Tasty Tuesday-Treats for Peeps Green Tea Cupcakes

Mom is big on giving us hounds ANTIOXIDANTS as part of our diet and supplement regime.  In fact we think its her favorite word, any canine food stuff sprouting that word has mom chomping at the bit.   She regularly gives us Curcumin, Fish Oil, Sardines, Fresh Fruits and Veggies in addition to supplement mixes like: Organic Pet Superfood: Immunity, Nupro Gold, Pet Kelp, Cranimals, Honest Kitchen Invigor, and Dr. Harvey's Golden Year.   Mom gets all the mixes from Olive Green Dog they have a geriatric section on their website and she rotates the mixes to make sure we don't get to much of one particular herb.  (Mom read that rotating supplements was a good idea on the Dog Aware
website.

So with mom's supplement fixation you would think she takes a lot of vitamins herself, but No Sir E Bob, all she takes is a dinky little multi-vitamin, and she hardly eats the healthiest diet.   Yeah she tells us that she loves fruit and rides her bike a lot, but we live with her and we see her shoveling in the cheese poofs not to mention the recipes she has posted on the blog.  Sheesh!

So we have been telling her to try to get some antioxidants into her diet, like Green Tea.  After all she loves Japan: sushi, bubble tea, Hayao Miyazaki, and the late Dr. Z's geisha costume was her favorite of our Halloween outfits:

 

A few months ago mom bought some Matcha (green tea powder) at the Mitsuwa
Japanese market place in Edgewater.  She highly recommends this market to any NJ residents its filled with tons of cool Japanese stuff: tasty Ramen, bubble tea, cute plastic models of food, and Hello Kitty shaped marshmallows.   So this weekend she used it to make Green Tea Cupcakes (not sure if the antioxidants are still healthy when combined with all that butter and sugar).


Green Tea Cupcakes  with Green Tea Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3/4 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon Matcha green tea powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 1 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours and green tea powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Ingredients:
1 eight oz packages cream cheese,softened slightly,cut into small pieces
1/2 stick unsalted butter,softened slightly,cut into small pieces
1 tsp Matcha Green Tea Powder

3 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter on medium for three minutes until smooth.  Beat in the green tea powder.  Gradually add the sugar and beat until a good consistency.  

Frost the cupcakes.

Mom note: If you want to give the power of green tea antioxidant to your pooch I  found this supplement and I've ordered it in every size for my hounds and will review it soon. 

 

Monday Mischief-He'll Take Manhattan!

Weasley here----Sometimes its hard being a puppy.   I'm not supposed to go out for walks until all my puppy shots are done, something about me getting icky diseases.   Yet I'm bursting with energy that barking at Norber'ts butt, biting ankles, and chasing squeaky toys sometimes can't satisfy.   

Plus some guy named Dr. Ian Dunbar says I need to meet like a bazillion friendly people a before I'm four months old in order to be: SOCIALIZED.

I'm all for the socialization thing if it means trips and treats and pets, fun.   So mom and dad promised to take me to a nice outdoor cafe for dinner Saturday night.  I was all excited, mom had packed a treat bag and my chew bone and Tubby had told me that when eating with the peeps you often get to snag a bit of their noms.  So I'm all psyched, and then disaster....Epic rain, buckets full.   So no outing.   I had to spend the evening being chased around the living room by Daddy while I tried to eat a plastic bag.

Anyway--the next morning I woke up and more rain, so I was pretty worried.  But thank goodness the sun came out!  and mom and dad took me to Manhattan.  I rode in my Outward Hound bag on the Path Train and I was pretty calm:

Mom and Dad figured my cuteness would attract many eager puppy socializers and it did!  Our first stop was the shoe store Tree Torn. 

 Its been raining so much that mom bought some cute red rain boots 





 which she is very eager to wear, so of course that means it will stop raining.  While we where in the store at least four people came over to pet me and compliment my cuteness, plus two people came out of the Doc Marten's store next store.


After the shoe store mom and dad wanted to take me to a pet store and on the way they stopped at Jacques Torres Chocolate.  I read the cartoon on the window from The City Sweet Tooth detailing all the delicious treats the shop had.

 When Dad went on I was pretty excited, mudslide cookies sound cool, but major dissapointment he just came out with frozen hot chocoaltes for him and mom and nothing for me.  Something about chocolate being poisionous for dogs, sheesh.

Thankfully, our next stop was much better.  We went to Zoomies NYC 
 a doggie boutique with a biscuit bar! 

 Mom and Dad even bought me a toy, a New York taxi.   Unfortunately, they didn't see the price and it was 16 bucks!  Which is more then they really wanted to pay for a squeeky Taxi when I already have about a billion toys at home.  I'm completely worth it though and I proved it by posing cutely with the bag on the bench outside the store.

Mom and Dad where happy to see that I seem to enjoy playing with the Taxi

Its the perfect souvenir of my first Manhattan adventure.

Big Dog, Little Dog

Playing with friendly adult dogs is an essential part of the socialization process.  This interaction allows puppies to learn appropriate social skills and without puppies may grown into adult dogs who are fearful, aggressive or akward with other canines.  We are lucky enough that Weasley has four canine siblings to socialize with.  While they were a bit leery of  him at first they have becoming more and more comfortable and lately they have been playing together.  Norbert in particular has been great about telling Weasley with a paw and a grumble when his play is getting too rough.   

