Hunting Season

It's hard to believe we're already almost two months into hunting season here (urban bow season in our area). Although, looking in my freezer it's easy to believe. I've got a lot or recipes to find for the winter. I'm very excited.

This year has been a little different. Rick has spent almost as much time taking the dog out to help retrieve as he has actually in the tree himself. The other day, she got two calls in one morning. That was one tired pooch (and hubby).

I hope all of you hunting widows enjoy the game this year too!

Pumpkin Soup (yes, with vension)

It's a snowy day here in Virginia, our first this year. It's also the first snow with the DAWG. We had no idea how she would react. When I tried to take her out for her quick morning constitutional, she wanted no part of the white stuff. So I thought I was going to have a nice, short morning walk.

Wrong.

She actually does love it. Apparently, everything smells that much better in the snow. Lucky me.

But I digress. The other day I made a pumpkin soup that I found in The Nest Winter 08 edition (page 58). The recipe calls for prosciutto, but I still have a freezer full of venison. It really hit the spot for lunch today; it has a wonderful warm flavor and is very filling. I had it with some nice pumpernickel bread.

Parmesan Pumpkin Soup with Frizzeled Venison
2 tbs olive oil (I use Spanish)
2 oz venison, thinly sliced
1 large onion, cut into 1/8 inch dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz canned pumpkin
32 oz chicken broth
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper, ground
4 oz half and half
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbs parsley

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add venison and saute until crisp, about 2 minutes. Remove meat and set aside.

2. Reduce heat to medium, add onion and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook a few seconds. Stir in pumpkin, broth, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Transfer to slow cooker, cover and cook 3 to 4 hours on high or 6 to 8 on low.

3. Stir in cream and cheese and cover 5 minutes. Stir in parsley. Ladle into bowls and garnish with meat.

Serving size is one heaping cup, 145 calories.

Crack Brownines for the Dog

I wish I had a camera with me when sweet little Shih Tzu Tamu snatched one of these doggie treats right out of her friend Olive's mouth. Poor Olive looked so confused.

If you want to make the dog in your life go crazy, make these treats. The process is a little messy, but the end product is worth it. We use venison liver, but if you don't have access to that, calf liver from the store will work too.

Doggie Crack
(Based on recipes on Dog Aware)

1lb liver pureed
1 cup flour
1 cup rice flower (or corn meal, graham cracker, other grain)
2 tbs spoon honey
2 tbs spoon garlic salt
Dash oil

Mix well in food processor. Spread in 8 inch baking pan and bake in microwave for 7 minutes. Cut into 1 inch cubes while still warm. Be prepared to feed a few to your dawg. Spread cut pieces on dehydrator sheets and dehydrate until crunchy. (You can also bake at 200.)

Store in the freezer...they will mold if you leave them out. We find Happy has no problem eating them frozen.

Doggie Crack Biscuits

I wish I had a camera with me when sweet little Shih Tzu Tamu snatched one of these doggie treats right out of her friend Olive's mouth. Poor Olive looked so confused.

If you want to make the dog in your life go crazy, make these treats. The process is a little messy, but the end product is worth it. We use venison liver, but if you don't have access to that, calf liver from the store will work too. Beware: Your dog will become addicted very quickly.


Doggie Crack Biscuits

The original recipe came from Dog Aware. We used the ingredients from one recipe with the cooking instructions from the other.

1lb liver pureed
1 cup flour
1 cup rice flour or corn meal (graham cracker would work too)
2 tbs honey or molasses
2 tbs garlic salt
Dash oil

Mix all ingredients together and spread in 8x8 microwavable dish. Cook for 7 minutes in the microwave. Remove from dish and cut into small squares (about 1 in x 1 in) while warm. Then dehydrate until all moisture is gone (about three hours). If you don't have a dehydrator, you can bake at 200 for about two hours.

Treats for a Happy Dawg

Have you ever known a dog that wouldn't eat anything you put near it's mouth? It's a rare dog indeed who is a food snob.

Our beloved Happy Dawg is just such a rare creature. She won't eat anything raw...it must all be cooked just so (even her yummy venison bones). Drop some ground meat on the floor, and it will sit there all night. This animal is the pickiest eater ever in canine history.

Rick really wanted to find some treats for her so he could reward her when she does things like behave during a bath or track a deer. But we tried everything, and it was no go. So, yesterday, he decided to make some liver jerky and see if that might make her salivate.

Bingo! This dog is performing every trick in the book to earn a treat. She LOVES them. Sid, the little gray cat, was not interested at all. (If it doesn't have cheese on it, she could care less.)

Happy Dawg Jerky Treats

• 1-quart water
• 1 tbs plain salt
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Venison liver sliced 1/8” thick (we usually do two livers at a time)

Set aside the venison liver. Combine all other ingredients, stirring so that they dissovle. Add the liver and soak for five minutes. Remove liver, place on paper towels, and pat dry. Place the liver on dehydrator trays, or if you’re using a conventional oven, on cookie sheets lined with wax paper. Dehydrate on lowest setting for 6 to 8 hours. (in the oven, put on lowest temperate and leave the oven door open a crack…you may have to play with the timing and temperature to figure out what works best.

Happy Dawg

Rick and I fell in love today. Can you blame us? She's gorgeous. And sweet. And doesn't bark. And loves children and cats.

Here's what happened. I asked Rick if he wanted to go to the grocery store with me so I could get the ingredients for a venison pot pie and some venison breakfast biscuits. Since he had spent Friday night and all day yesterday hunting, he turned off the Dolphins game and came with me.

Boy, did I learn my lesson. (Just kidding...he can go to the store with me any time.)

We were cutting through the PetSmart parking lot, and saw that it was adoption day (actually, every Sunday is adoption day). Rick has been wanting a hunting dawg so he can find his deer on those rare occasions that he can't track them. We'd been looking at Bassettdoodles (because Rick has horrible dog allergies) with the thought of getting one next summer. He innocently said "let's just see if they have one." Niether of thought they would because the breed is not all that common. And sure enough, they didn't. But they had Happy, a bassett/beage mix, and she immiately stole both our hearts.

Rick has never spent time with a beagle, so he wasn't really sure whether he was allergic. So he played with her, then rubbed his eyes and we went to the grocery store to wait and see if his face would swell up. Twenty minutes later, his face was fine and we were filling out the paper work.

Happy Dawg adapted to her new home in about ten minutes, and now is acting like she's lived here forever. As expected, the two cats aren't thrilled. Oscar has been hiding in a closet all afternoon, but she did venture down to eat so she'll be fine. Sid is much braver, although still not sure about the dog. Happy likes the cats and would like to be friends. I think they'll all be fine with each other within the week.

Rick's going to take Happy Dawg hunting on Saturday. She is definitely a scent dog, but at least today she thought all scents were good ones. She'll need some training on that.

Thanks to the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation for their work. The volunteers were great and there were so many wonderful animals, and if weren't for Rick's allergies, we may have brought home more than one!

The pot pie was yummy too, altough the recipe needs a little tweaking before I'll call it ready for public consumption. I'm making the biscuits tomorrow.