Home Baked Treats!

Here I am with all the ingredients and finished products laid out.
Here is part of the crowd as they were coming in waiting for the demo to begin!

Here are my adorable little helpers!

This is Jessica Powell of the Newport Branch of the Campbell County Library. She is the one who invited me to speak. She is a "Librarian Extraordinaire" in my book. She even took the time to make a special display of pet cookbooks/pet care books and showed them to everyone in attendance after the presentation. Now, that is dedication!

Here is my official "Demented Martha Stewart-Wannabee Photo"

Thank you so much to the Newport Branch of the Campbell County Library for inviting me to do a "Pet Treat Baking Demonstration" last Thursday, August 26. It was so much fun that I nearly fainted from the excitement. (And from the effort of getting everything together!)

I met so many wonderful animal-people and we shared many great stories about our pets as well as recipes and tips on how to bake home-made, healthy treats.

Here are the recipes I shared. (I took samples of each so everyone could take home a little bag to share with their furry and feathered pals.)

Anne Crone

of “The Bird Shoppe’s”

Blueberry-Banana Birdie Waffles

(Makes about 6 waffles)

Ingredients

2 Cups Flour
1 Tbs. Sugar
3 Tsp. Baking Powder
3 Large Eggs
1 ½ Cups Milk
½ Cup Olive Oil
1 Cup Mashed Ripe Bananas
½ Cup Fresh Blueberries
Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Method:

Preheat waffle iron.

In a large bowl combine Flour, Sugar and Baking Powder.

In a medium bowl, beat the Eggs until foamy. Add Milk, Oil and Mashed Bananas.

Combine wet with dry ingredients in large bowl and fold in Blueberries.

Place Non-Stick Spray on waffle iron and make waffles as usual.

Note:

Waffles may be made ahead, frozen and popped into the toaster. Always make sure they are cool before feeding to birds. These are also good smeared with Peanut Butter.

Katnip Krisps

(Makes about 2 dozen)

Ingredients

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/3 cup Whole Milk
¼ cup Dry Milk
1 large Egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. Bran Cereal
2 Tbsp. Pure Honey
2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
2 Tsp. Fresh or 1 Tsp. Dried Catnip

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a baking sheet.

Place Whole Wheat Flour, All Purpose Flour, Whole Milk and Dry Milk in a large mixing bowl and stir well.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it out thinly with a rolling pin.

Cut the dough into small squares and put them on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the catnip cookies for 20-25 minutes until they turn light brown.

Allow the cookies to cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Nipper’s Favorite Dog Cookies

(Makes about 2 dozen depending on the size of your cookie cutter)

Ingredients

2 Cups Flour
3 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
½ Cup Wheat Germ
½ Cup Yellow Cornmeal
1 Egg
½ Cup of the Water you used to boil the Chicken Livers
2 Tsp. Dried Parsley Flakes
1 Cup Chicken Livers
Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine Flour, Wheat Germ, Yellow Cornmeal and Parsley in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat the Egg lightly together with the Oil.

Add Egg and Oil slowly to dry mixture; then add broth from the Chicken Livers. Stir together.

Remove Chicken Livers from water. Pat dry on paper towels and mince very fine. (I used cooking shears.) Fold into dough. Mix well.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until it forms a firm ball.

Roll dough out to ½ inch thickness and cut into shapes with a bone shaped cookie cutter. (I suggest you use a small one.)

Place on cookie sheets that you have coated with Non-Stick Cooking Spray.

Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and firm.

Cookies should be stored in the refrigerator.
　

Note to all: I will tell you the same thing that I told the attendees at the baking demonstration: I am not a veterinarian or an animal dietician. Only you and your vet know what your particular pet can and can't eat. Please ask your personal vet before feeding any of these treats to your animal companions. Every animal is unique and may have allergies, etc. If you have any questions whatsoever about the safety of feeding these treats to your pets, please turn to the experts for guidance. I am a pet care expert, but my knowledge comes from personal experience, not from holding advanced degrees in animal medicine/care.

　

Fans of "Marsie's Menagerie" Can Also Visit My Facebook Page!

C'mon over and visit me on Facebook. My listing is under Marsie Hall Newbold! Let's be friends!

First of all, check out Nipper's 15th birthday celebration: "15 on the 15th!" It was the social event of the season!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2071658

Every Dog Has His Day...

They say that every dog has his day and tomorrow is Nipper's! It is hard to believe that that tiny, five week old puppy is going to be fifteen years old tomorrow. Where did the time go? But, most of all I want to know, why do dogs get old so young?

The same little guy who couldn't even gnaw his way through a Milk Bone back then is getting his own birthday cake tomorrow. It will have three tiers and be decorated with bacon, bologna, hot dogs and salami. I am the one baking it and between you and me, it is so much fun, I can't wait to serve it.

Here's a photo of Nipper peeking out from under the kitchen table. On top are the ingredients for a three-tier, meat-a-rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-ific doggie birthday cake.

Hope you can make it tomorrow! Don't tell Nipper, but his present is a motorized bubble machine that generates up to 1,000 bubbles per minute. His dad just came up from the basement (after installing the batteries, etc.) and declared, "It's tempermental, but it'll work."

Hmmmm...just like me?

Jake and Jake Sweeney!

