Pumpkin Cookies for all!

Tonight I had the urge to bake. I started with a variation on these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and followed it up with a little something for RogerDog. In season, and tummy-soothing!


Pumpkin Pie Dog Biscuits 
from the You Bake 'Em Dog Biscuits Cookbook
Combine all dry ingredients. Blend together wet ingredients. Mix together (I always skip the separate bowls, and mix everything together from the start). Roll out and cut with cookie cutters. Line baking sheet with tin foil, bake at 350F for 30-40min.

-1.5c whole wheat flour
-2c white flour
-1/2c rolled oats
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 tsp nutmeg
-1/2c chicken broth (I just used water)
-3/4c canned pumpkin
-1 Tbsp oil
-1 Tbsp maple syrup
-1 egg

Roger stayed in the living room the whole time I was making these, but as soon as they came out of the oven he magically appeared at my side to taste test. Based on his reaction, these won't be around for long!

Roger is Awesome.

So, I adopted Roger when he was a year and a half. He had been in Vermont for 6mo, transferred up from a shelter in Florida. Other than a couple vaccination records I was able to hunt down, I knew pretty much nothing about his life up to that point. He was sort of a nervous fella, but we took to each other right away and the rest is history.

Recently, we've become mayor of our vet's office trying to figure out why Roger needs to pee 10x a night. Urine tests, blood tests, and this morning: x-rays. We still don't know why he's peeing so much. But we do know a little bit more about his life B.V. (before Vermont).

The vet brought me back to see the x-rays. That's a lot of kidney stones, I thought to myself. "Where did you get Roger?" he asked. "Humane Society of Chittenden County," I responded. "Uh huh. Well, it appears that he's been shot, at least twice, at some point in his past." And then I realized what the x-rays were showing. That constellation of glowing dots on the left hip x-ray was bird shot! And a BB lodged directly under his spine!

To say my jaw dropped would be the only accurate description for my reaction. I stood there staring back and forth from one x-ray to the other to Roger to Dr Eustis and back. Someone shot my dog? Some asshole SHOT a PUPPY?? TWICE?!?! Well I guess that explains why he used to be a nervous dog!!

He went on to explain that since they weren't causing Roger any problems, we would just leave them in there. If the BB had been to one side or the other, it might be what's causing his current problems, but right in the middle it's just lodged in muscle.

I don't really have a good way to sum this up, other than to say hug your dog.

Sunday Scenes

Getting a little jump on the work week

Cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes

Smile turning into a yawn

Sunday bone = happy dog

Camping with Bruno & Christie!

I can't believe it's taken me this long to post about our Maine camping adventure!! Lots of dogs, lots of food, lots of firewood, and probably more than our fair share of damp weather made for the best Memorial Day Weekend camping trip ever!

We picked Cobscook Bay State Park on the Maine coast because it was about the same (sevenish hour) driving distance for both of us. We booked the last remaining oceanfront campsite for the whole holiday weekend, Friday through Monday. It was a bit of a risk, since we had to book it way in advance and could possibly have four days of lousy weather, lousy site, or worse.

But we were so lucky! The campground was beautiful, and the sites were really spread out with plenty of woods in between so we had privacy. Based on the availability when we booked, we expected the park to be jam-packed, but we lucked out there too, and only had people in the site next to us for our last night (and they slept in their van)!


Here's the crew: Bruno, Roger, Farley, Christie (and me)

Getting settled in...

Bruno and Roger played lots and lots of Table Fort.

 Heading out on our hike!

 The website described the only trail in the park as a "nature walk" so we were expecting a mellow, easy stroll. There was another park nearby that we discussed driving to, in case we were up for more of a challenge. But it was definitely enough of a hike! We ended up doing it both days, with slight variations. We never saw anyone else, so the doggies got to be off-leash the whole time. 

Back in front of the campfire, tired and happy after our hike. 

Up next: some of the great food from our trip!

Sunday Funday

Started with breakfast at Handy's with one of my favorite all-grown-up Gotta Campers.

Followed by a little fun at the pier, listening to the ice break up & melt, 

FURminated out Roger's winter coat on the sunny porch, 

Baked banana bread for my airbnb guest, 

Finishing up with packing my bags for St Louis!

Wordless Wednesday: Too Much Snow

Wordless Wednesday: Best Little Office Assistant Ever!

2nd Annual Hike with Shawnee!

Just a little while ago, we were reminiscing with @ShawneeShep about the great hike we took together last September. She and her mom drove all the way up from New Jersey to hike in southern Vermont with us, and it was such a great day! We decided to do it again this year.

For this year's adventure, Shawnee and her mom found a great hike in Pisgah State Park in New Hampshire. The days leading up to our trip it was pouring rain, but luckily the skies cleared in time, and we had a perfect day for hiking!

We drove down from Burlington and they drove up from New Jersey and we met at the park. Once the dogs had gotten a chance to greet each other and were properly outfitted in their don't-hunt-me orange, we were on our way!

Since there had been so much rain, I was ready for the trails to be a muddy mess, but overall it was pretty dry! We had to make our way across several streams that I'm guessing usually would have been quite small, and there were some great big puddles for the dogs to play in. (Roger made it his mission to get soaking wet in each one of them.)

