One wonderful day...

We did it! Yesterday was the walk to support the Animal Humane Society - with a stunning weather forecast, they were expecting over 7,000 people to come! Care to indulge me while we forgo our typical food post and take a visual a trip through our day?

Right after we arrived at the registration area, we came upon this giant bone that Gus wanted to try and tackle, but we convinced him that it was just too big for his little self. A little annoyed, he settled for a picture!

While the sun was shining its warm rays down, the air was still fairly chilly this early in the morning... however, we were given these snazzy hooded sweatshirts since you guys helped us cross over the $1000 mark for Team Gus!

So, who was one of the lucky doggies that got to meet Gus for the first time?

That's one big dog in a tutu! I wish I could have heard what was going on in our tiny pups head when this giant was lookin' back at him.

So, while we had the big guys dressed in their best duds, the tiny ones were also showing off the latest fashions as well!

Now, this is the Animal Humane Society after all, so there wasn't just dogs here... we then spotted this cutie.

Who was quickly out done by this buggy full of bunnies!

So, now we've got dogs and bunnies... what else?

A couple of horses of course! And then?

This couple not only had two dogs, but a bunch of beautiful birds along for the long walk! There were also rats (! and not very photogenic I might add), a couple snakes, a gaggle of ferrets (literally) in a stroller, a few lizards and I heard later on there was even a wallaby there, but we didn't get to see it.

A couple of friends, Dawn and Chad, joined us for the walk and Gus made a new buddy! Look at these two...

What a pair! Gus is already asking to have a play date with his new long-haired friend, Diego.

A little further down the road on the walk, we came upon this guy who had it made!

Gus was jealous for a minute, but then moved on to see what else was up ahead. Was that such a bright idea? Next in line was this guy...

Yep, there were several goats there too! Lots of dogs tried to go say hello, but none of the goats wanted to reciprocate! Goats like to buck and boy did they show it today!

At the halfway point, we saw several pups who decided they had enough with the trotting and decided it was a fine time for a long break...

After we were done walking, we took a trip through the "bone yard" so Gus could snatch a treat.

But, they only give you 45 seconds to grab one and the humans can't help! Sadly, he was too overwhelmed and couldn't make up his mind on what looked the best! The volunteers did give him a small treat for trying though!

When we finally got home, Gus, who walked almost the entire 5 miles with his bud, grabbed his favorite chew toy, crawled halfway up the stairs into his sunny spot and quickly zonked out with thoughts of all his new friends he got to play with today!

And with that, let me end with this sign at the walk that says it all to every one of you that helped support this well deserved cause!

Time for more homemade doggie treats!

Max had finally finished the last of those Banana-Carob "Pup"scotti I made a few weeks ago just before we got Gus... I've been waiting to find some time to make a new treat recipe for both of them and today was it. Woo!

I knew I wanted a treat I could split up into smaller pieces for the pup and larger ones for Max, so here is what I came up with - Crunchy Parsley and Carrot Biscuits! And no, we didn't get more pups! Those are from a calender we got last year of little daschunds!

I like to use a variety of dry ingredients when I'm making treats for them - this time in addition to the regular whole-wheat flour I always start out with, I added brown rice flour, cornmeal and a touch of oat bran. Now for the fun stuff! I chopped up a bunch of fresh parsley (I can only hope it might freshen up their breath too... hee hee!) and shredded up a carrot to add in. Since I've learned in the past that Max loves cheesy treats, I also added just a bit of shredded cheddar cheese to entice them. To bring all of these ingredients together, I added enough vegetable broth to form a workable dough (you could use beef or chicken if you wanted... water would be fine as well) and a couple tablespoons of canola oil for texture and a little healthy fat.

