Bat Boy Bob-Almost Wordless Wednesday

Bob and a Vampire Bat-Separated at Birth?

 


 

On a non-bat related topic I have to thank Sugar, thanks to her awesome blog we are the happy recipients of a free Antler chew!   I have hidden from the dogs and am saving it for a special day, it looks great very big and yummy.  I am sure they will love it.

Tasty Tuesday-Pumpkin Drop Cookies for Pups

I have been so busy posting all of my favorite Halloween treat recipes for people on this blog that I haven't shared the Halloween cookies I made for the dogs yet-really I was waiting for Tasty Tuesday (at least that is my excuse.)  I decided to make super easy treat recipe this year, drop cookies, since it is simpler then rolling out dough and cutting out shapes, and frankly dogs do not care about those things. Which is the main reason it is so much fun to cook for them, all you get is thanks and enjoyment.  Cookies a little burnt, who cares!






Pumpkin Drop Cookies for Pups

1 cup of canned pumpkn
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of wheat germ
1 jar of chicken baby food
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp of grated cheese


Preheat oven to 350.    Stir all of the ingredients together, if dough is to dry add a little water.   Drop by heaping tablespoons onto cookie sheets and bake 20 minutes.  Cookies will be soft.

Howl-O-Ween: Treats and Tricks

Here are some pictures of the dogs from previous Halloweens:








 Of course the best part of Halloween is the treats.   I first tasted Popcorn balls a year ago and I loved them.  They are definitely a once a year treat, you can almost feel your teeth rotting as you eat them.  

Halloween Popcorn Balls

 
1 cup plain unpopped popcorn to be made in a stove top popcorn maker like the Whirley Pop

1 stick of butter

2 1/2 cups Dark Brown Sugar

1 cup light Corn Syrup

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Pop the popcorn in the popper and place in a very large bowl.   You need to make totally plain popcorn for this recipe so dont add anything and don't use microwave popcorn.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium high heat with the sugar, corn syrup, and condensed milk.  Bring to a boil and boil for 5 and a half minutes stirring almost constantly with a silicone spatula (make sure to scrape the bottom and the sides).  

Pour the caramel over the popcorn and stir.   When it is cool roll the popcorn into balls and wrap in treat bags.

Another great treat is candy bark from Bon Appetit.  Usually chocolate bark involves nuts and dried fruit, but this version uses halloween candies, making a treat that is much tastier then the candy on its own.

Halloween Candy Bark (you can make this treat a week ahead and bring it to any parties you might be attending).

2 12 ounce bags of bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup each of chopped Butterfinger  candies, Peanut Butter cups, Reeses Pieces, Heath Bars, and honey roasted peanuts.
4 oz melted white chocolate.


Line a jelly roll pan (a baking sheet with sides) with aluminum foil.   Melt the chocolate chips in a sauce pan over low heat stirring constantly with a heat proof spatula.  As soon as they are completely melted pour on to the foil and spread out evenly.  Scatter over the candies and nuts, pressing slightly so the candies and nuts adhere to the chocolate.  Melt the white chocolate and drizzle over.  Allow to harden and then break into chunks with a knife.  Store in the Fridge.

Soup Cooked in a Pumpkin

Who doesn't love Pumpkins?

For costumes and carving....and also for soup.    Yesterday during the Snowtober storm I  made Cheese soup baked in a pumpkin from Bon Appetit

Cheese Soup in a Pumpkin

1 Cheese Pumpkin (about 8 lbs)

3/4 to 1 1lb Gruyere Cheese

Fennel Seed

Ancho Chili Powder

3 Garlic Cloves Sliced

2 cups of Fresh Bread Crumbs made from French Bread

About 6 cups of Chicken Broth

1/2 Stick of Butter, soft

Chives

3 slices Bacon 

Cream Fraiche

Preheat the oven to 350.   Use a pumpkin carving nice to cut of the top of the pumpkin like you would with a Jack O' Lantern.  Save the top.   Scrape out the seeds and the stringy flesh.  Rub the pumpkin on the inside all over with the butter.  Season a few pinches of chili powder, fennel seed, salt and pepper.   Put the cheese, bread crumbs,  and sliced garlic into the pumpkin.   Pour chicken broth into the Pumpkin until it comes to 3 inches from the top of the Pumpkin.  Put the lid on the pumpkin and bake on a sheet pan for 1 hr.   

