Green St. Patrick's Day Treats

Well, far too swiftly, St. Patrick's Day has come and gone!! Having Irish in my blood, I excitedly anticipate March 17th. Every year!! I circle St. Patrick's Day on calendars. We watch "The Quiet Man" as a family. I own this bright green cheap plastic children's bracelet, and wear it on my right wrist each year. I love that piece of "jewelry"!! Seriously.... It is bold, and makes a statement of Look at me!! Well.... Why leave canines out on all the fun? Everybody is Irish for one day!! Are dogs an exception to that? I do not think so!! On Friday, March 16th, my youngest brother--known to Rose as Uncle Michael--and I baked a batch of home-made "grass-stained green" dog biscuits!! Which, our "food lovin'" Beagle cross would rate: Four 'paws' way, way up!! Here is our recipe:

Sit, Pat, Tricks Day
YOUR DOG WILL THINK HE FOUND HIS POT OF GOLD!
2 cups fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups white flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, puree spinach and oil. Add milk. (I almost forgot to add the milk.... I mistakenly thought that it should be poured into our flour and cornmeal. Oops. No problem, though!!) In a large bowl, combine flour and cornmeal. Add spinach mixture to flour mixture. (By the way.... Our spinach mixture looked disgusting!!) Knead for 2-3 minutes. (As usual when we bake these recipes, there was loose flour on the bottom of our bowl. So I found a large spoon and mashed my dough down several times until its flour was firmly mixed in. I counted that as "kneading"!!) Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut with cookie cutter. (I searched everywhere for shamrock cookie cutters, to no avail. Sigh.... So we used the cookbook's bone!!) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 1 dozen. (We baked 12 bones exactly for 30 minutes!!)
Bake bones on the middle oven rack. If your dough is sticky, apply a light layer of flour to your hands, the rolling surface and rolling pin. Because of variations in oven temperatures, monitor the cooking time for your batch of "Doggy Bones". Bake bones until the bottoms of the biscuits become medium brown, and adjust remaining baking times accordingly. If bones do not become "bone hard", bake bones for an additional five minutes or leave them in the oven as it cools. Store "Doggy Bones" in an airtight container. For extended supply, double your batch and freeze them!

I discovered a rather devious way to sneak spinach into Rose's diet!! Because my mongrel dislikes this plant!! And lettuce, for that matter!! When allowed a spinach leaf, Rose will hold it in her mouth. For several brief seconds. Then she will spit it out onto the floor. Next, Rose rolls in her spinach leaf. Then, she walks away!! "Snubbed", just like that!! The same treatment applies for lettuce!! Silly girl.... Rose did not follow me around our minuscule kitchen this time. No. She kept her distance in the great room!! However, once I pulled Rose's steaming-hot "grass-stained green" treats out of our oven, she wanted them!! Sorry girl.... They need to cool first!! My obvious reasons? I do not need to burn Rose's mouth!! Be patient.... That is a difficult concept--waiting--for a dog!! So I walked her up and down our cul-de-sac to pass time!! Once we returned, Rose was allowed a "grass-stained green" biscuit.... At last!! She greedily snatched it out of my hand. Ran into our great room, while still holding the treat. Dropped it. Then rolled, rolled, rolled, as though her biscuit were raccoon scat!! Finally, unlike the spinach, she ate it!! This is, apparently, Rose's crazy way of "expressing" her approval!! She's weird sometimes....

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Rose!!