Almost Wordless Wednesday-Blast From the Past

This is one of my childhood cats-Cleo.  I got her for my 12th birthday and she lived to be 17.  This is a picture of her in my parent's garden, her favorite place. 

Blueberry Pancakes for People And Blueberry Zuchinni Flap Jacks for Hungry Hounds- A Tasty Tuesday Blog Hop Post

Mmmmm pancakes the perfect lazy weekend morning meal.   I often make pancakes for myself and my husband on the weekends.  In the summer I usually make blueberry pancakes using this recipe from Cooks Illustrated (with a few little changes)

 

Blueberry Pancakes from Cooks Illustrated

1 c. buttermilk (or 1 c. milk with juice of 1/2 added)

1 c. all purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 egg

1 1/2 tbsp of butter, melted and cooled

Blueberries (about 1 cup)

Additional butter for skillet or griddle

If you are using the milk with lemon juice then whisk them together and set aside in measuring cup to thicken.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  

Whisk the egg and melted butter into the buttermilk or milk/lemon mixture.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.  Mix gently with a fork until combined.  Do not over mix, some lumps should remain.

Heat a skillet or griddle over medium high heat for 3-5 minutes.  Add a tbsp of butter and swirl pan to coat.   Drop the batter onto the skillet in 1/4 cup fulls.  Top each pancake with roughly a tbsp of blueberries (make sure the blueberries have been washed and dried with paper towel, wet berries will mess up the pancakes).  Cook for about 2 minutes until big bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake and then flip and cook for 1 minute more.

To keep the pancakes warm while you are cooking them you can keep a large pot of boiling water on the stove.   Top the pot with a plate and as you finish cooking the pancakes transfer them to the plate to keep warm.

(This recipe makes about 8 pancakes you can double it to make more)

The dogs love to sample the pancakes and so I decided to try and make a more doggie friendly pancake or flapjack recipe for them.  As a food fact side note in the UK flapjacks are a sort of oatmeal cookie thing with treacle and pancakes are griddle cakes like our pancakes, in the US pancakes and flap jacks are used interchangeable to describe the same griddle cakes.  Since my pup friendly recipe includes oatmeal I have decided to call them flap jacks.

Blueberry and Zucchini Flapjacks for Hungry Hounds

1  c. flour (whole wheat or all purpose)

1/4 c corn meal

1/4 c. oat bran

1/2 c. quick rolled oats

1 1/2 c. buttermilk or milk (add more if mixture seems to dry)

2 lrg eggs

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 zucchini diced

1 c. blueberries

Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Pour the buttermilk and vegetable oil in a large measuring cup or bowl, beat with a fork, and add the eggs and beat in with a fork.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.  Stir together with a fork, do not over mix,  some lumps will remain.   Fold in the zucchini and berries.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a tbsp of vegetable oil.  When the oil is hot drop the batter in by tablespoons.  Cook until large bubbles appear on the surface of the flapjack about two minutes, then flip and cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on other side until brown.   Cool and feed to hounds.

(Blueberries have a lot of health benefits they are very high in antioxidants, support urinary tract, heart, and eye health, and can help protect brain cells).

The dogs certainly enjoyed the recipe.  Bob wolfed his up so quick I barely had time to take a picture.   Here are some pictures of them enjoying the treats (I decided to dress them up for the meal just for fun).

Even Super Pick Norbert was Interested

And he gobbled them up!

Oooh may I please have some more!

Yum

Tubby waiting patiently

Pug tongue in action-crumbs beware!

Tubby's super cute shirt is from 26 Bars and a Band

Gimme that pancake!

I smells something good

Bob wants all his friends to know that despite the fact that his shirt says I Do Bad Things and the evidence that he will take food of the table, as seen in this photo, he is actually very polite about eating and usually sits patiently for treats.

