Got dog?

On this date six years ago, a Portuguese Water Dog named Stella gave birth to seven puppies in Cambridge, MA. The first puppy to arrive (whose given name was "Petey") was so big that he got stuck on the way out, and caused his mom to have a caesarean section. That puppy, re-named "Otis" when we adopted him eight weeks later, is still a big guy - 80 lbs - which is pretty large for the breed. But as his very proud owner, I tell you that he's sleek and fit, thanks to two long sessions each day at the park with a tennis ball.

Here's a photo of Otis eight weeks after his birth, that cold day in December when we brought him home, a photo from this morning's birthday walk around Castle Island, and his "official" birthday portrait:

In honor of his birthday, we always make homemade biscuits for Otis. We got this recipe from some friends who were visiting from London a few years back - they gave us a special cookbook and some bone-shaped cookie cutters! Here's the recipe - it's really easy, and I always double the batch so there's plenty of biscuits. 

1/3 cup margarine or butter (Otis prefers butter)

3 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup powdered skim milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

3/4 cup water, room temperature

1 egg, beaten

• In a large mixing bowl, blend margarine/butter with flour (i use a hand mixer).
• In a small bowl, dissolve powdered milk and garlic powder in water and whisk in beaten egg.
• Make a well in the flour mixture and gradually stir in egg mixture until well blended.
• Knead dough on a floured surface, about 3-4 minutes, until dough sticks together and is easy to work with. 
• With a rolling pin, roll dough to between 1/4" and 1/2" thickness.
• Use cookie cutter to cut dough and put biscuits onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.
• Bake 50 minutes at 325 degrees, or until browned all over. 
• Cool on a rack until hard.