Source: www.cesarsway.com

Hello beautiful bakers!

Recently at my parent’s house, I was looking through some old books. My mother has kept everything she has ever purchased for me so I can pass it on to her future grandchildren. I’m not sure my children will want toys popular in the 80s but if Ninja Turtles can make such a comeback, I guess there is a chance.

I happened upon a series of Disney books I must have received around age four or five. I’m not sure the exact age but they were published in 1985 so that should give you an idea. I should also mention these books are in French. I honestly spent a good part of my childhood thinking Goofy was actually called Dingo. I just thought everyone thought he was silly and that’s why they called him goofy.

While sorting through the books and strolling down memory lane, I came across my absolute favorite has a child: “101 Dalmatiens”. You don’t need to be a French major to know that translates into 101 Dalmatians. I wish I could tell you it was my favorite because of some deep emotional memory of reading it with my parents but that wouldn’t exactly be true. It was my favorite because of the three lines.

“Ils s’appelaient Horace et Jasper.

Horace était petit, gros et stupide.

Jasper était grand, maigre et stupide.”

The section is describing Cruella’s men who kidnapped the puppies, and loosely translates too;

Their names were Horace and Jasper.

Horace was short, fat, and stupid.

Jasper was tall, skinny and stupid.

That, as a small child, was the funniest thing I had ever heard. Also, the fact that I could say “stupid” out loud was amazing to me. Any other time it would have been a bad word. I felt like such a rebel.

On the theme of dogs, I thought it might be fun to make some healthy dog treats today. I found this great recipe on “Cesar’s Way” webpage. Most people will be familiar with Cesar Millan and his many shows. He had numerous listed but I thought we would try his “Basic Dog Biscuits” first.

The website says you can customize it per your dog but I just made the straightforward recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp Beef or Chicken Bouillon granules

• 1/2 cup hot water

• Bacon

Firstly, the recipe says you can substitute things according to allergies. I honestly looked at my dog and said, ” You don’t have any allergies do you ?”. She looked at me as confused as you can imagine. Sometimes the dog looks at me like I’m ridiculous. Ok, she looks at me like that a lot. I’m going to assume she doesn’t have any allergies.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees

2. Dissolve your bouillon in hot water. You can also substitute with beef or chicken broth or stock.

3. In a medium-size bowl, mix together all ingredients. Knead for about 3 minutes. Knead until it makes a ball.

4. This is where you are supposed to roll out the dough until it’s about 1/2 inch thick. I found it just easier to flatten it with my hands. Now you can either cut the dough into slices or use a bone cookie cutter.

5. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and place biscuits on the sheet. They don’t spread very much so you can place numerous on the same cookie sheet.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Note: The recipe calls for bacon, but it doesn’t state if you need to precook it. I know you cook it in the oven but I just didn’t feel comfortable with using raw bacon so I diced it up and precooked it beforehand.

Our pets are like our children, and they need a little Disney in their lives too.

Happy baking my friends!