I used a tiny heart-shaped cutter for Gus's snacks while I used the larger bone-shaped one for Max. And just because we already had the cutter, I also made some little dachshund-shaped biscuits... however, thinking about it now, I don't think we'll give those to Gus as that seems wrong! Max will have to get them I guess, but we'll have to make sure Gus isn't watching! The baking powder in the dough will make them puff up a little, but you can fit the biscuits fairly close together on the baking sheet and not worry about them as they don't spread much. Make sure to bake them until they are golden and firm to the touch - it is okay if the center is slightly soft though as they will continue to crisp up as they cool. I didn't know if they would reject these or not with the carrots and parsley, but Max gobbled his up in record time while Gus was a little timid. However, once he took a taste, his little heart biscuit didn't last long!

Recipes
Crunchy Parsley and Carrot Biscuits

Today... in pictures.

Besides family, when we moved out to North Carolina, one thing we knew we were going to miss was the yearly tradition of going apple picking. You've read about our trips before and how much fun we had on them! After snooping around though, we found that there are several apple orchards just a scant two hour drive from our new house here in Charlotte - score! Usually, we would have to wait until late September or early October back in Minnesota for picking, but here? The apples are ready, now!

Here is one we went to today... Sky Top Orchards, located in Flat Rock.

Upon getting out of the car, you had a sign with rules... I guess they had problems with apple throwing in the past?

The next item we came across before we ventured out into the trees was this fun bell... you can hear the bong it made from a fair distance!

Isn't the grove beautiful?

Here's Gus and I with an empty bucket - you can see I'm intent on filling it up!

They had many other fruit here other than apples, including peaches and these fantastic grapes...

Also, animals were abound and Gus couldn't get enough of this one!

One container filled, with Honeycrisp apples - go us!

Oh, and if you're wondering about my feet, what's covering them would be these...

They are called Vibram Five Fingers - I'm transitioning to barefoot running and these are the closest you can get to being barefoot, but still have your feet somewhat protected! I'm running barefoot, but use these for errands and whatnot. You may not think so at first, but I have to say, these are so much more comfortable than shoes EVER were for me. My knees have thanked me too. They are definitely also a conversation starter!

Once we had the car packed up, we headed into the shop to browse some more when we came across this...
Gus's short-haired twin! Crazy! They had never seen another one that looked like their pup.

We went back out to look around since the apples were in the car and Gus wouldn't cooperate when Jeff got his picture taken - see him hiding in the corner?

However, he was fine with me when we were at the top, overlooking the lovely view! Guess he picked his favorite... hee hee!

All said and done, we picked just shy of 30 pounds (coming to just about $1 a pound, by the way), with the majority of them being Golden Delicious, Fuji and Honeycrisp.

While we still miss being able to pick with our family, it looks like we may have just started our own new tradition out here!

Productive Saturday...

We got through seven new recipes this week - the ones we selected as our favorites were the Caprese Pizza with Bacon, that decadent Chocolate Pound Cake with Peanut Butter Glaze and those easy Turkey Wraps with Chipotle Mayonnaise.

We had a pretty productive day yesterday and I thought it would be nice to give you a peek into how it went. After we had those scones for breakfast, Jeff and I took Gus downtown to stroll through the artsy booths at the Stone Arch Festival of the Arts.

It was such a beautiful day (if a bit toasty!) that we had to get out - we first went to this festival last year and had to go back this year. The booths were littered with fun, unique and quirky items - come on, doesn't everyone need one of these?

Okay, so maybe that isn't our style, but I'm sure it will find a home!

We walked Gus over the bridge so we could feel the cool breeze and he just couldn't help himself - he had to go sit up by the railing and strike a pose with his happy little tongue sticking out.

And PS... Gus tends to be quite the people magnet... it took us a pretty long time to walk the whole event as we made frequent stops so people could pet him!

What's behind Gus? It's a great spot to stop and gander at the "falls" on the Mississippi River...

And you can't go down to St. Anthony Main without getting a snap of this old building!

Once we got home, I had the pleasure (well, I wouldn't exactly call it a pleasure...) of getting these darn trees trimmed.

You would think these trees are on a drip supply of steroids with how fast they shoot their branches - they are called "Austrees" and are a hybrid of the Willow tree. I first tried using scaffolding to get me up high enough, but that just didn't work as well... so I gave up and crawled up the middle of each tree - my legs are so sore from trying to not fall out! I cut about 3 1/2' to 4' off of each tree... and to think, this needs to be done at least twice, if not three times a year! I'm up about 18 feet at this point and all I could do was hope the branches wouldn't snap underneath me.

