Where Does the Time Go?… My Thanks to All

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I went online with my little enterprise. I can’t believe the velocity of change in and around my venture, my friends, my home,  my life. To all of you who have taken a little time out of your day, and have spent it here, my thanks.

To those with whom I’ve have done some business, my thanks.

To those of you who challanged me to do things new, and/or a little better, my thanks.

 To those of you who supported and consoled me after the loss of Sweet Sue, my thanks.

To those of you who adopted a greyhound, or other pet, from a rescue group or shelter, my thanks.

To those of you who have volunteered your time and money to rescue & adoption groups, and shelters, my thanks.

 To those of you who have opened  your homes and families to foster rescued pets, my thanks.

The last year has been tough, in many respects. I guess if it didn’t kill me, it must have made me stronger. It certainly made life interesting.

 None of us know what the next year will bring… my hope is to remain healthy, happy and reltively well adjusted. To paraphrase somebody famous, “I can’t wait until tomarrow, because life gets a little more interesting every day.”

Again, my thanks to all,

SSV

 

ssimys

Lose The Sugar…

I was helping at the CalGAP booth at the Irvine Pet Trek (a walkathon fundraiser for the local shelter), when someone recognized me as “the dog cookie mix guy”. Besides wondering if I was handing out samples, the lady asked about eliminating the brown sugar from the basic recipe…
We went back into the test kitchen, and here are the results:
The sugar helps hold everything together, so depending on the meat and/or vegetables selected, the results were mixed, when the sugar was just eliminated.
Substituting a couple of tablespoons of egg white for the brown sugar, yielded much more consistent results.

SSV

 

ssimys

Unknown Niece Discovered, Comes to Live with Eccentric Uncle… Hemopet’s Socre Marie Finds a Home

I was helping Hempet move to their new location a couple of weeks ago, and a sassy little dark brindle girl caught my eye. Socre Marie is an affectionate, curious, energetic, smart, little spitfire. I went back and spent some time with her the following week, and she impressed me very much. When I arrived home, I went online to the Greyhound Breeding & Racing Database, and took a look at her her records. She raced seven times, her highest place being 3rd. Her dam is “Well Chosen”. “Well Chosen” and “Hurricane” (Sweet Sue’s boy toy and survivor) were both sired by “Mankato”, making Socre Marie Hurricane’s niece. I took Hur’c to meet his niece, and he greeted her with his usual relaxed indifference. Socre Marie initially greeted Hur’c with great curiosity, but quickly turned her attention to garnering as much attention as possible, and escaping the love shack.  Hur’c was fine with all of it.

It’s been a few months since Hurricane and I have had a girl in the house, and it is time to move on. So, Socre Marie will now be known as Sucre Marie (Sugar Marie), and is in place to take over as alpha.

 

WELCOME HOME LITTLE GIRL

As we open our home and welcome a new member of the household, I was,  am,  and shall remain,

Sweet Sue’s Valet

 

ssimys

Requested Recipes

A couple of people have asked that I post the recipes that are currently in the brochure. So, as requested:

Hot Dog Biscotti

Ingredients:

1 package biscuit mix

1 large egg

2 tablespoons brown sugar

¾ lb hot dogs (Sue got chicken or turkey dogs)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons canola

2 tablespoon flax seed oil

1 beef or chicken stock bouillon cube

½ cup water

Instructions:

Place a saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Add the canola oil. Rough chop the hot dogs and add to pan. Cook until the hot dogs are evenly browned, about 6 – 7 minutes. Add the water and bouillon and stir until the pan is deglazed and the cube is dissolved. Allow the pan to cool. Add the contents of the pan to the bender with the other ingredients, and prepare the dough per the basic instructions.

Preheat oven to 350°

Divide prepared dough into thirds. Roll each portion of dough into a ball, then into a cylinder about 1½” in diameter.

Place the rolled dough portions on a parchment covered cookie sheet, and press to flatten to form “loaves” about ½” in thickness.

Place the cookie sheet in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, rotating the sheet after 10 minutes.

Remove the cookie sheet from the oven. Slide the parchment on to a wire cooling rack. Lower the oven temperature to 325°.

Allow the loaves to cool to “handling” temperature. Using a sharp knife, cut each loaf into ½” slices.

Place the slices back on the cookie sheet, with a cut side down. Return the cookie sheet to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, rotating the sheet after 15 minutes.

Remove to rack and cool in the oven per the basic instructions.

Liver Snaps

Ingredients:

1 package biscuit mix

1 large egg

2 tablespoons brown sugar

¾ lb beef or chicken liver

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons canola

2 tablespoon flax seed oil

1 beef or chicken stock bouillon cube

½ cup water 

 Instructions:

Place a saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Add the canola oil. Rough chop the liver and add to pan. Cook until the liver is evenly browned, about 6 – 7 minutes. Add the water and bouillon and stir until the pan is deglazed and the cube is dissolved. Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 275°

Place liver and liquid in the blender with other oils, brown sugar, and egg. Prepare dough per basic instructions.

