Doggie Sundaes

I was going to post a new recipe for Doggie Cookies, but I couldn't resist making a Doggie Sundae instead. My inspiration for this idea comes from Lucky looking at me with very sad eyes, as if he is starving to death, whenever I eat ice cream. I can't share my ice cream with him because most adult dogs are lactose intolerant. Since summer is nearly here and the days are getting warmer, Lucky needs a nice treat to cool off with so I came up with Doggie Sundaes.

Doggie Sundae Cups:

muffin pan (use a large muffin pan for big dogs!)

your dog's favorite doggie cookie recipe

Make the dough for the doggie cookies according to the recipe. I used the peanut butter & banana recipe since it is Lucky's favorite kind. Roll out the cookie dough on a well floured surface. Find something to use as a cookie cutter that is larger than the cupcake cups in the pan like a cookie cutter or a plastic storage container. Cut out circles for as many sundae cups as you want to make. Use the rest of the dough to make doggie cookies!

Place the circles in the cupcake cups, pressing them to the sides of the pan. Bake according to the recipe directions.

After baking, the sundae cups can cool completely in the pan or on a wire cookie rack.

Once the sundae cups are completely cooled, it is time to make the frozen treat to go inside. I made a crushed ice substance to go inside because Lucky loves to eat snow during the winter. You can also use the Frosty Paws brand of dog safe ice cream.

Peanut Butter Snow

4 ice cubes

1 t peanut butter

Place the ice cubes in your food processor and chop them for 30 seconds or until the ice is completely chopped. Scrape the ice away from the walls of the processor container and add the peanut butter. Run the processor for 15 seconds to mix in the peanut butter. You may need to scrape the container and run the processor a few times to get it well mixed. Alternatively, you can mix in the peanut butter with a spoon.

Fill the sundae cup with the ice mixture.

Lucky didn't want to be photographed while eating, so he picked up the sundae and ran out of the room to eat it. There was nothing left of the sundae cup when he was finished.

Note: It is not a good idea to give a large amount of ice to your dog at once; a quick drop in internal temperature can cause health issues.

Blueberry facial mask

I didn't like any of the pictures I took for this; the color was off in *all* of them. I will take more pictures next time I make it and redo this post.

I like using facial masks, but the type I can use are too expensive to buy all the time. I have dry skin that is extremely sensitive, so I can't tolerate fragrances or certain chemicals on my face. A facial is supposed to leave your skin feeling soft and fresh, not cause an itchy painful breakout! Due to these reasons, I decided to make my own facial mask. Here is what I came up with.

I read through many recipes for homemade facial masks and their many benefits. I chose a few ingredients that seemed like they would work for my skin type. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is good for most skin types (but it can irritate oily skin) and is very moisturizing. Oatmeal is moisturizing, soothing, and will exfoliate your skin.. Blueberries are rich in antioxidants and also provide moisture. I only used these 3 ingredients in the face mask. I figured that the fewer ingredients in the facial mask, the better it will be!

Blueberry facial mask

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 C Oatmeal
1/3 C Blueberries

Mix all ingredients together in a mini food processor until well mixed. You may need to stop the processor and scrape the sides a few times. The mixture will be creamy and sort of chunky. Place the mixture in a small, tight sealing storage container. Unused portion of the mixture can be placed in a refrigerator. It should last for about a week or so.

Place a spoonful of the mixture in a small bowl and warm in a microwave for a few seconds. Wash your face with your normal face wash and pat dry with a clean towel. Massage the warmed mixture all over your face in small circular motions for about 30 seconds. Leave the facial mask on for 10 to 20 minutes. I used it for 15 minutes at a time. The mixture will start to dry up and may crumble off. You can wrap a towel around your neck to protect your shirt from any fallout!

Wipe the dried mask off with a warm, wet wash cloth or paper towel. Rinse your face thoroughly and pat dry with a clean towel. If needed, apply moisturizer to your face.

This can be used twice a week to keep your face soft and moisturized. It may also keep your skin clear and young looking due to the antioxidants in the blueberries :)

After being in a refrigerator for a while, the facial mixture will gel up. After warming up the mixture in the microwave for a few seconds, you may need to mix in a little bit of water to allow it to spread easier.

I have used this facial mask three times so far. After each application, my face has felt soft and smooth. When I do a lot of baking that involves sugary goodness, the skin on my face usually freaks out and breaks out (sugar + pores = bad!), but since I've been using this facial I've had no such problems!