Shawnee led the way for the whole 10 miles, keeping us moving at a good pace. The hike was pretty challenging for Roger and me, and as soon as we reached the summit of Pisgah Mt, Roger wasted no time hunkering down for a nap!

Once we started the hike back down, I kind of wish I had followed Roger's example...never underestimate the restorative power of a nap.

Shawnee brought her boy along this year! At first Roger wasn't quite sure about him, but by the end they were good buddies.

The views were fantastic, and it was so peaceful at the top. We only passed a few other groups of hikers all day. We had hoped to catch the foliage at a good time, but it was still mostly green leaves everywhere with only random bursts of color. It could have been more dramatic, but of course it was very pretty anyway--and that means the trails were less crowded.

Daniela got so many great pictures (like this one below and the first one in the post), and you can see more of them in Shawnee's blog post about our pawsome day together!





Thank you, Shawnee, Daniela, and the Boy, for making the trip to New Hampshire to hike with us! We can hardly wait until our 3rd annual hike next year--we should be just about rested enough by then to do it all over again!

Wordless Wednesday: Roger & the A/C

Sunday Funday: Playing in the garden!

A good portion of the day last Sunday was spent playing in the garden with Roger!

We planted potatoes in the Smart Pot, and pulled weeds from around the veggies.

All of the cucumber sprouts that had been there a week earlier were mysteriously gone! Luckily I had a few seeds left in the packet, so I re-planted them. Hopefully something will still come.

The other big project was planting grass. It's never been a particularly luscious or robust lawn, and it seems to have only gotten worse this summer.

I pulled up and raked out as many of the big weeds as I could, and seeded the whole area around the garden.

And look! I'm already being rewarded for my efforts! On Friday I harvested my first round of lettuce and spinach! Now I just need the tomatoes and carrots to catch up...

The tomato plants are getting HUGE, so luckily I won't have too much longer to wait.

Don't trust that grin - this kid didn't help at all. Roger chose to nap, and supervise my progress from a comfortable distance.
Sunday Funday inspired by the blog Simply Everything Beautiful

In the Kitchen with RogerDog: Cheddar Biscuits

I love baking for Roger! He's pretty easy to please. Our standard go-to recipe is peanut butter oatmeal cookies, but for my birthday Meghan gave me the You Bake 'Em Dog Biscuits Cookbook, so we're doing our best to branch out!

Roger is a big fan of these - I mean, what's not to love? They're full of Cabot Cheddar. I rolled them thinner than the recipe specifies, so they're a little crunchier, which he seems to prefer. I may try them thicker next time, just for variety.

Cheddar Biscuits
-1c all-purpose flour
-1c whole wheat flour
-1c shredded cheddar cheese
-2TBSP butter
-3/4c milk
-grated Parmesan cheese (topping)
-extra flour for rolling a MUST - our dough was very sticky!

Put flours & cheese in food processor (I skipped the food processor and just mixed by hand which worked fine, but the dough was a bit inconsistent). Mix in butter & milk. Turn out on floured surface and roll out to 1/4- to 1/2-inch thickness. Poke with tines of fork and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cut with cookie cutters (we use a pizza cutter to make bars - very efficient!). Place on baking sheet covered with non-stick foil. Bake 15-20 min or until golden brown. Store in the fridge.

Both the Sir and our guest taste tester Miss Madeline gave rave reviews, and the ingredient list is so simple that these will surely be a permanent addition to our regular cookie rotation! Let me know what your pups think if you give them a try!

Tuesday Trifecta

From the Easter bunny. Lovely happy parents. Freelance snuggler.

Inspired by the blog Orange Pattern

TIME FOR RUNNING!

(Ready, Roger?)

SUPER-FAST RUNNING TIME, GO!!

Ridiculously fast dog?

Really slow camera?
Top-secret government super-dog?
Or something completely different?
You decide.
(Hint: it's the first & second one)

Wordless Wednesday: Runway Practice

This calls for a celebration!!

October has become a pretty significant month for me. This year is the 3rd anniversary of my move to Burlington. It's also 6 months out from my ACL surgery! But most important, this past Friday, Oct 16, was Roger's 3rd birthday!! We celebrated the day with extra walks, belly rubs, and cookies.

But the real celebration was on Saturday night: we had a party, complete with good friends and delicious PUPCAKES!!

We got the recipe from our good friend Shawnee's blog.

DELICIOUS DOGGY PUPCAKES

• 1 large apple, minced
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup oatmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup grated cheese

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 oz. low fat cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees; grease muffin tins.
In a large bowl, mix flour, oatmeal, baking powder and baking soda together.
In a medium bowl, blend the yogurt, water, oil, honey and eggs.
Stir in apple and cheese.
Add to the flour mixture and stir until mixed.
Spoon into muffin tins, filling each cup about three quarters full.
Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.

For the frosting, combine cream cheese (at room temperature), honey and yogurt until smooth. Spread on cooled pupcakes.

I tried to get a picture of him eating one, but he was too fast - this gray blur is all I was able to capture!! I'm not ashamed to admit I tried one myself - a little plain, but with the frosting, they're really good!!