Shake Shack Visit -Take Two and Saturday Pet Bloggers Blog Hop

In April I wrote this post about visiting Shake Shack in Madison Square Park with Ping and my friend Pat.   Wednesday, we made a return trip, Ping rode on the path train in her Pet Trex Stroller.  I met Pat and her daughter, Jennifer, and her new grand son, Luca, at the Shack.

Luca and Ping didn't pay much attention to each other, Ping was more focused on Squirrels.

Ping and Me

Ping's Poochie Sundae

Scarfing that Sundae down!

Two cuties in strollers

Shake Shack has locations in NYC, Washington, Miami, Saratoga Springs, Westport CT, and in the Middle East.  If you don't live in one of these places you can't get the burgers that people like up like this for:

 

 The lines are long, but the burgers are damn good.  I'm drooling just looking at this picture

 

 link to image source

Apparently what makes them so delicious is that they ground the meat themselves like old school burger joins used too in the fifties.   I found a recipe on Cooks Illustated that aims to approximate the classic Shack style burger.   In the winter when I can no longer go to the Shack I am going to try it and I will let you know how it goes.  Here it is for now:

 Shake Shack Style Burgers

10 ounces of sirloin steak, cut in 1 inch chunks
6 ounces boneless beef short ribs cut in,  1 inch chunks

Kosher salt and black pepper 

1 tbsp butter

4 Pepperidge Farm classic hamburger buns

1/2 tsp vegetable oil

4 slices of American Cheese

1 thinly sliced white onion

1 beef steak tomato, sliced thickly 

lettuce

Place the beef in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet, making sure meat chunks are at least 1/2 inch apart, and freeze in the freezer for about 20 minutes or until it is very firm.  

Place 1/2 the meat in a found processor and grind using 10 to 15 one second pulses and repositioning as you go so all the meat gets ground.  It should be in slightly larger chucks then ground beef when done, but beginning to come together.

Separate meat into four equal rounds on baking sheet and very gently form into patties.  Do not over handle the meat, the edges and surface of the patties should still be bumpy.

Melt butter in the skillet over medium heat and toast the bun tops in the butter for about 2 minutes.  Set aside.

Return the skillet to medium high heat  and add the oil and heat until it is just smoking.  Transfer patties to skillet and cook without moving for 3 minutes.  Flip and cook 1 more minute and top with the American cheese.  Cook one minute longer.

Serve with the lettuce tomato and onion slices and sauce.

Ranch Sauce

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tbsp ketchup

1/2 tsp pickle relish

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

1/4 tsp pepper

Whisk ingredients together and service on burgers.

Product Review-Embrace Pet Insurance

 

From this....

to This

And without bankruptcy.  Thanks Embrace!



I just have to say that I LOVE Embrace Pet Insurance.  I researched a lot of companies before choosing Embrace due to its comprehensive  cancer care and the fact that it covers alternative therapies like chiropractic care and acupuncture, these are things I know I would want to try if one of my animals became very ill.  Most insurance companies do not cover these therapies.   Embrace also offers excellent coverage of chronic conditions such as diabetes and allergies and breed specific conditions such as hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, and Invertebral Disk Disease (IVDD).   

When Norbert had his emergency surgery for bloat and torsion  the initial estimate from the Animal Medical Center was 8,000 dollars.   Thankfully due to Norbert's quick recovery it wound up costing slightly less then 6,000.  As soon as we had Norbert home we submitted our claim to Embrace.  This was the first claim we had filed with them since getting insurance 8 months ago.   Right away Embrace contacted me to let me know they had received our paper work.   in 15 days we received 80% of the bill, minus our 500 dollar yearly deductible, just as our policy stated we would.  We were able to have Embrace deposit the money into our checking account so we could send it to our credit card immediately.   I am so relieved we had this insurance and I was so happy with the customer service Embrace as provided us, from before the incident when we were choosing a plan to during the crises.  My next puppy or kitten will be insured with Embrace from day one.

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.