I am by no means a dermatologist or pretending to be one. If you have skin issues or questions, contact a dermatologist. I can't guarantee this face mask will work for everyone or anyone. Use your own best judgment.

Ora's Brownies

I can't remember a family get together when I was little that did not include these brownies. I also remember the inevitable disappointment when the brownies had nuts in them. I would have to dissect the brownie to eat around the nuts and probably made faces when I accidentally ate one of those awful, in my opinion, nuts. Now that I have the recipe, nuts are no longer an issue since they are 100% optional. I may try them with chocolate chunks in the future. Feel free to add as many nuts as you like to this recipe of whatever sort you prefer; just don't offer any to me!

I can only infer from the name of the brownies that my grandmother got the recipe from my great aunt Ora. I have no idea if she created the recipe herself or acquired it from some other source. In either case, these brownies are simply amazing. They are very soft, moist, and more cake-like than boxed brownie mix which tend to be heavy and thick. They are perfect plain or covered in a light layer of powder sugar. Each day the brownies taste better and better, so I recommend baking them at least the day before you plan to share them!

Ora's Brownies (Printer-friendly PDF Version)

4 squares of baking chocolate

6 eggs, separated

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons vanilla

1 cup nuts (optional, can be replaced with chocolate chips or chunks)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x13inch cake pan. (For instructions on how to prepare a pan, click here.)

Cream together the butter, sugar, and egg yolks until smooth. Add the salt, vanilla, and chocolate, mix on low until well blended, occasionally scraping the side of the bowl with a spatula. Mix in the flour until just blended.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until just blended. This will double the size of the batter. Mix in the nuts or chocolate chips at this point if desired. Do not over mix the batter! Just mix until the nuts seem somewhat evenly distributed. Alternatively, you can place the nuts on top of the batter in the pan or at the bottom of the pan before adding the batter.

If you don't know how to "fold" in the egg whites, just scrape the side of the bowl with a spatula down to the bottom and pull it up the other side and over the top of the mixture. Repeat this several times from different angles. This mixture is hard to fold together at first due to the thickness of the chocolate mixture, so keep at it. Eventually the egg whites will fold in nicely. 

Pour the batter into the prepared 9x13inch pan.  Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly. Let the brownies cool for at least an hour before cutting.

If you are like me and hate to cut brownies in the pan for fear of scratching the pan, here is how to remove them. Place a few sheets of connected paper towels on a flat surface. With a butter knife, slightly push all edges of the brownie in and up to release it from the pan. If you prepared the pan with shortening and flour and are worried about the brownies sticking to the pan, chill the pan in the freezer for 15 minutes. Quickly flip the pan upside-down on the paper towels and the brownies should release easily. Place another layer of paper towels on top of the brownies, grab the ends of the top and bottom layer of paper towels, and flip the brownies right-side-up. At this point you can frost the brownies or sprinkle them with powder sugar. 

Cut the brownies and quickly take a bite of one of them. Savor the chocolate and the light, fluffy feel of the brownie in your mouth. Store the remaining brownies in a sealed container until ready to serve.

Approximate Nutrition facts (per brownie for 25 brownies per batch): 108 calories, 9g fat, 20g carbs, 81mg sodium.

Caking: Pans & Prep

If you have ever been in a cake decorating aisle in a craft store, you know that many different kinds of cake pans are available. Some pans are better than others, but it all comes down to personal preference. Wilton is a well known brand which has standard pans as well as character pans. My favorite cake pans right now are from the line produced by The Food Network. My collection of cake pans is made up of a mixture of Wilton pans, Food Network pans, and random pans people gave me. I have over 25 pans in my ever growing collection.

The reason that I prefer the Food Network pans over the Wilton pans is that the Food Network pans are strong, non-stick, and have a lifetime warranty. The Wilton pans are mostly made from aluminum and require more prep work before a cake is baked. The prep work allows the cake to easily release from the cake pan without breaking or crumbling.

There are two main techniques for prepping a cake pan for baking. One method involves using shortening and flour while the other method involves using cooking spray and paper. Both methods have their benefits. The shortening and flour method can be used on any shape pan, while the cooking spray and paper method can only be used on flat bottomed pans. The cooking spray and paper method is very easy and almost always allows the cake to come out of the pan perfectly.