This would have been impossible if we didn't pick up this handy trimmer... although, it got darn heavy after a few hours of hauling it up and down.


Finally - all done and tidy... and the neighbors get their view back!

Birthday cake for Gus!

Usually we talk about some sweet treat we've made for us to munch on over the weekend on Saturday's post. However, today is no ordinary day! Gus, our blue-eyed lovable pup, turns a whopping one year old today - woo!

Call me crazy, but we couldn't let this milestone go by without making a little extravagant treat for him (and Max too if Gus will share!). Jeff actually asked me a couple weeks ago if there was anything we could do, rather than the normal homemade treats I often prepare, and after giving it some thought, I made this Peanut Butter Pup Cake with Carob Frosting.

You could get away with using regular whole-wheat flour in this cake, but I opted for pastry flour just so the cake wouldn't end up too dense (yeah, I know, the pups won't care... but I do!). With a little baking powder for lift and nonfat dry milk powder for tenderness, the wet ingredients I used for the batter included honey, unsalted peanut butter, an egg white and a bit of water to thin it out. If milk powder isn't an ingredient you keep around, nonfat milk would work just fine... use it to replace the milk powder and water. To drill in a little extra peanut power, I also threw in a couple tablespoons worth of chopped peanuts.

To make this a layer cake, instead of baking the batter in one loaf pan, I divided it between two pans so I wouldn't have to bother torting the cake later. You could also bake this in a single 8" cake pan if you like, just add a few extra minutes to the baking time. Testing for doneness is the same as any other cake - it is ready when the top springs back when lightly pressed in the center, the edges look like they are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan or a toothpick placed into the center comes out clean. After taking them out of the oven, give them a five minute rest before turning them out to cool completely.

Fine as is, if you know us, then you can imagine we had to dress it up with a little pizazz! Chocolate and peanut butter is a dreamy combo, but chocolate isn't safe for dogs. I didn't throw that idea away though as carob is safe and we could use the powder form (just like cocoa powder!) to make a dark cream cheese frosting! Just three ingredients - cream cheese, the carob powder and a splash of vanilla, just because. To assemble the cake, a couple spoonfuls smeared on top of one of the cakes worked as a good glue to adhere the other layer, which was topped off with more of the creamy frosting.

Since I was probably going overboard already, I just left the sides open and clean, rather than encasing the entire cake. Of course, I say that after I capped the cake off with a few finely chopped peanuts on top - oops!

Now, don't worry, we don't plan on letting the little guy pig out and eat the whole thing at once as we know weight can be an issue with dachshunds and their backs. We'll be cutting up most of it into cubes, freezing the pieces and bringing them out every so often as a special treat. Both of the pups were too busy licking their chops to let me know what they thought, but I think it was clear by their happy smiles and pointed tails, wagging like there's no tomorrow, that they enjoyed their piece of birthday cake. If you really wanted to up the cuteness factor, you could make a template to lay on top of the cake layers before assembly and use it as a guide to cut out a bone shaped cake... I was tempted, but I tried to use a little restraint this time!

Recipes
Peanut Butter Pup Cake with Carob Frosting

Welcome home, Gus!

We are very happy to let you in on a little secret... we went and picked up a little guy we have been waiting for awhile now - meet our new little daschund, Gus! He is a long-haired chocolate dapple.


Warning - be prepared for lots of pictures!

Needless to say, we'll be too busy playin' around with new squeaky toys and seeing how his older brother Max adapts to this interesting creature invading his home, rather than making dinner tonight. Doesn't Gus look like a toy himself?

I will, however, be making a treat for Jeff to bring in for treat day, but it will be pushed back to Thursday this week!

Jeff has longed for a daschund and we had been tossing the idea around of getting one for quite some time. However, with Spike's passing a few months ago, we decided we wanted to wait until we both felt ready and the time has come for a new adventure!