Check out the link below to see all the yummy treats posted on the Tasty Tuesday Blog Hop hosted by Kolchack Puggle and Sugar the Golden Retriever

Dog Years by Mark Doty-A Book Review Hosted By Tubby-And Blog Hop

This is kind of a cheater book review because I have read this book several times, and even mentioned it on this blog before in this post.  However, I love the book, recently re-read it, and after coughing up 600$ big ones to have Dr. Zira's teeth cleaned (right after paying multiple thousands of dollars for Norbert's bloat surgery) I thought it would be a good idea to use a book I already owned.   The book in question is Dog Years  by Mark Doty.

Mark Doty is an accomplished poet, memoirist, and of course dog lover.   The  book deals with aging, mortality, and loss, but it isn't depressing or maudlin.    What happens is that Doty and his partner are living happily with their black lab mix Arden when Doty's partner contracts AIDS.   Doty has written another memoir dealing with his partner's death so it isn't the focus of the book,  but no one writes about loss better and the images of the partner watching The Incredible Journey as the disease reduces him to an ever more child-like state are heartbreaking.   In order to bolster his own, and his partner's spirits, Doty adopts a golden retriever, Beau, during the final days of the illness.   After Doty's partner passes the dogs provide the sort of solid and non-judgemental support he needs.


The rest of the book moves somewhat back and forth in time dealing with Doty's life with the dogs and  his new partner and their travels and accounts of dogs he loved and lost as a child.   Of course the dogs age, as is inevitable, and around the time of September 11 2001 Beau develops kidney failure and later a neurological disorder and passes away.   The loss of the dog is placed against the destruction of the city and Doty writes about it very effectively.  

Over the next several years Arden, the other dog, gets older and Doty grows even closer to him.   At one point Doty writes a really sweet list of the things Arden enjoys in his advancing years.  At the age of 16 Arden passes and Doty writes one of my favorite lines in the book: " A long life, we say, a fine life, and not nearly long enough."  Anyone who has loved an older dog can't help but understand that line.  Out of four paws we would give this is a four paw review-read it!


Oh and its Saturday Pet Blogger Blog Hop Weekend (though I am linking up on Sunday)

Space-The Final Frontier......For Dogs and Cats

When I was a kid I loved to watch re-runs of the Muppet Show and my favorite skit was Pigs in Space 

Who am I kidding, I still like it.

Anyway, plenty of animals have gone to space (mice, monkeys, a cat from France, rabbits, rats, fish, frogs, tortoises, insects, and several dogs...but seemingly no pigs) I just thought it was decent segue way to this post.

Today, August 19th, marks the 51st  anniversary of Soviet Space Dogs Belka and Strelka day long orbital space flight.   They went into space aboard Korabi-Sputnik 2  and where accompanied by mice, rats, plants, and a camera that recorded the flight.   Belka and Strelka and their co-passengers have the distinction of being the first living creatures to go into orbit and survive.  Previous, soviet space dogs such as Laika, the first living creature to enter orbit, died during flight.   Here is a video clip of Belka and Strelka:

After, Belka and Strelka returned to earth they were national heroes.   Belka went on to have puppies with a dog named Pushok and one of the puppies, Pushinka, was given to President Kennedy's daughter Caroline.  Here is a picture of Pushinka on the white house lawn.

Pushinka went on to have puppies of her own and it is possible that her descendants are still living today.

In a weird coincidence today also marks the anniversary of the birth of Gene Rodenberry, creator of Star Trek.   Like all good science fiction/fantasy fans I LOVE Star Trek, even if it is kind of hokey.  Dogs, however, are pretty much totally absent from Star Trek--what kind of idealized future is that, I ask!  

However, Star Trek does have a cat connecton.  While I was at the Meet The Breeds event last year I noticed a sign at the Devon Rex table claiming that the breed was the inspiration for the Klingons on the show.   According to the story one of the writers for the show had a Devon Rex that liked to cling-on his shoulder, hence the name.  I have not been able to find any other evidence supporting this story though-so I am not sure if authenticity.  The breed does look pretty alien though-in a cute way

image from link

On Star Trek The Next Generation  a cat appears as a fairly regular character.   Data, the android science officer on the show, owns a cat named Spot.   Here is a picture of Spot from the show

 I always thought Spot was neat and when my husband and I got our cat Baby 

 

we almost named her Spot.