I have always been easily manipulated by the media. So, when I was a little kid, I had two goldfish named "Jake" and "Jake Sweeney." You see, the Sweeney car dealerships advertised heavily on Saturday mornings and afternoons, which is when I did most of my television viewing.

Who could blame me for wanting to use the Sweeney name? In between "Mr. Hop", "Shock Theater" and "Big Time Wrestling" I would watch in amazement, milk dribbling out of my bowl of Frosted Flakes while Mr. Sweeney hawked the virtues of dozens of used cars. He'd stand out in front of the dealership holding a microphone (which immediately gave him credence in my book) and the lot guys would drive up car after car. When he was finished giving the spiel about how swell each one was, he'd rap the hood with his knuckles and it would drive on as if by magic. Now, that was power!

Once, when I was about five, the Sweeney dealerships had a promotion that gave away a free pony (or $50) with the purchase of every used car. When I got all excited and asked if we could buy a car in order to get one, my dad said that we couldn't keep a horse in the city of Ft. Thomas. A precocious child, I cited a family we knew who lived in the city who had a horse. "You need a special permit," he said (thinking quickly on his feet), "And I don't know how to get one."

Fifteen minutes later I called him to the phone. It was the Mayor's office and they wanted to know where to send the paperwork. Precocious, thy name was Marsie...

Four decades later and I still don't have a pony. But I did buy two goldfish yesterday and for old times sake, named them "Jake and Jake Sweeney." They're nice, but you can't ride 'em. Hey, maybe...that gives me an idea. If not now, when? Gotta go, I'm calling they Sweeney's; perhaps they has a few left over.

Nipper's Serenade!

Our dog Nipper has an "official" song. It's one of many, really, but nearly every day of his 14 3/4 years with us (except for the six weeks he was with his birth mother and littermates), I have sung this to him:

(To the tune of "Rubber Duckie".)

Nipper Newbold, you're the one -

You make our house lots of fun.

Nipper Newbold, we're awfully fond of you -

Boop, boop, be-do!

Nipper Newbold, joy of joys!

So pretty it's hard to believe you are a boy!

Nipper Newbold, you're our very best friend it's true!

Chorus:

Everyday you roll over and we rub your tummy.

Why? 'Cause it's so furry and chubby!

Rub-a-rub-rubby!

Nipper Newbold, you're so fine -.

We let you outside when you whine.

Nipper Newbold, we're awfully fond of -

Nipper Newbold, we'd like a whole kennel -

of youuuuu!

I have a theory. Life is a huge musical and there is a song for virtually everything! Do you sing to your pets? Bet you do! What songs are on your personal menagerie's "Hit Parade" list?

Cleanliness is Not Next to Hamster-i-ness!

Hamsterdam.
Peace offering.
Release.
Materials of cleanliness.
Inside the ball.

My hamsters are mad at me. Squeaking mad. Why? Because I had the audacity to clean their cage. (Well,actually it's an aquarium with a screened lid, but let's not quibble about the details because there is enough discord in the house right now as it is.)

It had to be done. They were getting downright stinky and since they share my office and I'm the responsible-pet-owner-in-residence, I'm the one who has to do it, even though it makes me the "bad guy." I know that they spend lots of time getting their little lair "just right," but it's not like they're not used to it. We have a routine.

Once or twice a week, I put up the baby gate to keep Nipper out of the kitchen, place Sheldon and Leonard in their little hamster balls so they can run across the kitchen floor while I work, spread the newspaper out over the kitchen table, gather the materials and give "Hamsterdam" a good, old-fashioned, soap and hot water scrubbing. Then they get fresh litter, clean water, a new bowl of food and to assuage their pique (gosh, I love dropping pretentious French phrases when it comes to talking about housepets), bribe them with a vanilla Oreo cookie to make it all better.

But they are still spitting mad...so angry they can barely run their wheel. You should see them stomping around that cage messing the place up again. Ah, well...what else do they have to do? As my Great-Grandmother was fond of saying, "Everybody has to have a hobby!"

I'm a Dog Watcher!

*Singing*
(In my prettiest, warbilest voice to the tune of “Girl Watcher” by the O’Kaysions):

“I’m a dog watcher.
I’m a dog watcher.
Watchin’ dogs go by.
My, my, my…”.

Now I may not have been awarded the Presidential Physical Fitness Award in grade school (I didn’t want to do those stupid 100 sit ups anyway), but as an adult I have excelled at the sport of dog watching.

You see, my inner child never progressed beyond the stage of pointing to every canine she sees and practically shrieking, “Doggie! Doggie, doggie, doggie!”

Dog watching never gets old and my absolute most favorite place in the world to indulge is Hyde Park Square. It is a dog-watcher’s heaven on earth. There is absolutely nothing better than sitting at one of those little tables out in front of Awakenings with a sugar-free, fat-free, vanilla latte and watching the pooches on parade.

They range from pure-breds to mutts, and the owners are all equally proud. Most are willing, if not eager to stop and let you pet their pals and share their stories. It is people at their friendliest and most open in ways they might never be if they didn‘t have their dogs with them. Admiring someone’s dog is a sure-fire conversation starter and a great equalizer. The truth is, from my own experience with my own dogs, is you are not just walking your dog…it is your heart at the end of that leash and you are taking it out for all the world to see.

Do you have a favorite dog watching spot? I'd love to know! C'mon, after all, turn-about is fair play!