So far, he's been getting used to his new kennel, tromping around outside and gobbling up his food... ahh the life of a puppy! We were pulled to this pup because of his outrageous looking coat and his laid back temperament - he also has gorgeous light blue eyes that will melt your heart!

Uh oh... I think he spotted a bunny - time to go run and catch him! Good exercise for all of us!

An apple a day... well, I think we need to eat more like 5!

Do you remember what we did around this same time last year? Yep, we kept with tradition and met up with my family again to go pick apples! Woo!

We made the drive down early yesterday morning to meet up with my family in Winona - we then moved through various locations to pick apples, see the sights and stop at a few craft stands. Get ready for a picture-heavy post!

Here is our first stop every year...

This time, the trees, with their wild limbs, were abundant with apples...

Another row that still looked almost untouched!

Mom has lots of plans for her apples and got right to work trying to find the best ones...

Our niece Bria came with this year - here she is luggin' a box they just started filling.

Here is Gus, quite limp and exhausted... he spent lots of puppy energy running around, helping us pick the apples.

Just before leaving, we always try to get a shot of the mountains (well hills, I guess) that are full of trees - they have just begun to change, so I hope we get a chance to go back soon once they have turned into those beautiful autumn red, orange and gold colors.

After some driving around, we ended up at the lock and dam that is also a must-see...

We happened to catch an old-fashioned paddle boat that was leaving the passage way.

Gus also happened to get plenty of love from Mom... I think Jeff was afraid she was going to try and puppy-nap him back to the farm!

While it was pretty overcast when we started, it turned into a beautiful day on the way home... most of our drive back is along the Mississippi river, so we had gorgeous views the whole way.

Dad, Jen and Steve were all too fast for the camera, so unfortunately we didn't get any snaps of them!

It was dark when we got home last night, but we took the apples out this morning so we could get a look at our haul.

It was over 42 pounds... (and to think, my family picked at least 3 times this amount!)

The varieties we ended up with were Granny Smith, Fire Side, Golden Delicious and a mess of our favorite, pictured below, Honeycrisp!

Of course, Gus wanted in on the action and had to pose...

Then he decided was was hungry for some apples - look at him lickin' his chops!

I also made dinner last night, so let's move on to that - a few weeks ago, I asked Jeff to pick up some endive from the store... sound familiar? While he was roaming through the store, he also picked up a few things he thought we needed because they were on sale... you know, M&M's, bananas (even though we had more than enough already) and a package of stuffing mix. I don't have a guess on how that fit in, but whatever! So, now I've been wondering what else I could do with that box besides the obvious.

After browsing around for inspiration, a recipe for this Bruschetta Chicken Bake popped up and looked like it would be just the quick ticket for dinner after being out and about pickin' apples. I played around with the recipe a bit to add a little more depth, so here is what we ended up doing.

To the stuffing mix, we added fire-roasted diced tomatoes, halved cherry tomatoes, vegetable broth and a few cloves worth of minced garlic. Rather than using all chicken breasts (which you could certainly do), I used a combination of breast meat and thighs - once sliced into bite-sized chunks, I tossed them over the bottom of a large baking dish and seasoned them with dried basil, crushed red pepper and fresh ground black pepper. I skipped any extra salt at this point because the box mix is fairly salty already. The moistened tomato and stuffing mixture is scattered on top of the chicken, followed by a sprinkling of Parmesan and a shower of Mozzarella cheese.

Once it had a few minutes to rest after the trip through the oven, we were able to cut this dish into clean squares - the duo of chicken covering the bottom was still plenty juicy, the stuffing mixture on top was moist, yet not mushy and the cheese on top was gooey and browned. Topped off with a few shreds of fresh basil from the deck, we both thought this was quite good and comforting after a long day! The cherry tomatoes added a pop of freshness while the canned fire-roasted tomatoes backed them up with a deep flavor. The original recipe called for using water to moisten the stuffing mix, but I used vegetable broth as I figured it would just add one more layer.

Recipes
Bruschetta Chicken Bake