The Cooking Spray and Paper method:

For this method you will need: a cake pan, cooking spray, wax paper or parchment paper, scissors, pencil

Tear a sheet of paper off the roll that is large enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Place the pan on top of the paper, bottom down, and trace around the bottom of the pan with a pencil. Cut out the shape that you traced, just inside the pencil line. Spray the entire inside of the pan with cooking spray. Place the paper cutout at the bottom of the pan and spray the top of the cutout with cooking spray. You are now ready to bake a cake!

The Shortening and Flour method:

For this method you will need: a cake pan, shortening, flour, sandwich bag, spoon

Place the sandwich bag on your hand. Scoop a small amount of shortening up your bagged hand. Smear the shortening all over the inside of the cake pan, being sure not to miss any spots or else the cake might stick to the pan. Place a spoonful of flour in the pan. Shake the flour around to cover the entire inside of the pan. Tap out extra flour in the sink You are now ready to bake a cake!

There is one more optional step involved when prepping a cake pan. When baking cakes the sides of the pan heat up quickly and bake the outer edges of the cake faster than the inside of the cake bakes. This causes the top of the cake to dome and the sides to harden. A way to combat this is with the Wilton Even Bake strips. These are amazing and work great on anything you bake in a cake pan! I've had a set of bake even strips for 3 years now and they are still in great condition.

For this you will need: bake even strips, cake pan, water

Soak the bake even strips in water until entirely soaked. Lift up one end of the strip and slide the strip between two fingers to get rid of excess water. Pull the strip taut around the cake pan and pin the strip together.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the Food Network line of bakeware anymore. They used to be sold at Kohls, some stores may still have the bakeware (it is not online). Other pans in the Food Network family of bakeware may have the same amazing quality, but I'm not sure.

If you are interested in the Wilton Even Bake strips, you can find them here Wilton Small Bake Even Cake Strips

To view the wide variety of Wilton cake pans, click here Wilton Cake pans

The Food Network brand cake pans can be found here, but I can't honestly recommend any of them: Food Network bakeware

Catnip Mouse Toy

For more cat toy ideas, click here!

I'm not sure if the cats were jealous of the dogs and their cookies or not, but I didn't want to risk it. I made the cats a few cat nip mice just to be safe. They are easy to make and don't leave you standing in the pet toy isle thinking, "Why are these things $3?!" Also, if you are anything like me, you have a box full of scrap fabric that you save and keep insisting you will use one day. If you have a cat, let today be that day.

What you will need: scissors, sewing machine, needle for hand sewing, fabric, matching thread and contrasting thread, yarn or string for tail, fiberfill of some sort, cat nip.

I printed out this tear drop image and used it as a template. (image) It makes a mouse that is 3 1/2 inches long. Feel free to resize it for a larger or smaller mouse!

First, fold the fabric with the wrong side of the fabric out so you can cut two pieces at once. Pin the tear drop template onto the fabric. Cut out the tear drop. Unpin the template and set it aside. (Alternatively, trace the template onto the fabric and cut it out.)

Cut a piece of yarn or string for the tail (I used a leather string). Knot one end. Place the string between the two body pieces with the knot on the inside and a bit of the unknotted end sticking out of the "bottom" of the tear drop shape. Pin the unknotted end to the edge of the body pieces. If you don't pin the tail to the body pieces, your sewing machine made decide to eat it.

Pin the body as shown and stitch the pieces together with matching thread. Be sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of your stitching. I went back over the stitching just to make it stronger. Tip: When you get to the nose point, with the needle down in the fabric, lift the presser foot and rotate the fabric. This will make it easier to retain a point in the nose.

Turn the mouse right side out. Fill with a mixture of fiberfil and cat nip.

Pin the opening together, tucking in the edges. Sew together. You can sew this by hand or with the machine.

With contrasting thread, sew eyes and a nose onto the mouse. I decided it would be better for the mouse to be dead, hence the x'd out eyes. If your cat won't chew off stray threads, leave the ends of the nose threads out for wiskers.

Give the mouse to your cat. Now you can clean up without help from your cat.

Don't worry if your mouse doesn't look perfect; mine was far from perfect (the machine kept eating the fabric). Your cat isn't going to care how the mouse looks, he or she will be too distracted by that amazing cat nip you put inside of it.

This cat toy project has been Ginger tested and Tess approved.