Remove the lid from the pumpkin and put it flesh side up next to the pumpkin on the pan bake about 60 to 90 minutes more until the flesh of the pumpkin is very tender. Serve soup topped with crumbled bacon,  chives, and  cream fraiche.

While you are waiting for your Pumpkin Soup to cook sit on the couch and watch a movie

Urban Hounds List of 5 Good Halloween Movies

1) Wallace and Gromit In The Curse of The Were Rabbit.  Dogs, bunnies, England what's not to like?

2) The Omen Tubby likes barking at the Hell Hounds

3) Nosferatu Probably the best Vampire movie ever.  I saw it at the Landmark Loews last year with a live organ.

4) Dracula The classic Bella Lugosi version.

5) Ed Wood Cult classic, goes well with Dracula, since one of the characters is Bela Lugosi.

Pumpkins and Pugkins at Demarest Farms-and Pumpkin French Toast

I love Halloween!  I love the pumpkins, the candy, the costumes (particularly if they are on dogs), and the horror movies.  Why outgrow something that is so much fun.  Every year we take a few of our dogs to Demarest Farms to get a pumpkin.  It gets very crowded with families and young kids so all of the dogs would be too much, but the pugs really enjoy it.  They get lots of compliments, particularly Tubby in his pumpkin hat from All You Need is Pug, on how cute they look and attention from all of the kids.   The pugs also love the  nibbles of potato pancake and apple cider donuts we give them, and I like the hot cider.

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Of course cooking with Pumpkin is part of Halloween too.


Pumpkin French Toast

Ingredients:
6 slices of Challah, or other Egg Bread
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup of half and half or heavy cream
1/2 cup of canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp or less of vegetable oil


Combine the eggs, half and half or heavy cream, canned pumpkin, and spices in a shallow bowl or pyrex dish.   Soak the slices of bread in the mixture for about 3 minutes per side.


Heat a skillet or griddle over medium high heat and melt about 1 tbsp of butter and a drop of vegetable oil for every 2 slices of bread.   Fry the bred for about 2 minutes per side and keep warm in the oven as you make batches of french toast.  Serve with maple syrup.


Saturday Pet Bloggers Blop Hop

Dr. Zira with a Pumpkin-Almost Wordless Wednesday (and an eye update)

Here is Z with last years pumpkin.  Poor old lady continues to have eye problems.   She has an ointment now too and still needs the cone, and more checkups to come.  At least the scratch looks a little better.

Cowboy Cookies-Tasty Tuesday

A few years ago, Halloween 2009, I decided to dress the dogs as Cowboys and Indians for Halloween.  It was when Bingo was still with us so we had 3 little Native American Indians and 3 Cowboys:

I liked both of the costume styles, but I admit I was partial to the cowboys. I've always liked cowboys.  These cookies are one reason, though I am not sure what they actually have to do with cowboys.  I picture cowboys eating more beans then cookies.  There are lots of different versions, some with coconut and some with pecans, but these are my favorite.

Cowboy Cookies

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 12 oz package semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

preparation

Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating to combine. Add dry ingredients and beat until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

 Cover dough and chill 1 hour in the fridge.  Meanwhile preheat oven to 350.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Form dough into balls, using a large ice cream scoop or spoon. Place on prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly. Bake 10 minutes, then rotate sheets. Bake until cookies are golden brown around edges and firm in center, about 4 minutes longer. Cool on sheet 5 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool completely. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)