In one episode of Star Trek data reads a poem he wrote about Spot that Ive always thought is a pretty good description of cats in general here is the youtube clip and and text of the poem:

 

Ode to Spot

Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,

An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;

Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses

Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,

A singular development of cat communications

That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection

For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.

A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;

You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.

And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,

It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.

O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display

Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.

And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,

I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend. 

I certainly consider my three cats true and valued friends.  

In conclusion keep watching the stars--with your pets at your side.

  

Summertime Sweets, Eat Your Veggies-In Cake Form

Summer is time for some delicious sweet treats like ice cream and Popsicles ........

But one of my favorite summer treats is a cake-a vegetable cake-Zucchini Cake to be exact.   August is Zucchini season and if you have  a vegetable garden in your back yard, or if your an urbanite a Farmer's market in your neighborhood, you will see the green squash abounds.   My favorite thing to do with it is to make the Zucchini cake my mom would make when I was growing up.  Here is the recipe:

Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients (for the cake):

•  3 lrg eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 cups brown sugar (light or dark, it doesn't matter)
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups flour (I use King Arthur brand)
• 3 tsp cinnamon  
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger    
• 2 cups grated zucchini, with skin (about 1 lrg zucchini)
• 1/2 cup grated coconut (sweetened flaked coconut like Baker's brand)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350.

Beat eggs, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla in an electric mixer at medium speed until well combined.    Meanwhile, whisk the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, baking power, and ground ginger, together in a large bowl.   Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined (don't beat the mixture or you will over mix).   Then gently stir in the zucchini, coconut, and nuts. 

Pour the batter into a greased and flour Bundt pan (what I always use), two 9 inch cake pans, to standard loaf pans, or 2 muffin pans (make 24 muffins/cupcakes).   If you are using a Bundt pan or cake pans bake for about an hour, loaf pans about 50 minutes, and muffin pans will only take about 25 minutes.   The cake is done when a tester inserted comes out clean.  

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz package cream cheese (room temperature)
1 stick butter     (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla
1 to 2 cups sifted confectioners (powdered sugar)

Beat the cream cheese and butter together at high speed in an electric mixture.  Add the vanilla and beat again.   Add the powdered sugar gradually, beating well, until you get your desired consistency and sweetness (I usually use all two cups). 


Note: There is no reason dogs can't sample a tiny bit of this cake, though it is a little heavy on the sugar.  A few crumbs wont hurt though, the hounds definitely enjoyed it.                       

     

Norbert Bloat Surger Update-And a New Dog Food For us to Try

Norbert went for his 2 week post surgery exam at the Animal Medical Center 
today.  The vets said he looked great and the x-rays of his lungs looked very good.  Previously, one lung was not fully inflated and they worried that he might have developed pneumonia as a side effect of the surgery.   Norbert has been a little stiff  in his right foreleg singe the surgery.  This is more pronounced after he gets up from lying down and he will limp for a bit and then appears normal after walking for awhile.   The vet checked him out and said he looked very good for his age.  They mentioned that manipulating the limbs during surgery may have exacerbated existing arthritis there.  So for now we are just sticking with the Glucosamine and fish oil we give him already.  He was running up the stairs when we got home, so his arthritis doesn't seem to be slowing him down much.

Yawn, recovery is hard work

 I am so grateful to the vets at the AMC for saving Norbert's life.  I know if he hadn't gone to such a good emergency hospital he might not have survived the surgery for bloat and torsion, many dogs don't.    Its an amazing hospital that is at the forefront of veterinary medicine.  Before our appointment today, I met an 8 year old shih tzu who is going there to get radiation treatments for a tumor in his nasal passages.  I feel for his owners having a dog that is so sick, but I think its wonderful the dog is getting such great care.  He literally came bouncing out of the radiation session.  I imagine that treatment for what this little guy has wouldn't have existed even a few years ago.


