Chloe turns One

If you don't already know, Chloe is our Maltese / Shi Tzu puppy.  We picked her up from the breeder last July when she was nine weeks old and a whopping 2 1/2 pounds.  Today is her birthday, she's one!  I can't believe it's been almost a year that we've had her.  She immediately fit into our family.  She's probably the MOST tolerant dog I've ever had the pleasure of owning.  With a 3 and 5 year old in the house, this is a requirement (mostly because of the 3 year old).  Chloe is now full size at 8 1/2 pounds.

Bryce and Paige wanted to throw Chloe a party for her birthday to celebrate her first year. 

So we baked a doggie cake and sang Happy Birthday.

Chloe was a bit timid at first.....

Testing out the cake.........

Taking a big bite........

She really got into it........

Paige tried to snatch a piece, so I gave her, her own.......

Paige and I tried some of the cake.  Bryce wouldn't.  It tasted like peanut butter and flour....no real sweetness.  Chloe LOVED it!
Here is the recipe.....

K-9 Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 egg
½ cup applesauce (or 1/4 cup oil)
¼ cup peanut butter
1 cup shredded carrots
1/3 cup honey
1 t baking powder
1 t vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together flour and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix together all other ingredients. Combine the flour mixture with the carrot mixture. Pour mixture into greased 8” round cake pan.
Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool.

If you choose to decorate with icing, you can do this.........
For icing:
Puree cottage cheese in a food processor (or use yogurt) and decorate.

Mix the wet ingredients with carrots

Combine the flour and baking soda with wet ingredients

Spread in a cake pan and bake

Done

Happy Wednesday! Pin It

Fat Tuesday.....For a 'Fat Boy' ~ A Horse Tale & Mardi Gras Recipes

Fat Tuesday....how fitting it be the chosen day to put my 'Fat Boy' in lock-down. (sorry about the bad lighting on the photos) I've owned Joey ~ my 19 year old quarter horse gelding for nine years. He is an eatin' machine and if I let him, he'll eat himself to death. He just doesn't stop. When a horse is out on pasture, in the winter, pasture is usually okay as it contains something like 85 or 90% water. But when that sun starts to shine and the days become longer, that winter pasture grass becomes very, very rich....not good for a horse's digestion. If a horse eats too much rich feed or pasture grass he has the potential to founder. Founder (Laminitis) is inflammation of the sensitive lamiae of the feet and can be extremely painful. This usually occurs in one or both of the forefeet. Joey had this happen to him a couple of years ago in all four feet. The vet wrapped all four of his feet, he was restricted to a very strict diet and on medication for a couple of weeks. He was able to go back out on pasture when the grass dried out at the beginning of summer. Every year at the first site of spring, Joey goes into lock-down. For him, this means a stall with a good size turn-out area. He's not particularly happy about this, but it's for his own good. Meanwhile......the heifers are still happy girls out on pasture. Here they are, just a few of them, on the hill behind our house. During the time we were getting Joey set up, Chloe became a bit bored in the house, she has this fascination with destroying pillows ..... __________________________________________ In honor of Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras..... Cocktail......The Hurricane Ingredients Ice cubes 2 ounces light rum 2 ounces dark rum 2 ounces passion fruit juice 2 ounces pineapple juice 1/2 lime, juiced 1 tablespoon grenadine 1 orange, sliced into wheels, for garnish Directions Fill the hurricane glasses with ice. Mix the rums, passion fruit juice, pineapple juice, lime juice, and grenadine in an ice filled shaker. Strain into the hurricane glasses. Garnish with a wheel of orange. Cheers! For Dessert.....Bananas Foster Ingredients 6 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup light brown sugar, packed 6 ripe bananas, peeled, sliced lengthwise and halved 1/4 cup banana liqueur 1/2 cup dark rum 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 pint vanilla ice cream Directions Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar completely dissolves, about 2 minutes. Lay the bananas in the pan and cook on both sides until they become slightly soft and begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the banana liqueur and then the rum and cinnamon. Tip the pan slightly and carefully ignite the alcohol with a long kitchen match or kitchen lighter to flambe. Put the pan back on the heat and shake it back and forth basting the bananas, until the flame dies out. Divide the ice cream among dessert bowls. Gently lift the bananas from the pan and place 2 pieces on the ice cream. Spoon the sauce over the ice cream and serve immediately. Enjoy! Happy Tuesday!

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The week after Christmas Break

The two week Christmas school break is up this morning for Paige, my 3 1/2 year old. Both kids were up at 7:15 a.m.(Bryce goes back to kindergarten tomorrow). Breakfast was a bowl full of mush for Paige and a banana for Bryce, coffee for me. Not sure what Hubby had this morning for breakfast before he was off to feed the calves.....maybe some Honey Nut cereal or a leftover chocolate chip cookie. Chloe, the puppy, eats a little later in the day. Off to pre-school at 8:45 a.m. Paige was excited to go back. Bryce was excited to hang out with me, without his sister, for the morning. Not sure if it's because he enjoys his alone time with me or that I promised him we would make a stop at the donut shop. After dropping off Paige, Bryce and I head to the donut shop where he picks out his chocolate donut and an orange juice....the sugar high is just around the corner, I'm sure. We drive down to the mall, The Village, to pick up a couple of knobs for a cabinet, to the Apple store to upload any updates on my Ipod Touch....they load much faster at the store versus our home where our satellite service is just a step up from dial-up. After all our errands, we head back to pick up Paige at 11:30 a.m. Back at home, Hubby is at the house for lunch. As I noticed a few specks of manure on his face, he tells me he just finished scraping out all barns of manure with the tractor...a dirty job. Tri-tip sandwich for Hubby, he makes his own, salami sandwich for Bryce, PB&J for Paige and I have a frozen chicken and broccoli lunch. As for Chloe, she still decides to wait on eating but needed to go out for a potty break....and out emerged the red crayon that was eaten yesterday! Thank goodness crayons are non-toxic....Chloe seems to eat one per week. Makes for a colorful potty time anyway :) The afternoon was pretty mellow. A little bit of puppy training, tried to keep the kids busy without any conflicts and thinking about fish for dinner. Pin It