Homemade Dog Biscuits

This past Sunday was Lilah's fifth birthday. While she is starting to grey a little in the chin, when most people ask us how old she is, they are shocked to find out that she's not one or two years of age. We've been told by many of our friends that she has mellowed out considerably in these five years, but she truly is one of the happiest dogs I've ever met and just doesn't slow down.

Andrew and I usually give Lilah something special for her birthday, so this year we decided to make her some biscuits. They were quick and simple to make and boy does she love them! Between her high level of energy and the fact that she snarfed her biscuit down so quickly, I gave up all hope of capturing a photo of her for this blog post. After glancing at several recipes, I decided that I could have a go at making my own concoction that would please Lilah based on some of her very favorite things. This recipe includes simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry, and is fairly healthy. Lilah will eat just about anything and can put on a few extra pounds quite quickly if we're not too careful, so I kept that in mind. In addition, we've still only been giving her one biscuit about every other day so as not to overdo it.

Homemade Dog Biscuits

What You'll Need

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth (please make sure it is low sodium! too much salt is not good!)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 mashed banana

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix flour, oats, and baking powder. Stir in the broth, peanut butter, and banana until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball on a floured counter. Kneed the dough for about 30 seconds to make the dough smooth. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to about a third of an inch thickness. Use a dog bone shaped cookie cutter to cut biscuits and place the biscuits on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes until the biscuits are crunchy.

And from one dog family to another, we hope that your pups enjoy these biscuits as much as Lilah does!

Do you celebrate your dog's birthday? Have you made dog biscuits before? I'd love to hear about your recipes!

Summer Solstice

On this first day of summer, I can truly say that it feels as though the season has arrived. The menu sitting on our kitchen counter for this week's meal consisted of mostly grilled dishes. The flowers in our patio have grown from small sprouts to lush blooms. Summer cocktails or an evening beer have replaced glasses of red wine. And Lilah has assumed her favorite position atop the stairs leading from our deck to the patio.

Our summer evenings are our favorite. Dinners eaten on the patio. Baseball games listened to on our roof deck with a refreshing beer in hand. And maybe a bowl of ice cream for dessert. Not a whole lot needs to be done or said, but relaxing and enjoying the moment takes presidence instead.

The Story of My Life in 250 Words

This is probably supposed to be difficult. You know, writing about your life in 250 words. Mine's not so bad. My life hasn't been grand or fabulous. It hasn't always been easy-going either. But it has been a pretty awesome life.

I grew up in small-town Goshen, Indiana with my mom, dad, and sister. After years of the same school system, with the same people, and a city I didn't really like, I decided to apply to Syracuse University. If I got in, I'd attend. If I didn't, I'd work for a year and reassess. I got in.

I spent four years attending the university and one year living and working in a coffee shop in Syracuse. Four plus one is five. That last year? Andrew's fifth year of architecture school. I had met Andrew during our sophomore year. After he graduated, we found jobs. I entered a teacher residency program in Baltimore City-- what else was I supposed to do with an English major? I became a teacher and he got a job at a firm downtown. Two years later we got Lilah, our chocolate lab. Three years later, we bought a house. Three and half years later we got engaged. Four years later we got Finn, our orange tabby. And six years later? Well, that story will be soon to come....

And it will be amazing. I promise.

I know you all love teasers.

Now, was that my life story in 250 words? Yes, I think so. ;)



P.S. In case you wanted to know, this was Day 1 of Jenni's Blog Every Day in May.

What I've Been Up To

Happy end of Spring Break, guys! Or should I say, sad end of Spring Break? Today is my last day of break. And by last day, I mean that today was supposed to be a professional development day, but I needed a sick day to recoup from a very intense weekend that included the end of a visit with my sister and nephew and taking care of Andrew all Sunday while he was blowing chunks. Seriously, it was a draining last few days. Either way, the rest of the week was absolutely fabulous!

As a rundown, I finished my huge wholesale order for Urban Outfitters. My sister and nephew came to visit. We spent Thursday at the Science Center, which Jasper loved! He liked the dinosaur section the most where he spent a good half hour (at least!) brushing off the dinosaur bones and pretending to play paleontologist.

Friday afternoon, we headed to the aquarium and spent the later portion of the afternoon hanging out at my favorite coffee shop. When Andrew got home from work we spent the rest of the beautiful evening at the park.

Saturday morning, we headed down to DC. We had hoped to see the cherry blossoms blooming since my sister had never seen them before. We thought we would be lucky since many of the cherry blossoms in Baltimore are already in bloom, but alas they were not out yet. However, the weather was absolutely gorgeous-- the perfect day to be out and about on the National Mall where people were flying kites, enjoying, picnics, and Jasper got a chance to run around and play with Andrew.

After spending the day in DC, we headed to my aunt and uncle's house in nearby Hyattsville, Maryland for dinner. Sunday was a low key day hanging out in the house. Jasper loved playing with Lilah.

All around, it was a good week!

What have you been up to this past week? I feel as though I am out of the loop right now!

