On Tuesday, Owen, the world's wildest yellow lab and the bane of many of my days, turned 3. (Yes, to those who have met him, he's three. Not one. Or younger. And yes, he's still crazy.)Even though this dog makes me cry on a somewhat regular basis, I felt he deserved a celebration. Partly because, as die-hard rescue proponents he's the first pooch we've had who's birthday we've known, and partly because with the baby coming, his special treatment days are numbered.
And this birthday's special treatment took the form of a homemade meat cake. After looking online and finding multiple canine cake recipes, I settled on one that was the least traditional baked-good, with some modifications.Ground turkey, oats, celery, carrots, zucchini, spinach and a squirt of ketchup were combined and shaped, quite artfully if I do say so myself, into a bone.
An hour in the oven and hazaa - a ready to devour meat bone cake. (Will even ventured downstairs at 10 p.m. on a Monday to find out what smelled so good.)
Looked a little blah though, and after some additional searching, I found out how to spruce it up: cottage cheese frosting (blended curds) and Kraft singles cutouts. It went into the fridge until Tuesday, when we had our little party.
On Tuesday night, I got it out and flamed it up. They didn't quite know what to make of the candles but eventually Owen overcame his anxiety and went in for a nibble. (Shocker.)
Once the candles came out, Kip was on it like a pig on slop.
Think this will happen again in a year? Probably not - but it was enjoyed while it lasted.
(And no - they didn't eat it all. Leftovers tonight.)
