Friday, July 31, 2009

Culinary Concoctions and Newfy Nibbles: Cool pooch treat

Chance top & bottom right





In the Heart of this Land
By: Sally Grottini

In the heart of this land
Is a gentle, loyal, companion,
Of regal quality and stature,
and an amusing disposition

Majestic, dutiful, and proud
With unwavering devotion,
The core of the Newfoundland
can be seen with its every motion.

Its bravery untouched,
Its loyalty proudly stands,
In the heart of this land
lives the spirit of a Newfoundland.

Hmm, what does this poem have to do with making a cool dog treat? Well read on for the explanation.

About three or four years ago I became a member of a chat room for Newfoundland dog owners called Newfnet.com. One of the members, Sheila, worked for a publishing company and came up with an idea to put a cookbook together for both people and dogs and give the proceeds of the book to different Newfoundland rescues around the world. After all, on Newfnet we have Newf lovers from England to Australia and that’s a lot of Newfoundland rescues! So we were to submit recipes that we made, or ones that were our favorites. Not being a cook I chose to submit ones that were made by other family members but were some of my favorites. My Sister- in -law can make a mean crumb cake! I believe there were in total about 800 to 1000 books printed and in about three or four months all but a few books were sold. Lucky for me, I was able to secure the last four recently to give as gifts. The back jacket of the book sports two pictures of Chance, among other wonderful Newfs owned by the group and a poem I wrote on the Newfoundland breed as I see them. Near the end of the book are a pictures and a few stories about our kooky Newfoundland’s, with Chance and Steeler’s story being among them. “Newficious” sayings are placed throughout the book like “Let a Newf hair be your dental floss and their drool be your mouthwash” or “Give a Newf a mole hill and he’ll make a mountain.”

There are also little quotes at the bottom of some of the recipe pages such as, “The problem with Italian food is you are hungry again within the week!” (If you are Italian you know what kind of spread they can put out for one sitting!)

So here’s an easy to make, no cooking involved, cool dog treat for those dog days of summer taken from the book:

“Culinary Concoctions and Newfy Nibbles”

Doggy Popsicles
Submitted by Kimmie

750 gr. Container plain yogurt
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1sliced banana

Stir together the first three ingredients then gently stir in the bananas. Pour into a muffin pan and use bone shaped cookies (biscuits) as handles. Place in freezer until hardened.


Now for the human adults, you know I don’t condone drinking before 8 am so be safe and be cool.

Frozen Strawberry Kiwi ~Tini
By Sue M

Makes 6 servings

1 Tub Crystal Light Strawberry Kiwi Low Calorie Drink Mix
2 cups Ginger Ale
½ cup vodka
2 ½ cups crushed ice
6 each Kiwi & strawberry slices

Place ginger Ale, Vodka and drink mix in blender. Blend until drink mix is completely dissolved

Add Ice, Cover. Blend on high speed until smooth. Pour into 6 martini glasses , garnish each with a Kiwi and Strawberry slice.