Well off the subject of vets and onto something more fun-Dog Food!  Friday night we took Bob to a new store in Jersey City, Hound About Town.



It is a really nice little store with lots of adorable toys and good quality treats and dog foods.   They were having an event where the makers of Evermore Pet Food where in the store to discuss their product.  Evermore is made in Brooklyn, New York with fresh antibiotic free meats and organic fruits and veggies.  Its cooked, but is sold frozen.  The ladies who make it even taste test each batch of the food!  Bob certainly enjoyed the sample he tried.  

The only flaw with Evermore is its a bit out of our price range, at 10 dollars for two pounds of food (it was on sale for 8 dollars on Friday).

We bought one box to add as a topper to the kibble we feed Norbert, Bob, and Zira or the Honest Kitchen we feed Tubby and Ping.  

Here is a picture of Bob posing with a box of Evermore Pet food

Bibliophile Bob-A Hounds Book Review Post

The hounds are excited to introduce a new feature to our blog, book reviews.  Our mom loves to read, so book reviews are a natural choice.   We've decided to include non-fiction and fiction choices, so long as animals are featured in the book.  Our first book choice is Dog Sense by English animal behaviorist, John Bradshaw.  Below is Bob checking out his work:

 Mom took the book out of the library (got to support those libraries since our grand dad was the director of the Saratoga Springs Public Library until he retired).  Overall mom is glad she didn't buy the book because a lot of the information in it was things she already new from other books she has read and from John Bradshaw's interview in bark magazine.  Still mom liked the book and would give it a 3 and a half paw rating, out of four.

Things I (mom) liked about the book:

1.) Bradshaw points out that wolves and dog's are very different.  I have never liked the dog is a wolf theory, and pretty much all modern research into dog behavior discounts it.   Bradshaw points out that though dog's DNA is similar to wolves, they are still drastically different.  First, he provides evidence that supports that DNA does not regulate behavior.  Then he argues that dogs have been in existence for approximately 15,000 years, so they have had all that time to become very different from wolves.   Finally, he points out that our original assumptions of wolf behavior are very faulty because they are based on observations of wolves in zoos and those wolves are in an abnormal environment and thus don't behave like typical wolves in the wild.   Rather then looking to wolves for clues about dog behavior, Bradshaw suggests we look to the behavior of feral village dogs in India.  These dogs live much like dogs might have lived in early human times.   They exist in a loose pack structure, but there is no definite "alpha" dog and they don't hunt together.

2.) Since he discounts the wolf theory he is very anti the dominance/alpha theory of dog behavior.   I love this because I am not a fan of dominance/alpha theory at all, lots of abuse has been dumped on dogs for many years due to the "alpha" theory.  In Bradshaw's opinion dogs are not constantly trying to dominate humans, or each other, and  if we act like they are they fail to really understand and bond with our dogs. 

3.) He is against physical punishment.   At our house we definitely prefer the carrot to the stick approach, in my opinion positive reinforcement is how dogs, people, cats, everyone learns.  Bradshaw recommends positive reinforcement and also withdraw of attention as an aversive for a dog who misbehaves.   So if a dog is jumping up on you and you don't like it, turn away from the dog and ignore them rather then physically punish the dog.  Then when the dog is behaving again (four fleet on the floor) lavish them with the attention they crave.

4.) He wants people to lighten up their expectations on dogs.  Bradshaw points out that we humans expect a LOT of our dogs.  We want them to behave in public at all times, to be quiet, to wait for us patiently while we are gone, to repress frustration and anxiety, etc.   Bradshaw has particularly good advice about how to train a dog to adjust to being left alone that might help dogs with separation anxiety.

5.) He's English-What can I say, I am an unrepentant anglophile so anyone from that country automatically gets points.

What I didn't like:

1.) Much of what has been said in the book has been said before and though Bradshaw does add some new things to the conversation, a lot of it felt like a rehashing of other books I've read.

Here is a link to a you tube video of Bradshaw discussing dog behavior