cookies. After all, who doesn't like to eat cookies while stuck inside the house with the snow swirling outside. And nothing makes you feel more warm and cozy than some of your mom's best cookies, so I busted out an old favorite my mom had baked many a time.



These oatmeal coconut cookies may be the best on the planet. They are soft and chewy and last for weeks! I might sound crazy, but the back story is that when my mom was in college, she drove from Indiana to Santa Fe to visit her aunt. She had made a batch of these cookies to munch on in the car. Upon returning to Indiana, she forgot about the cookies until finding a bag of them under her car seat about a month later. Laughing at the entire scenario, she decided to taste one to see if they still were any good, and sure enough, they were just as good as they had been a month prior! So while the "official" name of this recipe is Oatmeal Coconut Cookies, the other name in our family is Oatmeal Coconut Cookies that Stay Good.

 Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

What You'll Need

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups shredded coconut
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Mix in eggs. Mix in coconut and rolled oats. Add the flour, soda, and baking powder. Shape in to one inch balls and place onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until edges start to brown.

One thing that I love about summer is the bounty of delicious fruit that it brings. When I spotted this recipe for apricot mini cakes, I knew I needed to try it. I love light desserts that are fresh and not too sweet, and these cakes are just perfect! Just enough tartness from the apricot and a little bit sweet in the cake batter and a sprinkle of sugar on top. And they're light enough to enjoy one or two after a big summer grilling meal.


Apricot Mini Cakes

What you'll need

• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 Tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 apricots
• 2 Tablespoons sugar for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add in the egg, lemon zest, and vanilla and incorporate well. Add in the flour mixture alternately with the milk in two additions, ending with the flour. Pour a small amount of batter into a greased cupcake tin (should make 12 cakes!). Halve and pit the apricots and slice them into quarter inch slices. Place a few apricot slices on top of the batter in each cup. Sprinkle each cake with the 2 Tablespoons of sugar. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops are golden.