Flatten the dough to ¼” and cut into ½” squares. Place cut squares on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 45 minutes, rotating the sheet(s) about halfway through the baking time.

Remove from oven. Increase oven temperature to 350°. Remove baked squares to wire rack. When the oven reaches temperature, place the wire rack in the oven, and immediately turn off the oven. Allow to cool in the oven several hours or overnight. 

 

Salmon & Sweet Potato Cookies

 Ingredients:

1 package biscuit mix

1 large egg

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 can premium “salmon seafood” cat food

¾ cup cooked sweet potato, including skin

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons canola or safflower oil

1 tablespoon fish, salmon or cod liver oil

1 tablespoon flax seed oil

1 fish stock bouillon cube

½ cup water 

 

Instructions:

Prepare and bake per basic instructions. 

 

 

HOMEMADE TREATS ARE BEST….

SSV

ssimys

“Tour de Sue” Completed

On August 3rd, the “Tour de Sue” took place. The goal was to celebrate her life, by spreading her ashes in all of her favorite places all in one day.  The tour started about 7 AM, in Irvine, CA, and ended about 10:30 PM, in Alamo, CA, covering about 500 miles. Bandanas collected from Hemopet Bubble Baths were cut into strips, tied and left as markers, each place we scattered a few of her earthly remnants. There were 18 stops, including dogs parks & beaches, favorite walks & trails, friends’ yards, and other places she spent significant or meaningful amounts of time.
Photos & video of the the tour were taken. Look for more tour content and details here, and on YouTube, in the coming weeks.

Rest easy, my Alpha Girl…
SSV

ssimys

CBS News Promotes Greyhound Adoption Month

It’s good to see a major media network getting the word out… It’s a greyt introduction to adopting a retired racer. If you are thinking about  adopting a dog, this segment shows why a greyhound is well worth considering… Have a look @   Greyhound Adoption on CBS News

Adding More Stuff… Making the Mix Your Own

Time to quit moping…  let’s make some cookies

Recently, I’ve had questions about adding dry ingredients to the mix. Powdered milk, powdered egg, protein powder, instant mashed potatoes, and human grade diatomaceous earth have all been the subject of questions.

The amount or proportion is the first issue. Estimated volumes have ranged from ¾ to 1¼ cups, depending on the ingredient(s). Based on these volumes I recommended two approaches, without having tried either.

Since then I’ve been back in the test kitchen to try each approach, and refine them into specific methods.

 Method 1. Add stock or bouillon to the addition to form a paste or slurry. Then, combine the paste or slurry into the mix, with the other wet ingredients. This method seemed to work best with dry ingredients that would normally have liquid added to be reconstituted. Examples include powdered milk, powdered eggs, and instant mashed potatoes.

Method 2. Substitute the addition for an equal volume of mix, and make according to the directions. Just remove the volume of mix out of the bowl, and reseal it in the bag, and use in the next batch. This method seemed to work best with “flour like” ingredients such as protein powder and diatomaceous earth.

Keep the questions coming…

SSV

ssimys 

Hey, Look… It’s Sue!

A short tribute to the life & times of Sweet Sue. For Sue’s life story go to http://www.sweetsuessite.com/welcome.html.

She’s Chasing Birds & Bunnies on the Ocean Breezes…

HC’s Sweet Sue
October 22, 2002 – April 20, 2009

 

She gave life & joy & grace to those around her, man and beast alike.

Farewell,
My Alpha Girl
My Frisky Girl
My Funny Girl
My Happy Girl
My Hungry Girl
My Little Girl
My Needy Girl
My Pretty Girl

My Whiney Girl
My Silly Girl

My Shiny Girl

My Sleepy Girl

My Sweet Girl
My Pinhead

My Pointy Nose Pig

My Skinny Piggy

My Cookie Monster

My Sweets

MySweetness

My Elegant Beast

My Empress

My Roomie

My Beautiful Loser

My Sue

I remain inspired by, and dedicated to your indomitable spirit, your energy for life, your boundless curiosity, and sense of fun.
My greatest hope is that you are not alone.

Your life was true to your nature:
Spirited, Intense, Fast, & Fun

OUR DELICATE FLOWER IS WILTING…

On Friday, April 17, Sweet Sue was diagnosed with bone cancer. It is in her spinal column. It is inoperable.
No effort will be spared to keep her comfortable, manage her pain, and limit her suffering.
Many thanks to Dr. Peth, the staff @ Arbor Animal Hospital, and our friends, whose support and advice are helping us through this difficult time.