I searched out recipes online and found a wide variety to choose from – and I find it quite comical that everyone says theirs is the best ever! Here’s the first one I tried:

Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Biscuits

(Chase wouldn’t even consider trying one of these, but Bella likes them!) 

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup mashed banana
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten, for brushing tops

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.

2 Stir together the egg, peanut butter, banana, and honey in a medium bowl; blend thoroughly. Stir in the flour and wheat germ; mix well. Turn dough onto a floured board and roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter. ( I used gingerbread men, since it was for a Christmas gift.) :-) Place on a prepared baking sheet and brush tops with egg whites.

3. Bake biscuits in preheated oven until dried and golden brown -  about 30 minutes, depending on size. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.This recipe made approximately 2 dozen gingerbread men treats.

For gift giving, I placed the “gingerbread” men in a cellophane sack that had Christmas designs. Our dog, Chase, turned up his nose at them and wouldn’t even consider eating one. He’s a VERY picky eater. However, Bella likes them!

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Since Chase didn’t like the first attempt, I had to come up with a Custom Chase recipe. Purina Beggin’ Strips Bacon treats are Chase’s very favorite, so I found a recipe that I could use with bacon – and I altered it as follows:

Chase’s Second Favorite Doggie Treats

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 10 tablespoons melted bacon fat
• 5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 pound bacon
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Fry bacon until very crisp.  Save the bacon fat.  I found that after frying 1 pound of bacon, I had exactly the 10 tablespoons of liquid fat needed for the recipe.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a cookie sheet. (I used baking parchment paper instead.)

3. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Stir in milk, water, salt, and bacon fat until well blended. Gradually stir in flour to make a stiff dough. Crumble the bacon into very small pieces and add all to the mix. Add the shredded cheddar cheese and mix well. Roll out dough to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut with your dog’s favorite cookie cutter. I used a small one shaped like a bone. Place on a prepared cookie sheet.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on racks. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

5. This recipe made approximately 66 treats.

We keep Chase’s treats in the freezer & when he wants one, run it quickly under water, then place in the microwave for approximately 10 seconds. Chase, being the picky eater he is…turned his nose up at the treats. However, now he’s decided he can tolerate them in a treat emergency.

If you try these, I’d love to know how your dog responds.We’ll be taking some of these to Bella too, to see if she approves.

Bon Appétit to your Doggie!

“A well-trained dog will make no attempt to share your lunch. He will just make you feel so guilty that you cannot enjoy it.” -Helen Thomson

:-)

This year we added the corn in shallow pans on the ground under pole feeders to see if it would deter the squirrels from going after the suet/seed cakes. In the beginning, the squirrels checked out the corn…but then went right back to the suet/seed cakes.

Now we seem to be ahead of the squirrel problem. We’ve placed all hanging suet/seed cakes on the same pole and put a baffle under the cakes. The squirrel cannot reach them. And just today, I saw one feasting on corn under the pole.  Score: People 1  -  Squirrels 0   :-)

Last year we added heaters to two of our many birdbaths. All of the birds & squirrels appreciate the open water when the temps slide below freezing. We found the heaters at a farm supply store. Ours look almost like this one. The unit simply lays on the bottom of the bird bath & keeps water available. It never gets too hot, as the thermostat simply keeps the water from freezing. You can see when it’s on, as you’ll see steam rising from the birdbath. We’re very glad we got them. They cost around $30.00.

The list of our January Yard birds is as follows:

• Northern Cardinal
• Carolina Wren
• Blue Jay
• Northern Mockingbird
• American Robin
• Northern Flicker
• Dark-eyed Junco
• American Goldfinch
• House Finch
• White-throated Sparrow
• Harris’s Sparrow
• Carolina Chickadee
• Tufted Titmouse
• Mourning Dove
• Pine Siskin
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Red-breasted Nuthatch
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Eastern Bluebird
• Brown Creeper
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
• Sharp-shinned Hawk
• American Crow

I’ll be adding to this list as they appear or as we recall what we left off. ;-)

FYI: Yes, I know this post was supposed to be about homemade doggie biscuits, but I wanted to get the birds in there. Next up, Homemade Doggie Treats!

This is the recipe I used originally – as printed in Birds & Blooms Magazine.

Bird Cupcakes

1 Cup Shortening

2 Cups Chunky Peanut Butter

Melt these together for approximately 1 minute in the microwave.

Mix in 5 cups of Cornmeal.

Fill cupcake tins and top with your choice of nuts, birdseed or dried berries. Cool in the refrigerator. To give as a gift, arrange on a plate or stack and then wrap in cellophane. (I placed several in one of my homemade baskets & put cellophane over the whole thing.) Attach a recipe card so your recipient can make more. Add a bow & you have an instant gift!

