Homemade Dog Treats - Easy!

It's a ruff life for my yorkie Baxter, as you can see here. He turned ten years old this week, and while he was taking it easy, I decided to make him some homemade dog biscuits that he could share (begrudgingly) with his brothers and sister.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Cup Peanut Butter                                                 
• 2 1/4 Cup Wheat Rice Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder                                   
• 3/4  Cup Chicken Broth
• 1 egg                                                                          
• 5 Slices bacon cooked, drained & diced

DIRECTIONS: 

Mix together peanut butter and chicken broth until blended. Beat in egg. Add flour and baking powder and mix well. Add bacon bits and knead well to evenly distribute bacon bits.  Roll out mixture to 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters to cut into shapes. I used these cute dog bone and fire hydrant cookie cutters a friend gave me for my birthday years ago. 

Place on parchment-lined cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

,

Let cool & let anyone in your house know that these are dog cookies and not human cookies. A few years ago my husband was hungry and anxious that Thanksgiving dinner wasn't yet ready. I had a small plate of homemade dog biscuits on the counter for members of our fur-family, and before I could say a thing, he popped one in his mouth. Obviously this is perfectly safe enough for human consumption, but they may be a bit disappointing to a human with a sweet tooth.  

The heart-shaped one above was made special for Baxter's birthday. There's always a bit of left-over dough in any cookie recipe, so it's perfect for dusting off your old play dough skills. 

These were a HUGE hit with Baxter, his chihuahua brothers Chips & Queso, and his terrier-mix rescue sister.

Store in a ziplock bag and keep in the refrigerator. It won't do any good to tell you how long the shelf-life is because they'll be gone before you know it.

Razorback Candy Wooooooooo-PIG-Soooooooieeee!

My dad was a HUGE Arkansas Razorback fan. One of my cousins even scattered some of his ashes on the field of Reynolds Razorback Stadium where the players run out. Unless that's not legal, in which case what cousin?
One of his favorite football snacks was Razorback Candy. Simple to make, and an instant favorite, it quickly became my standard pot-luck offering for monthly bible study brunches.

Ingredients:
1 package bacon
1 package 'lil smokies sausage
Brown sugar

Directions:

Slice bacon into thirds.

Wrap a sausage with a piece of the bacon and place in a lightly sprayed baking dish. Continue wrapping until you've finished all the bacon.

Cover the bacon-wrapped sausages with brown sugar. I've never measured the brown sugar, I just use enough to cover the sausages.

Cover and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Uncover and baste with the juices.

Bake uncovered for an additional 10-15 minutes.  Cool the candy on wax paper or parchment paper. You'll want to soak that baking dish in some hot, soapy water for a while as you cool the candy.

Once cooled, plate as desired. I like to put toothpicks in mine for easy sharing.

You won't be able to eat just one! This is a perfect dish to bring to a brunch because it's unlike any of the usual dishes. But of course you can take it to a football party, especially if the Razorbacks are playing!
Wooooooo Pig Soooooooieee!

NEVER FORGET

Everyone remembers where they were fourteen years ago today when the worst attack on US soil killed nearly 3,000 Americans and took down the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in NYC. It was a Tuesday. I remember that because there was a PTA meeting that morning at my son's elementary school. My husband was shaving, getting ready for work, and like millions of others, I was watching the news when the first plane hit. At the time, it was being reported that a small plane had accidentally hit the North Tower. I called to my husband and told him what was being reported. And just 17 minutes later we watched in real time and with horror, United Airlines Flight 175 fly directly into the South Tower. There was no mistaking the intent. We were under attack. 

Thirty minutes later, Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. 
Thirty minutes after that, brave passengers on Flight 93 foiled that intended target and crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. 

I took a small battery-operated television to the PTA meeting. If we weren't watching the events unfold, we were talking about them in shock and disbelief. In any event, not much attention was paid to the PTA meeting. Parents were taking their children out of school, if for no other reason than to insulate them or cocoon their families from the unthinkable: we weren't as safe as we once believed.

Everyone knows someone personally affected by that horrific day. One of my friends lost her brother that day. He was one of many FDNY heroes that gave his life running toward the danger in hopes of saving others. 
Eleven years later, three years ago today, four Americans lost their lives in Benghazi to the same evil. 

On this day we remember the thousands of lives lost in the Twin Towers and the lives of the first responders, the lives on the doomed flights, and the lives at the Pentagon. We remember the lives of the four Americans lost in Benghazi. We remember the military lives lost fighting the terror enemy. We remember them, and we remember the despicable acts of terror.

Never forget.