Nemo Fun

As far as Pixar movies go in our house we are partial to Up, but that didn't stop us from enjoying Nemo this morning (or at least Norbert, Weasley, and Bob did Tubby and Ping are not into the snow thing).   Thanks to Nemo our tiny urban backyard was a winter wonderland.

Of course after all that shoveling and playing you need a nice warm breakfast.   Mom just got the Smitten Kitchen cookbook for her kindle, based on the popular blog of the same name, and she is seriously obsessed with trying all the recipes.  This morning she made New York Breakfast Casserole a hodge-podge of ingredients based on the two most classic NYC breakfasts a bagel and cream cheese and egg and cheese on a roll.  According to mom and dad it was delish and they even let us have a nibble of the bagel.  Mom says if your peep like to cook they need to get the Smitten Kitchen book (most of the recipes in it are not on the blog.)

New York Breakfast Casserole from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

• 8 day old bagels cut in chunks, I used sesame but would have preferred poppy seed.  Day old bagels are a think in New York and sold at a lower price Im not sure if they exist in the rest of the country but Im sure you could also use fresh or frozen bagels.
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 8 oz package cream cheese cut in cubes
• 8 eggs
• 2 1/3 cups half and half or milk
• 1 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• Lox and capers to serve

Preheat the oven to 350.   In the cookbook the casserole is made in third layers but I just made two layers.   Put half the bagel chunks at the bottom of the casserole and then top with 1/2 the cream cheese cubes.  Mix in all the tomatoes and onions.  Top with the remaining  bagel chunks and remaining cream cheese.  Whisk the eggs and half and half together with the salt and pepper.   Pour over the half and half mixture and bake 1 hour 15 minutes and serve with lox and capers for the authentic New York taste.

A Very Merry Dogmas (and Catty New Year)

Santa Paws came and we had so much fun opening our presents with Dad's help (prepare for blurry photo over load)

Bob with his stocking

Weasley got a new coat from Pug Snuggly

Bob got a Bumble Ball

He also got a Penguin

Weasley got a hyper pet bag, the perfect toy for a Hyper Pug

Norbert got a tugging toy Moose

Ping and Tubby got a new bed

Of course we all got plenty of treats

Ping got a red beret from For the Love of Pug

It goes perfectly with her new navy and white bobble sweater from Auntie Melissa at Pug Notes

Tres Chic

Weasley was very eager to get into his stocking

He got a knotted rope deer toy from Olive Green Dog

Thank goodness Santa didn't forget the Antler Chews

and he brought a new red Jive Ball for Norbert

and a cute retro Reindeer Toy

Our favorite stinky tripe chews

Here is our new bed piled with all of our stuff!  What a haul

We had fun playing with the Hyper Pet Bag, it barks and shakes and hops!

The cats got treats and knitted cat nip toys

The bumble ball was fun too, it hops and shakes

Knitted cat nip toys, how cute is it that they have Patrick from Sponge Bob!

We had a nice yummy breakfast too (these are the tastiest scones ever)

Blueberry Cream Scones 

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (King Arthur is always best)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt, as always Kosher Salt is best
6 tbsp butter, chilled and cut in small bits
3/4 cup frozen wild bluberries
1 cup heavy cream, plus a bit extra for brushing scones
1 egg 
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 425.   In a food processor combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.   Add the butter and process at short bursts, don't over process, there should still be a few small bits of butter, smaller then a pea, in the flour mixture.  Dump the flour mixture in a large bowl and mix in the blueberries, don't bother thaw them, mix them in frozen.   Stir together the cream, egg, and vanilla in a large measuring cup and pour into the flour mixture.   Stir with a fork until the dough comes together (you may need to add a few more tablespoons of cream).    Flour a board or a silicone baking mat and dump the dough out and pat in an 8 inch round

(

(One of my presents, a Martha Stewart baking mat with pre-measured circles drawn on it made this step a breeze).  Dip a sharp knife in flour and score the dough into 8 sections.  Separate the triangles of dough and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet leaving one inch spaces between.  Brush with a little extra cream and sprinkle on some sugar.   Bake for 20 minutes, turning one half way through.  Cool and serve with clotted cream and strawberry jam (for the true experience you really must have clotted cream, if you live in the states you can get some at Whole Foods like we do, or on amazon.)

We also had broiled grape fruit (or at the least the peeps did, grapefruit is not for us, though we did enjoy a crumb of the scones)

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Cooking Countdown 9 Days to Christmas-Ina Garten's French Toast Bread Pudding

Mom has been doing a lot of last minute Holiday knitting and we have been helping:

Thanks to a really easy Ina Garten recipe she still managed to make a nice weekend breakfast on Sunday.  This is a great recipe for the Holidays since even though it takes a while to cook, its unattended almost the entire time.

Ina Garten's French Toast Bread Pudding

1 loaf Challah bread
5 cups half and half or milk
8 eggs
3 tbsp honey or maple syrup
zest of orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350.  Slice the bread in one inch thick slices and place them in a baking dish that accommodates it in one layer.  Whisk the milk and eggs together in a large bowl.  Add the honey or maple syrup, orange zest, extract and salt and whisk again.  Pour over the bread and let sit for ten minutes.  Cover the pan tightly in foil and two slits on the top so steam can escape.  Place the baking pan in a larger roasting pan and add very hot tap water to the roasting pan so it comes half way up the sides of the baking dish.  Bake 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake 40-45 minutes more.  Serve with confectioners sugar and or maple syrup.  (You could easily change the recipe with different breads or by adding fruit or nuts or other flavorings).

I'm cheating and adding a color picture o black and white Sunday because I like the colors on Weasley's sweater from Archie's mom Melissa at Pug Notes