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Our birds did not take to this right away. So when I made it the second time, I made these changes & now they’ve been arguing over it. ;-)

1 cup lard

2 cups chunky peanut butter

4 cups cornmeal

2/3 C. Sunflower Seeds

2/3 C. Thistle Seeds

Melt the lard and peanut butter. Add the cornmeal & stir to mix. Add the birdseed & mix well.

Fill cupcake pans that have liners. Cool cupcakes in refrigerator or freezer. If the mixture hardens in your microwave safe bowl, it may be reheated to soften. I have also put the mixture in plastic trays that were saved from purchased suet cakes. That works quite well also.  One of the reasons for using cupcakes is that you can easily sit them around in various places on your patio or in your yard.

And as you can see, the birds now really like them – they were especially popular during our last snow storm.  :-)

So something that started out to be about making homemade gifts for family turned into a good deed for our birds. I think we’ll branch out now and try some new and different recipes.  Here’s a list of things you can use from A Home for Wild Birds.

• Raisins or Currants
• Dates
• Shelled peanuts
• Apples
• Oranges
• Birdseed mix
• Black oil sunflower seeds
• Molds to shape your creations
• String or yarn
• Lard, shortening or rendered suet
• Crunchy peanut butter
• Molasses
• Oatmeal
• Stale bread, breadcrumbs or crackers
• Cornmeal or cornbread mix
• Cream of wheat
• Graham crackers
• Flour (whole wheat flour preferred)

Have fun! Your birds will thank you.  :-)

Napoleon gave a common bread its name when he demanded a loaf of dark rye bread for his horse during the Prussian campaign. “Pain pour Nicole,” he ordered, which meant “Bread for Nicole,” his horse. To Germanic ears, the request sounded like “pumpernickel,” which is the term we use today for this traditional loaf.

Hearty Dark Rye Bread/Pumpernickel Bread

I read somewhere that Pumpernickel Bread is bread for grownups. I think that might be right. You either love the taste or deplore it. I happen to love it. It’s rich and hearty and great for sandwiches or just with cheese and your favorite glass of vino.

I used a recipe from the Betty Crocker’s 40th Anniversary Edition cookbook. It’s the first time I’ve made Dark Rye/Pumpernickel bread and I do believe it turned out just dandy. If you’re a grownup, you might enjoy it as well. ;-)

Hearty Dark Rye Bread / Pumpernickel Bread

3 pkgs active dry yeast

1.5 cups warm water (105º to 115º)

2.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup shreds of wheat bran cereal

1/2 cup dark molasses

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon caraway seed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2-2.5 cups dark rye flour

Cornmeal

1/4 cup cold water

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Add all-purpose flour, cereal, molasses, cocoa, salt, caraway seed and oil. Beat on low speed until moistened. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. stir in enough rye flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn onto lightly floured surface, cover & let rest 15 minutes. Knead about 10 minutes until smooth & elastic. Place in a greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place about an hour or until double. Grease cookie sheet & sprinkle with cornmeal. Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each half into round, slightly flattened loaf. Place loaves in opposite corners of cookie sheet. Cover and let rise in warm place 40-50 minutes or until double.

Heat oven to 375º. Bake 30 minutes. Meanwhile head cold water and cornstarch to boiling, stirring constantly. Brush over loaves. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Cool on wire racks.

Makes 2 loaves (12 slices each); 120 calories per slice. Yum. ;-)

• It takes 9 seconds for a combine to harvest enough wheat to make about 70 loaves of bread.
• Each American consumes, on average, 53 pounds of bread per year.
• Assuming a sandwich was eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it would take 168 days to eat the amount of bread produced from one bushel of wheat. A family of four could live 10 years off the bread produced by one acre of wheat.
• One bushel of wheat will produce 73 one-pound loaves of bread.
• Breaking bread is a universal sign of peace.
• Farmers receive approximately 5 cents (or less) from each loaf of bread sold.
• Bread is probably the one food eaten by people of every race, culture and religion.
• Murphy’s Law dictates that buttered bread will always land buttered-side down.

Bon Appétit!

“The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.”

-Steven Wright

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an avid cook. I like to cook. And…I like to bake stuff. It’s just that I have a few other things that I like to do more. I’m sure there are those among you who understand this conundrum. However, I’ve recently decided that I want to bake bread. Lots of bread. All kinds of bread. Okay, that’s not quite true. I want to bake all kinds of yeast bread.  It’s my Mom’s fault. She’s been baking bread & we got to help eat it when we went to see her. I mean, seriously, who can resist homemade bread?