Dog Party with a Telephone Book

The title tells all, my friends. Lilah has a phone book fetish. We don't even choose to keep phone books in our house, but once or twice a year they show up on our stoop. What do we do with the phone book? Put it in with the paper recyclables. However, Lilah sniffs them out. She waits until the next day and gives that poor phone book the time of its life. Last week was no exception. When I got home from school on Thursday, a phone book was waiting for me on my stoop. When I got home from school on Friday, a phone book was waiting for me on my living room floor.

And then. Then! The criminal returned to the scene of the crime to chew on the few scraps I had not yet had a chance to clean up! The audacity!

Don't mind me, mama, I'm just chewing on some more phone book. Nothing to see here.

Oh Lilah, how difficult you make my life at times. Yet at the same time, she's a hunk-a-hunk-a-80-pounds of sweet love. Remember the time the breeder said she would take after her dad and be on the smaller side instead of taking after her mom and be on the bigger side? Whoops. Guess she was wrong.

Anyway.... just in case you don't quite believe me about how much of a fetish this truly is for Lilah, I thought I'd include this little party she had several years ago in our old apartment.

Mmmm hmmmm. That Lab sure does like her phone books.

That's my cue to stop while I'm ahead with the phone book madness and introduce you to someone you should get to know.

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Meet Brittany from Where My Soul Belongs.

Some things you should know about Brittany. First of all, she is amazing because she has passed the Bar Exam. And if that isn't enough, she is even more amazing because she just finished taking the Bar Exam AGAIN. Holy moly people! I have several friends that have taken the Bar Exam in the past few years and it is the mother of all exams. Big props there!

When Brittany isn't practicing law, she blogs about instant classics like the time she found out she was allergic to mascara. And my most recently fave? This post about $5 MP3 albums. How did I not know this people? Am I the only one that didn't know about this? Either way, I'm excited to have Brittany as a sponsor this month and would be super happy if you would go check her out. And by check her out, I mean, check out her blog.

Blog // Twitter // Instagram

A Dog Party

We spent a good few hours on Sunday taking Lilah with us to the Maryland SPCA March for the Animals. A friend of our had invited us to be part of their group and so of course we couldn't say no. As we pulled up to the park where the event was taking place, Lilah could see the hundreds of dogs and was so excited. She could not wait to get out of the car to meet some new friends. It truly was a dog party. We enjoyed a mile and a half walk around the old reservoir and said hi to many, many other canine friends. Meanwhile, I took advantage of the beautiful day to capture a few new photos of our pretty pup.

And after a fun-filled afternoon, Lilah spent the evening napping. A tired pup is most definitely a happy pup.

Weekend Wrap Up

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I'm glad to say that despite it being Monday, I'm still on Spring Break! I know, some of you probably would rather be in the same boat as me seeing how Mondays can be rough. However, it was a rough week last week. Without going out of town for break, and with a deadline looming over Andrew's head at work, I didn't get to do too many spring break like things. Most nights he got home around 9pm leaving us with only a few short hours to spend together.

I tried to make the most of it anyway, knowing that this weekend would probably be more fun than the week. We spent the afternoon at the greenhouse on Saturday.

I made these delicious marble squares. You can head over to Yellow Bird, Yellow Beard, where Janee has been so kind to let me share this very recipe! :)

Saturday night, we enjoyed a fire pit on our back patio.

Sunday, we decorated Easter eggs, something that both of us hadn't done in ages!

And Lilah was happy to have both of us around.

While Finn remained his weird self, being content taking a nap in the dish drainer.

How was your weekend? How did you spend your Easter Sunday?

Happy Hour at Home

What better way to enjoy a Friday evening at home on the roof top deck with your own little happy hour. While it's fun to meet up with friends after a long work week, sometimes it's more enjoyable to kick back and relax. And that is just what we did this weekend. On the menu was homemade crostini and crab dip, a black bean salad with tortilla chips, and a couple of home brews. A pup by our side and a chance to enjoy the sunset over Baltimore City made this may favorite part of our weekend.

What was your favorite part of the weekend?

Hello Spring

I love spring in Baltimore. Between fall and spring in this city, it is so hard to choose which I like better. Both provide beautifully temperate weather in the 70s, sunshine, and low humidity. When March rolls around, one day will suddenly jump from temperatures in the 40s to temperatures in the 70s and then there is no looking back. It happens just like that. And the best part? We get to enjoy this beautiful weather for about three months before the dog days of summer arrive.

Spring also means time on our roof top deck in the evenings with great views of Patterson Park and the rest of the city.

And it means lots of outdoor time for Lilah. Even she likes to spend time up on the deck where she can sniff out the neighborhood smells and talk to her dog friends down the block.

And along with the time spent on the deck also comes longer walks in the park, grilling on our (now usable!) patio, and general relaxation outdoors. Have you been enjoying beautiful weather like we have in Baltimore? What are some of your favorite activities to do once the weather warms up?

Merry Christmas!

While our plan is to have a lazy morning with coffee, cinnamon rolls, and presents followed by an afternoon with family, I hope you to have a very Merry Christmas! Here are some of our own festivities we've added to our house (and lazy animals too).

We found a nest in our Christmas tree! A year of good luck!

Finn just couldn't help but play with the ornaments!

Cat streeeeeetch.