Smokin' Country Kitchen

That title would describe my kitchen this weekend.

Yesterday, I made potato and ham soup, along with two batches of organic dog biscuits. The potato soup is a big hit with the hubby, and I'm going to point you to the recipe, because aside from peeling and cutting up the potatoes, this has got to be the EASIEST potato soup recipe I've ever found, and it is astoundingly delicious, considering how few ingredients there are. Read the reviews for this recipe too, and you'll see many people raving over it, and also admitting that they didn't change the recipe much. Sorry I don't have a photo of my soup, but go here and give this recipe a try. You will not regret it!

Below is a partial result of my organic dog biscuit baking marathon this weekend - I've made small sample bags to take to work on Monday. I now have four varieties of organic biscuits - Trixie Lou's Cheesers, Tori's Pumkin Luv, Ringo's P'nut Butter Spots, and Barnyard Pals. I hope to add the new flavors (full-size bags) to my Paypal button on my right sidebar sometime later this week. The Cheesers and the P'nut Butter Spots will be packaged in 8 oz bags, while the smaller sized Pumkin Luv and Barnyard Pals will be packaged in 6 oz bags. Since these treats are preservative-free, you'll need to freeze them if you want to use them beyond 10 days.


Want your own sample pack? For only $3.50 plus the cost of first class postage ($3.26), I can send you a small bag of each variety. Here is the ingredient listing for each flavor:

Trixie Lou's Cheesers: Brown rice flour, oat flour, shredded cheddar and parmesan cheeses, chicken broth and egg. Large bone shaped cutouts.

Tori's Pumkin Luv: Brown rice flour, oat flour or barley flour, pumpkin, egg, molasses and cinnamon. Small heart shaped cutouts.

Ringo's P'Nut Butter Spots: Brown rice flour, rolled oats, peanut butter, egg, honey, apple cider vinegar and water. Large flat cookie type biscuits.

Barnyard Pals: Brown rice flour, rye flour, oat bran, chicken broth, shredded parmesan cheese, egg and garlic powder. Very small barnyard animal cutouts (cow, pig, turkey).

Hope your weekend was as fruitful as mine,
and here's to another great week!

And the Winner is....

Paint Girl!

Thank you to everyone who commented and I truly wish I could send a bag to every single one of you for your sweet pups!!!!

Trixie did not cooperate (as usual) so I had to enlist Tori to pull the winner's name out of my lil mexican bowl. Anyone who has seen my photos from past giveaways knows that Tori is a pro at picking a winner! Alas, no photos this time.... that's what happens when you're back to working 40 hours plus a week.

Paint Girl, do please send me your address via my email - suzgarten(at)yahoo(dot)com. I will be making a fresh batch this weekend so I will get your bag out to you on Monday.

Thanks again to everyone who commented...
you are all the best and your pups are too!!!

"Homemade with Love" Dog Treats Giveaway

UPDATE: Deadline to enter is extended to Midnight EST, tonight!

Enlarge to see detail.

Trixie Lou's Cheesers... we (me, Trixie, Tori and Ringo) have finally perfected this dog treat recipe so that they are yummy, crunchy and good-for-your-pooch! Made with organic oat flour and brown rice flour, they are free of the ingredients that typically cause problems for our pups - wheat, corn, soy and yeast. I've added co-jack and parmesan cheese to the dough, and sprinkled some co-jack on top for a crunchy finish that our dogs love. There are no preservatives, so you'll want to use them up within a week or keep them in the refrigerator.

So what are you waiting for? Leave a comment now for your chance to win a bag of these yummies for your pooch(es). The giveaway will close tomorrow night, Monday, at 6:00 p.m. EST and a winner will be selected by none other than Trixie. Maybe. If I can bribe her to pick a name! Winners are limited to U.S. ~sorry! I can't afford the overseas shipping costs.

I have also decided to sell my "homemade with love" dog treats for the next few months. Price is $6.50 + shipping, payable via Paypal (see button to right, in sidebar), or you can mail a check. Email me at suzgarten(at)yahoo(dot)com if you'd like more information.

