Cooking

Hmmm, I don't.  But G9 wanted to do some baking this morning and I thought why not.  Especially as it was for the dog... what could go wrong?

Now my friend Preseli Mags cooks like a demon, go to her blog Cooking is a Game You Can Eat to see some of her amazing culinary feats.

I thought I'd aim a little lower and picked a recipe from Canine Cuisine by Elaine Everest.

Ingredients

• 6 streaky bacon rashers (you can use bacon off cuts).
• 2 mugs of wholemeal flour.
• 1/4 mug of grated Parmesan cheese.
• 1/2 mug of warm water.
• 1 egg
• 1 vegetable stock cube.

Preheat oven to 190C, gas mark 5.

We actually halved the above as we have a small dog; the quantity we used made 12 heart shaped biscuits.



Grating the cheese.

We fried the bacon in a non-stick pan until cooked but not brown or crispy.



Hey, is that bacon up there I can smell?

Once the bacon had cooled down I blitzed it in the blender.

Then we put the sieved flour (which ended up being strong brown flour because that's what we had in the cupboard), blitzed bacon and grated cheese into a mixing bowl.  We used Cheddar as J thought expensive Parmesan cheese for the dog was an extravagance too far.  We crumbled the stock cube in warm water (chicken in our case) and stirred until dissolved.  G9 beat the egg into submission and added half to the mixing bowl, gradually adding the stock until the dough was firm.

G9 floured the worktop and rolled the dough out to about an inch thickness.  Then she cut the biscuits out in little heart shapes (no other shape will do).


I can smell something, now where are they?

We baked for about 40 minutes on a non-stick tray; or bake until brown and crispy.

We then put them on a trivet to cool, and packed them to store in an air tight container.


The finished product - they look good enough to eat.

Although G9 and J tried one (greedy gannets), I think the dog preferred them....


Please, please... don't tease... gimme gimme!

I quite enjoyed it... but I think I'll still leave the cooking to J.

The Gallery - Togetherness

My first post at Sticky Fingers - The Gallery, inspired by Preseli Mags.  This week's theme is togetherness.

G9 is an only child, so her friendships are extra special to her.  She and H9 are very close... very much together.  Almost joined at the hip.

And at the other end of the age range G9 is striding out with her Grampy. Two peas in a pod.  And to think they may never have met as Grampy was having a triple bypass whilst I was pregnant.  Yet due to his recovery he had time on his hands.  From a babe in arms with G9 in a backpack and Grampy in his walking shoes, they went off on their little adventures together.  They are having adventures still.

Living the "high" life

I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.  ~Jim Carrey

Maybe it is the little, almost insubstantial things that matter.  And, to boot, they really don't have to cost much.

Thursday I helped out at the local Adran (after school Welsh club) at Maenclochog Hall. I was not being philanthropic, it was just my turn. I did though understand what was going on, a little, which was a minor breakthrough.

Friday night involved a Bingo evening at Maenclochog Hall again, this time to raise funds for the school.  I felt part of the community.  All inclusive.  Warm.  And it was fun.

Saturday Topsy and Scamp (who owns Preseli Mags) are going to get together for their first doggy date and I for one can't wait. It's almost like G9's first day at school. Simply daft I know, but we are taking a picnic and making a day of it. It's going to be a sunny day, so we will appreciate the soft warmth on our faces after such a bitter winter.

Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.  ~Grandma Moses

Scamp; really enjoying the moment.

Just as I was about to publish this post, I learned that a neighbour of ours has a brain tumour.  The outlook is not good.  He does not know yet, but his wife does.  It is so tragic.  It drove home that in life there is nothing so valuable, nor so undervalued, as our health.  Please pray (to whoever you conceive Him to be) for them both.