So now I have three new bread pans & have been sorting through all sorts of bread recipes. Along the way, I’m seeing recipes for all kinds of grain breads, french breads, bread sticks, pizza dough….you name it.

Today it was Honey Wheat Bread. Although the recipe I used was called “Simple Whole Wheat Bread.” I found it on www.allrecipes.com.  I chose it because it has 5 stars with 733 reviews. Seems like a winner, huh? But since it is made with honey, I changed its name. One thing I noticed was the the photo on that site shows the bread with something on the top…like oats? Or wheat germ? Or something. And there’s nothing in the recipe that mentions putting anything on top. The next time I make it, I’m going to put something up there…. I tried dusting two of my loaves with wheat flour, but they did little to add top texture.

Honey Wheat Bread

Ingredients:
 

• 3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast (If you’re measuring bulk yeast, that’s 4.5 Tsps.)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 5 cups bread flour
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions  

1. In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.
2. Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky – just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.
3. Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely.

I know why this recipe had so many good reviews. I’ll be giving one myself. It’s delicious! I took one of the loaves to some neighbors. It will be great for toast and sandwiches. I’m also anxious to try it with all wheat flour. This is an easy recipe. Give it a try, but do follow the directions to the letter regarding water temperature, etc. Oh, and I used my Kitchenaid mixer with the bread hook to do the mixing – when the dough wanted to crawl out of the bowl, I turned it onto the floured board to finish kneading and prepare it for the bowl to rise.

One note: The bread is nestled in one of my recent baskets. It’s a Twin-Bottomed Egg Basket with a four point God’s Eye lashing.

And all photography was done with my beloved Nikon D300 & Nikkor 85mm 1.4D lens.

Bon Appétit!

So today, I made my first Market Basket.

The market basket is quite a different animal than a rib basket. What with all that upsetting and clipping and sore fingers. However, I persevered and I’m quite pleased with the result. Now don’t get me wrong here…..there are definitely mistakes in it. I know there are. And I could easily point them out. But I won’t. That would just take all the fun out of it.

So I used a pattern….sort of.  As mentioned previously,  I didn’t have all the right sizes of reed, so I did what they do in football. I punted. I used what I had. Therein lies some of the reasons for the previously mentioned mistakes. But I digress. Because the thing I like about basket weaving is that it’s so easy to be creative and throw in your own curve balls here and there…just to keep things interesting. Besides, who wants to just copy someone else’s work?  It’s all about being creative. Right? Right. And punting too… it’s about punting.

So here we have it: My first Market Basket.

And here’s how it came about:

1. Beautiful rolls of Natural and Smoked Reed
2. After all the pieces are cut to size and soaked, the reeds are laid out.
3. The weaving begins.
4. Upsetting the reeds so weaving the sides can begin.
5. The closeup of the handle is thrown in just because I liked the shallow depth of field on the shot. A piece of smoked reed was glued to the handle before the weaving was started.
6. Smaller natural reed was used to form a pattern. (This varied a lot from the directions I had.)
7. After the pattern was complete, more rows of smoked reed were added.
8. Lashing was added to the top in forming the rim. It’s harder than it looks because it’s holding two strong pieces of thicker reed in place to form the top edge of the basket.

And there you have it. I’ll be happy to answer any questions….if I can.

Once again, I must add that the photos were taken with my Nikon D300 and the fantastic Nikkor 85mm 1.4D lens. It offers up the most amazing bokeh to any photo. I said it.

And if you’re looking for a portrait lens….it can’t be beat. You’ll find it gives you gorgeous, natural colors.

I do.

Whether it’s slinging paint, weaving a basket, printmaking, collage….the very best music I’ve found is:

John Williams Plays Bach

Trust me on this one. You can’t go wrong. You will thank me.

Check it out on Amazon or your favorite site & see what you think.

I’m open to suggestions. What music do you prefer when your creative spirit is moving?

There were many mistakes in it that I simply could not stand.

Therefore, last night, I took the scissors to the basket and whacked out  all the reeds – leaving nothing but the two hoops. Boy did that ever feel good! :-)

I started again and made every attempt to follow the directions to the letter. In spite of that, I still could not get all ten ribs (per side) worked into the basket. I had four..FOUR sets left over. Never-the-less, I’m much happier with this effort than the first.

At least now, I can concentrate on a new one. I won’t be whacking this one apart….It can stay.  ;-)

I stained it with a mixture of instant coffee & tea. Marcia Balleweg, owner of Oklahoma Basket Supply, shared her recipe for this stain:

• 3/4c. Hot Water
• 4 tbs. Instant coffee
• 3 tbs. Instant tea

According to her directions: “Mix together and heat until all coffee and tea granules are dissolved. Put mixture into a spray bottle and spray your dried basket. Add water to spray bottle if you like a lighter color. I usually lightly spray the first coat and let it dry. It will dry lighter in color. You can spray again and let dry if you want your basket to be darker.”