I hope to add a beefy and chicken flavor biscuit soon, but for the moment just the Cheesers are available. There are approximately 2 dozen medium size bone-shaped treats in the bag, which weighs between 6 and 7 ozs.

I am trying to keep the cost of shipping reasonable, but the United States postal service makes this task difficult. As long as the total weight of the package is under 13 ozs, it goes first class, approximately $3.26. If you want 2 packages, the box weight tips the scales past 13 ozs, so we'll use Priority mail, the small box rate, which is $4.95. If you want more than two bags of treats, I'll work with you to keep the shipping costs down.

Treats will be baked on weekends and shipped on Mondays and Tuesdays only so that they don't get stuck at the post office over the weekend.

There is nothing better than to end a bad day covered in dog slobber!

Of Dogs and Biscuits and Gold Hydrant Awards

Last chance today to enter my
Summertime Giveaway...
deadline is tonight,
June 12th, at midnight!

Today we made these mouthwatering dog biscuits (recipe below) in honor of the Gold Hydrant Award bestowed on this blog by Life With Dogs blog owner Neil Brogan. See the shiny new award in my sidebar.

Keep reading for your chance to have some

fresh, homemade dog biscuits sent to you next week!

Trixie, Tori and Ringo were SO excited when I told them about the award. And when I told them that I would make fresh dog biscuits for the occasion, well, they just about drooled all over each other! They were not as thrilled when I told them we should send some biscuits to Nigel, Sola and Truffles to thank them for the special award. I reminded them of the goodness in sharing.... um, they weren't buying it and said dogs aren't good at sharing. Well, I suppose that's true...

For those who haven't made our dogs' acquaintance, here are pics of the lot of 'em...

Ringo and Tori, waiting for the frisbee toss

Tori (again) and Trixie at Getaway Cabins, southern Ohio,
several years ago

Some history on my dog-biscuit-making capabilities...

Years ago, when my dalmatian was in his last year and had difficulty digesting his food, I would make fresh dog biscuits AND dog food all the time. It was the only thing he could eat without throwing up. What we will do for the love of a dog...

I miss this boy!

He loved sitting in a chair at the front door.

And I digress, as usual. For those who enjoy pampering their pooches, I'm providing the recipe for the dog biscuits as pictured above. (Recipe taken from Three Dog Bakery Cookbook)

Party Hearty Mix-It-Up Mix
Makes about 84 2-1/2" size biscuits (that's how many it made for me, at least)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 cup honey, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 egg and 4 tsp skim milk in a bowl. In a separate bowl, blend together 2-1/2 cups whole-wheat flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp ground ginger.

Combine dry ingredients with wet mixture and stir thoroughly. Dough will be moist and sticky.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut shapes. Note: Do not add too much flour to dough - by the time you roll out a 3rd or 4th time, the dough can get unmanageable if too much flour mixes in. Use only enough flour to keep it from sticking to countertop.

Place on greased cookie sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes. Cool on rack and store in airtight container. Note: My oven runs pretty warm and I use the airbake cookie sheets, which usually bake items slower -- yet my time was still closer to 12 mins.

Overall, a very simple and delicious dog biscuit treat! The girls and Ringo wholeheartedly endorsed my revisit to the world of homemade dog biscuits, and they are paws-itively convinced that I should make more dog biscuits in the weeks to come. They twisted my paw, er, hand...I finally gave in... I said ok! We shall continue to bake healthy dog treats and offer them up as prizes and send them out to family and friends, so that their dogs can also enjoy healthy and nutritious dog biscuits!

Alrighty then. My next batch of fresh homemade dog biscuits will be even more deelish; I have many recipes. I'll be sending a box to the crew at Life With Dogs, with many thanks. I will also be sending out boxes to the first two readers who comment on this post... so if you have dogs, you owe it to them to be "quick on the paw" and post a comment here!

Note: These dog biscuits are made with human-grade ingredients, so you could eat them yourself, if you wanted to.... but really, they are for the dogs. So it might be helpful if you own a few dogs, or at least know someone with dogs, before you try to be one of the first two commenters to scam your freebies. :-)