 Next Sunday Weasley will start puppy pre-school at Its Your Dog in Sussex County and the socialization to non-family member canines will begin!

Victoria Day-A Recipe for Victoria Sponge

Today marks the birthday of Queen Victoria, who ruled the British Empire for 63 years, always with a dog by her side







In her honor I am posting a recipe for Victoria Sponge, one of her favorite cakes.

Victoria Sponge 

Serves 8-10
Preparation Time: 35-40 minutes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

• Preheat  the oven to 350F
• With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time , along with the vanilla.
• With a spatula, fold in the flour and baking powder and mix until smooth.
• Divide the batter between 2 buttered and floured 8-inch cake tins and smooth the surface by tapping gently on the side of the tins. (Or do what I do and bake in one tin and then slice in half).
• Bake for 20-25 minutes.
• Test for doneness with a knife or skewer (if its crumb free, its done). Turn out onto wire rack to cool.

Butter Cream Icing1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of confectioners’s sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk

• In an electric mixer beat the butter until light and creamy, then add the vanilla.
• Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar.
• Add just enough milk to make the mixture soft and spreadable.

To assembleRaspberry jam (I use Smuckers)

1/2 pint raspberries

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

• Once the cake has cooled, spread one half of the cake evenly with the butter cream. Spread the other half with raspberry jam.
• Put the two halves together, with the cream facing the jam, and place on a cake plate. Dust lightly with confectioners’ sugar

If you want to read about Victoria and her pug Bosco, who was a favorite of hers although not as famous as her beloved spaniel-Dash, check out our post from last year link.  


I also highly recommend the book pictured with the cake Noble Hounds and Dear Companions it is filled with gorgeous photos of royal family and their dogs from the royal photography collecton.

Wordless Wednesday PJ Pawty

 

Weasley's new PJs are from the Pug Possessed Etsy shop.

Pugs in The Kitchen Treats-(Not Just for Pugs)

Anyone with a dog knows the most popular room in the house, no matter how shabby its condition, is the kitchen.

After all that is where the human is likely storing the dog treats, as well as all the tasty tidbits that are off-limits to even the most deserving hound.  Its also where that human magic called cooking occurs.  Now, I love cooking for my dogs, but sometimes I am just feeling too lazy or too busy (such as when a new puppy has entered the home).  At those times I like to turn to treats from Pug in The Kitchen.   .

Sir Tubs-a-Lot (Tubby), Starship Pugerprise (Weasley)  and (Ping-a-Ling) Ping in Weasley's X-Pen in the kitchen (The Nicknames are from Sarge's Nick Name Game)

 There treats are home-made by real dog lovers and contain nutritious, yummy ingredients.  They offer grain free and allergy friendly options.  The treats  are made in small batches and are all natural so you never have to worry about re-calls.   Plus their very economical!   For aproximately 20 dollars you get 2 lbs of tasty tidbits.   Treats from Pugs in the Kitchen arrive vacuum packed to ensure freshness and can be frozen until you want to use them.

Grain Free Lavendar Chicken, Cheese Pizza, and Pumpkin Kisses Treats

You definitely don't need to be a pug to enjoy these treats.  All of the urban hounds are wild for them.  We particularly like that they are soft and chewy, a nice change from the usual crunchy treats.

"Put away the damn camera and give me a treat already!"

"I think I'll help myself"

"Hey Bob, when do you think she is going to give us a treat?"

"Yum!"

"Nom-Nom"

So anyway just when we thought Pugs in The Kitchen could not possibly get any cooler, they did!  They got way cooler!  because they introduced toys, not just any toys but toys with a Star Trek theme.  I mean what could be better for a family of dogs that have shirts like this:

Mom bought the toys right away and luckily she bought extra because they don't seem to have the Insignia dog toy anymore.  Hopefully, they can still make it because it is already our favorite. Weasley in particular loves the toy, after a nice round of fetch its perfect for a nap

 Particularly when you are wearing your Star Fleet Cadets t-shirt!

Monday Mischief-Tommy Two Scoops

We love dog friendly dining establishments, its one of our favorite things about the warmer months in the city.   Nearly every restaurant and cafe around here has dog friendly outdoor seating, but one place trumps them all in the dog friendly department: Tommy Two Scoops.  They allow dogs in the back garden, which is walled in even though you have to walk through the restaurant to get there.  That is seriously dog friendly since most places only allow dogs in the side walk portion of the restaurant.  Plus the owners and workers love dogs and always take time to great and pet them AND they give out tasty biscuits.  Did I mention that Tommy Two Scoops makes gelato, and that its very good.  They have been been mentioned in the New York Times.

This weekend we brought Tubby, Ping and Weasley (in his stroller since he is still very young) to the restaurant.  

They were so friendly they invited us inside and all of the workers made a fuss over Weasley, great socialization opportunity!

We just got some ice cream but we will definitely back to try their brunch and visit their out door garden.

After ice cream we went for a walk in Van Vorst park

Weasley enjoyed listening the sound of barking dogs in the dog run, he barked right back!  We promised to take him in when he gets older.