Home-made Pupsicles

Boscoe and Gigi Enjoying a Pupsicle

I used to be that person who occasionally purchased those overpriced Doggie Ice Cream cups. My excuses abound! Ones like; my dog is old and doesn't tolerate the heat so this is cooling. Or another; my doggies is missing 16 teeth and the few he has are weak.

My real reason? Because they looked so happy to get their little ice cream cups!

But then I had a good look at the ingredients and was not impressed. Seriously, 5 bucks for 4 little cups smaller than the ones in school lunches with those ingredients? Not to mention the gas in transport for the product while frozen and all the transport of the many ingredients isn't exactly negligible when you think of it.

So, I had a brainwave. I feed my dogs a spoonful of plain nonfat yogurt in their breakfast to help keep their chemistry in good order (old hounds can get ear problems with yeast). I eat frozen yogurt. Why not make my own?

It so simple. Just take small cups, like the ones used for bathroom dispensers or reusable small cups (like egg cups) and plop a dollop of nonfat plain yogurt in the bottom. Give it a tap or two to settle the blob fairly evenly. Drop a tiny little bit of creamy peanut butter into the middle of that bottom layer and then cover with another good dollop of yogurt.

In all it should be no more than a couple of tablespoons worth for a beagle sized dog that's watching their waistline (or enduring you watching their waistline for them).

Now just freeze hard and tip out after a walkie on a warm day. You'll be a hero and your dogs will feel refreshed with a healthy treat.

New Raised Beds Are Done!

Here is yet another great delivery of dirt and compost mix from Friday. Another 6 cubic yards, another long bout with my little garden cart and a shovel.

Yeah...(can you hear the excitement)?

Nah, just kidding. I really do enjoy doing this hauling. I feel like I'm accomplishing something that has actual results vice some paper shuffling result. So here is my nice, fresh compost smelling pile on Friday.


And here I am with one raised bed built and filled. (It only looks crooked because I take pictures crooked. We were sure to level it.)


And here we are on Saturday afternoon, with both raised beds built and filled and the "squash bed" being laid out to the left.

The area that is a bit gray and dry is where I leveled out the area with 6 cubic yards of dirt a few weeks ago so the beds would sit nicely. I'll be banking up that front area with a bit more dirt. I'll also be using very large containers that my herbs and such go in as a frontage on that bank.


Now to something completely different...

Last year I wrote about making dehydrated squash into dog cookies. I got some questions and remarks on them. I even tried them on my best friend's dogs but they had no interest in them (they are young boxers). What I have found is that because my dogs had yellow squash quite frequently in their home made dog food, they developed a taste for them and now, dog squash cookies = maniacal frenzy of love. Here I am opening up a new jar of dehydrated squash chips.

And this is what I see as soon as that lid pops and the aroma escapes.

Too funny.

I thought, hey, if they like them, I wonder what they taste like.

I won't show you the after picture because my face is not web-safe after I took a bite. And yes, that is bread dough in my hair. Don't ask.

For those who had questions on my home-made dog food recipes, I'll give a whole blog entry on the expanded recipe set later on. Needless to say, they love it.

Peppers, Peach Jelly and Squash Dog Cookies

Yeah, I know, not exactly an exciting title but I'm pretty excited about the subjects right now.

My "hot" peppers, which aren't really hot at all but very low on that scale, are on a bit of a hiatus right now because I've harvested this round. Believe me, I'm watching each blossom like a hawk! This is my final bowl of Spanish Spice, Godfather and Poblano peppers, already cut and ready for the pan. They were absolutely fantastic. There aren't enough stars to give my true recommendation of both the Godfather and the Spanish Spice. Yes, they are hybrid seeds, but my goodness are they fantastic.

When I finally...finally...finished the peach jelly I was amazed at how beautiful it turned out. It is a lovely rose color and the smell is a true fresh peach smell. And the taste..well, let's just say there is no way this one is going to last long! I made 17 jars, note there is already one gone!

Of course, there are bound to be questions on it because it is Peach skin jelly that also includes all the sections and segments that were just a tad too ripe for canning or had a bruise or what not. In other words, the stuff we usually throw into the compost bin when canning up peaches.

The question that naturally comes up for those like me who like our food organic is the effect of using skins because peaches are one of the most affected by pesticides seeping into the fruit from the skin. Well, I can highly recommend the recipe but only on the condition that the peaches used are organic. Even if you aren't normally an organophile, (that looks a bit naughty), peaches are one of the few fruits that you really should consider it for. Soft skin fruits in general really soak up the pesticides sprayed on them.

