Paw lickin’ good

By Katherine

For moi?

We don’t mention our dogs often in our posts, but they are a constant presence in our kitchen, our home and our hearts. Coltrane, an incorrigible German shepherd mix who’s embarrassingly good at outsmarting us and has personal space issues, is 12. Mingus is 6, but sometimes still acts like the desperate-for-attention puppy Greg found abandoned in a box with his litter mates at a shuttered flea market. A Heinz 57, he’s a red devil who almost destroyed our rosemary bush so many times we lost count. He’d find the lowest point in the garden fence and use the bush as a landing pad. He’s either outgrown that or the bush has outgrown him, but every once in a while I swear I smell the faintest scent of rosemary on his coat.

Our dogs have impeccable timing. Mingus has learned exactly where to position himself under the coffee table — no small feat for a 43-pound dog — for a better shot at beating his brother, or us, to anything we inadvertently drop. Coltrane in his younger years once snatched a burger right out of its bun. Greg swears he only averted his attention for a second. I believe him. More recently when we finally sat down to a dinner Greg spent hours on, Coltrane tossed his cookies, right as Greg and I clinked wine glasses. (We intentionally left that charming little anecdote out of this post.) We try to keep Coltrane inside when we’re grilling, because singed back hair won’t prevent him from crawling under the firebox in search of goodies. We had to put a bracket on the cabinet under the sink, so he wouldn’t quietly paw it open, root discerningly through the trash, take exactly what he wanted and leave the cleanup for us. For an old guy, he’s surprisingly fast.

Coltrane was Greg’s first dog. He had me come meet his new best friend on one of our first dates. Expecting a squirming puppy, I pulled into the driveway and saw a 6-month-old, 50-pound dog, outsized ears and tail, big brown eyes, smack dab in front of a bay window, patrolling the neighborhood. He’s had my heart as long as Greg has.

Coltrane’s Cookies

• 2 tbsp corn or vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups white flour

Combine oil, peanut butter and water. Add flour, one cup at a time. Quickly knead the dough into a ball. Roll into 1/4 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Paw lickin’ Chicken

• 3 cups white flour
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 tbsp softened butter or margarine
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk

Combine flour, cornmeal, broth, butter. Knead dough for about three minutes. Roll into 1/4 inch thickness and cut into shapes. Beat egg and milk together and brush on biscuits. Bake at 325 for 35 minutes.

Notes: We’ve had these recipes so long, I no longer have the original source(s). If there’s anyone who could enlighten me, I’d welcome the input.

More doggy fun: Eat, Bark, Love has this great recipe for liver brownies. Savoring Every Bite has organic peanut butter biscuits. Or how about these spent grain peanut butter dog cookies over at Cheers Beers?