I followed her directions for mixing. I took the basket outside to the patio and sat it in a large box & sprayed. I left it out in the breeze & sun to dry. I’m very happy with the color now, but we’ll see how it looks tomorrow when it’s completely dry. I really like the thought of  using a natural, non-toxic stain. Wait,  are coffee and tea “natural?”  Yeah, I think they are.

Now, I need more reeds! I want some big ones this time. :-)

Postscript:

Again, I must add that the above photo was shot with my beloved Nikkor 85mm 1.4D. The bokeh it delivers is beyond delicious. :-)

• Follow the basket weaving directions to the letter.
• OR abandon the basket weaving directions completely.

Here’s where I apologize to Lyn Siler. Lyn is the author of the book I used today. Lyn’s Flat-Bottom Egg Basket is beautiful.

MY Flat-Bottom Egg Basket is ….. is…… well, I think you could put eggs in it. :-D

One of the first and important steps was to assemble two hoops – one would provide the handle & the other would provide the top rim of the basket. It was important that the handle hoop be on the outside when they were fastened together. To assure this, we were to put our initials on the inside bottom of the vertical (handle) hoop. I did that. The reason is so the handle hoop will not be able to move. It was after I became so engrossed in weaving the “ears” on the sides of the handle, that I forgot about the “initials.” Oopsie. ;-) And after the ears were woven & the basket weaving started, I saw the initials on the side of the horizontal hoop. ;-) I left it that way. Sorry, Lyn. I promise to do it right next time.  Here’s what it looked like at that stage.

The thing about a ribbed basket is that you are supposed to add ribs as you weave. I found this to be more difficult that I thought it would be.  In fact. I had a few ribs that I trimmed. And a few ribs that I stuck in at random…and a few ribs left over. Sorry Lyn. I’m determined to do it right the next time.

It was at this point that I completely abandoned the instructions. Obviously this is not recommended.  When I finished the weaving of the basket, I was tempted to leave off any trim that was to be around the top of the basket. However, having nothing to lose at this point and all to gain, I added the trim. I’m rather pleased with the trim.

Tomorrow I will stain the basket with a coffee/tea concoction, as I like the richness those colors that add. Plus maybe all the mistakes won’t be so noticeable.

Post Script: I need to add  that these photos were shot with my beloved Nikkor 85mm 1.4. I dearly love how fast that little lens is in low light & also the delicious bokeh (shallow depth of field = blurry background.) OH, and the top banner shot was done with it as well.

Update: FYI, this basket was chopped to shreds last night…and re-woven. You may see the new one here.

We all do. I bet you have at least ONE basket in your house. I have several. I’ve had them over the years that have served both utilitarian and decorative purposes.

I recently saw a beautiful basket in a gallery that had an antler handle. As I looked at it…I was like, “yeah…I can do that.” I hope I can at least come close.

So before I even had books or supplies, I was collecting drift wood and antlers for handles. I really like the thought of incorporating natural materials into the designs.

So off I went to the local Hobby Lobby to pick up some basket making supplies. I walked all over that huge store – through aisle after aisle of household decoratives. Alas, no basket making supplies. Apparently Hobby Lobby needs to change its name. Not only my local store, but four others in the state had no basket making supplies. Nor did a hobby store called Michaels. Interesting. Sad.

With no other recourse, I went to the internet. I first ordered a book written by Lyn Siler entitled, “ The Basket Book: Over 30 Magnificent Baskets To Make and Enjoy.” After a bit of searching, I found Oklahoma Basket Supply. And fortunately for me, it was a mere 80 miles from where I live. I made my way there yesterday. Marcia Balleweg is the owner of Oklahoma Basket Supply. She has been weaving for 17 years and has been teaching for 12 years.  It was so nice to meet her and see her gorgeous baskets. She’s won awards for them at Fiberworks and at the Oklahoma State Fair.  Marcia was very kind and helpful in setting me up with some supplies for my first efforts in basket making – plus a couple fantastic books! Thank you, Marcia!  I’m eager to pour over my new books & get started on this adventure.

Are you a basket maker? Do you have a site or blog?  If you are, I’d love to hear from you. Just point me to it.

Basket Weaving 101: My daughter tells me, “You know, that’s the oldest joke of all time, right?” I said, ‘YES! And I’d love to take that class.”

Stay tuned for followups. I’ll be posting photos of the process as it happens.