Okay, sermon over! Well cleaned peach skins with anything sketchy cut out and all those segments that are just slurpy ripe (once you've eaten your fill, of course), work fantastically. Here is the link to the recipe. This recipe has been successfully used by many folks on various homesteading and canning boards I'm on for multiple years, so I feel very confident with it with one glaring exception. Peach pits are, in fact, toxic and while it is probably okay in this recipe, I've left them out and so has everyone else I've personally contacted who makes it.

Now for the wonderful and accidental dog cookie find. We call them cookies because they look and feel like cookies but all they are is dehydrated slices of yellow squash. Yep..that's it. While my dogs turn their Beagley noses at squash in any other form not already soaked in chicken broth, these they go bonkers over. I found out because I heard the tell-tale sound of dog paws sliding on the edge of the counter, a classic sign of a dog that is attempting to counter surf for anything remotely edible near the edge of the counter. This was immediately followed by the alarming sound of crunching. After running into the kitchen with visions of dealing with doggie diarrhea from chocolate ingestion playing in my mind, I find Boscoe eagerly snarfing down these. Now I use them as the ultimate bait and they work.

You don't need to do anything to them really. Just slice about 1/4 inch thick, steam blanch for a few minutes, layer in dehydrater and let it do it's thing. Remove and bag up as serious treatage. If you do this, let me know your results.

For all those of you out there who have pet beds in your house that outnumber your dogs 10 to 1, this snap and the gratification of it should be recognizable. The greatest beds we buy and lug home proudly often result in turned up noses and put upon looks as they settle on the floor rather than touch that bed. Finally, finally, I brought home a bed that meets the standard. This one I took with my cell phone so the quality isn't great. I took it the day before Boscoe's surgery. Isn't he cute and happy looking? And he still really loves this bed!

Preserving the Bounty

Aside from learning the fine art of canning, I'm trying other things too. I'd like to have foods be as independent of energy using devices as possible, of course, but some vegetables simply can't be canned well. Or if they can be, the taste and texture is appalling.

Squash is one such vegetable, particularly yellow summer squash.

My solution is to dehydrate them. Dehydrating has a lot going for it. Whatever you dehydrate can be rehydrated and then used like fresh, well, for the most part! For some things it is better to use them in casseroles or breads or other things where the food is cooked with other things. My intention is to use this stuff in the dog food over the winter since I make home-made.

For me there is a further benefit. I live in a hurricane zone and it is pretty unlikely that a bunch of jars are going to weather a direct hit, should my house get rattled, while a vacuum sealed packet of a dehydrated veggie should be just fine.

Here is what it looks like to dehydrate squash. You might notice that one of the squash in this snap is orange. I didn't use that one, it is just an experiment of mine. Some of my bits turned a bit brown so I took those out. Not sure if it matters, but better safe than sorry!



Give it a try!
And, as usual, a delightful snap of a beagle to brighten your day. Here GiGi is enjoying ruining a freshly dried load of towels by making a burrow of them. Ah well, it is worth it to see her so happy!

Things I Love...My Disreputable Garden Hat

The picture may not be flattering, but the hat is the cat's meow to me! I burn really easily and I definitely don't want my ears to fall off in my old age from too much sun exposure, so I almost always wear a hat when puttering around the yard. As a bonus, the open straw weave is very flexible and allows good air passage, so I don't get as hot as I do in the canvas hats.

This particular hat is so old I don't even remember the year in which I bought it. It has to be at least 10 years old and could very well be as old as 15 years. Amazing, isn't it?

But all good things come to an end and this, my beloved floppy hat, is reaching that point. You may not be able to see it in the picture, but it is coming unraveled in places and a tear is forming where my ponytail always presses on the back. For the last year I have been actively searching for the new perfect garden hat and have had no luck. A good straw hat is just hard to find, I guess.

Enough of hats! There are gorgeous Beagles that are much nicer to look at. And here they are; Gigi (front) and Boscoe enjoying their "Memories of Chicken" Water. When I cook their food, I save the broth that the chicken and veggies were cooked in, let it set in the refrigerator until it is like jello, then wrap individual spoonfuls in plastic wrap and freeze them. To make chicken water, I unwrap one, cut it in half and put it in a bowlful of water.

On hot days, chasing the chicken ice ensures they get lots of water after a run. On cold days, I melt it in the microwave and add it to water, giving it a slight warmth after a freezing walk.

Now if you want to amuse yourself a bit, sing the tune to the duet "To All the Girls We've Loved Before" and substitute Chickens and other appropriate verbiage and you have their song.