Baking for Barktoberfest

Tomorrow is Barktoberfest in Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut! Twice a year New England Airedale Rescue has these events! We always seem to miss spring time because it's always such a busy hectic time at our house with barn raisings and dad's timber frame class but we rarely miss the event in the autumn!

Mom and I decided to make Rice Krispies Treats to take with us and share for lunchie with everybody else!

Do you notice that one ingredient is missing from the above picture? Yup, it's the marshmallows! That's because we were having too much fun with them to remember to put them in the picture! haha

Toss me another one, Mom! I want to see if I get catch marshmallow #2!

You can see the black spot on my tongue in this picture! How many other Dales out there have black spots on their tongues? We wanna see them!

Let's go for a third shot, mom! Here it comes! I'm ready for you my little sweet pillow of yummy goodness!

Now we have to confess! The recipe is sitting right there in front of mom and she even had her bifocals on to read it and guess what? We screwed the recipe up! But we can honestly tell you that if you turn up the heat and put a lid on the pot and stir, stir, stir so it doesn't burn the whole mixture will melt and you can salvage it. WHEW! We were just having too much fun and got carried away! OOPS!

It tastes great, mom! Don't worry! If you wouldn't have squealed, nobody would have ever even known the difference!

We'll be leaving tomorrow morning at 9AM and arrive at Barbara Curtiss's around 11AM and that's exactly what time the event starts! Nope, we won't forget the camera and we won't forget the Rice Krispies treats!

I'm off to decide which collar and bandana I should wear!

So until next time...............

Love ya lots,

Maggie

A Great Autumn Day

The UPS man brought us a pressie today from our goodest and bestest friend, Putter! Earlier this month, Putter's mom and dad and cutest ever twinsies got to go to a faire and they won stuffies and they were kind enough to send Mitch and I one each! That was so thoughtful of you to think of us, Putter! Thank you so much! I want the Dalmation and you can have the Rottie, okay, Mitch?Sure, that sounds fair to me, Maggie!

OOPS!!!! I lied! hehehehe

Putter's mom also sent this good looking book to our mom! In early December our mom is going to fly to Florida to visit with gram and gramp so she says she'd like to put the book away and save it till then to read it on the plane so she has something fun to do for 3 hours! The book is called, "The Powerful Bond between People and Pets". Has anyone read it yet? Mom says thank you so very much to your mom, Putter! You guys are so very thoughtful!

And the fun doesn't stop here! Guess where we went for dindin? The Glenwood! wooooooooohoooooooo We didn't score any of mom's hamburger (PIG!) or dad's hotdog but we did get french fries and mom even dipped them in her catsup for us!

After the Glenwood we headed to Wentworth's for ice cream! Here comes dad with the ice cream!

Mom got mint chocolate chip and the lady who scoops out the ice cream must have known that we were along because there were hardly any chocolate chips in there! And dad got mud pie ice cream! yummmmmmm

What a fun and exhausting day we've had! Check out my pillow! It's Mitchy's butt!

So until next time...............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - Apple Crisp

Hi everybody! It's me, Autumn!Mom and I are making apple crisp today! Check out this cookbook! Mom got it for Christmas in 1963 from her mom and dad! I think it could possible qualify for an antique!Mom says this is her very favorite recipe for apple crisp and it sure looks like it! The page is all stained!My job is to make the crumb topping! It's a butter, flour and brown sugar mixture!We should have known that Appleboy Mitch would appear! "Don't throw that apple peel away, Autumn! I recycle!" It's time to sprinkle the cinnamon over the diced apples! Can you see this heart-shaped teaspoon? This was one of my sissy's wedding favors to all of her guests! The tablespoon says, a heap of love - the teaspoon says, a teaspoon of laughter - the half teaspoon says, a dash of kindness - and the quarter teaspoon says, a pinch of patience! So that's the secret to a successful marriage I guess! hummmmmmmmmmm

Time to put it in the oven and bake it! Hey, I can see my reflection in the glass door!

Yummm and it smell so good too! Now to add a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream and it will be the perfect dessert for this gorgeous autumn day!

Mom and Maggie made split pea soup earlier! I can hardly wait for dindin!

See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

Is It Poison?

Why is this witch being so nice to us?

OMG, Maggie! My most favorite thing to eat in the whole wide world! Look how lucious and sweet and red it is! I'm drooling!

You'd better be careful, Mitch! I think she's trying to poison us and then chop us up and make us into M&M soup!

Should we fall for it?

What do you all think? Let us know!

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch - who don't want to be M&M soup!

Are You A Good Witch Or A Bad Witch

Who the heck are you and what are you doing in our house? Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

She must be a good witch and she must be friendly! She's giving Mitch a cookie and petting his head!

So you mean you're not going to grab us and throw us in the oven and bake us till we're golden brown? hehehehe - We're already black and tan and golden brown!

Do you happen to have a cookie for me too? You're a nice witch! We like you! You can come back and visit us anytime!

So until next time..................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

The 7 X 7 Tag

Blue tagged us for the 7 by 7 tag! We both wanted to get in on the action so my answers will be in red and Mitch will be blue!

7 Things I Plan To Do Before I Die

1. Sleep on the sofa - we aren't allowed up there!

2. Go inside a pizza parlor and climb into a booth with mom and dad!

3. Eat a whole half gallon of ice cream in one sitting!

4. Ride in the grocery cart while mom grocery shops!

5. Eat 25 apples in one day!

6. Sit right beside Maggie in that pizza booth!

7. I want my own half gallon of ice cream too!

7 Things I Do Now

1. Walkies every day, except in the pouring rain

2. Enjoy every morsel of my breakie and dindin

3. Get plenty of rest - I'm 10!

4. Help mom cook every chance I get!

5. Spend lots of time with dad in his workshop

6. Dig lots of holes right outside the barn entrance to see who will break their ankle first!

7. Try and steal Maggie's toys upstairs and not get caught!

7 Things I Can't Do

1. Put treats on top of my nose and wait to eat them!

2. Do a long down-stay. What for?

3. Roll over!

4. Stop barking at the mailman and the UPS man - they're my enemies!

5. Stop racing through the house when it's time to eat dindin! I get in bigtime trouble for this!

6. Be off leash! Mom is afraid she'd never see me again!

7. Eat 25 apples in one day! Evil mom won't let me!

7 Things That Attract Me To The Opposite Sex

1. Kind eyes

2. A muscle butt

3. Great smelling breath

4. An attitude

5. Short women - I like them shorter than I am

6. A cute butt

7. Spring in her step!

7 Things That I Say Most Often

1. Stop biting my foot, Mitch!

2. Stop biting on my tail, Mitch!

3. Get off me you big dummy!

4. Please go away and let me sleep!

5. Wanna play, Maggie?

6. It's MINE!

7. Can we go out for ice cream tonight?!

7 Celebrities That I Admire

1. Lassie

2. Rin Tin Tin

3. Hector, in the Ballad of Hector, the Stowaway dog. Hector is an Airedale!

4. Rexx, the Irish Terrier in Firehouse Dog

5. Winn Dixie

6. Opal in 101 Dalmations

7. Toto from the Wizard of Oz

7 who get to do this now

1. Charlie, the Heeler

2.George, the Rottie

3. Gussie and Teka

4. Kaos

5.Mack, Lilly and Paris

6. Mango and Dexter

7. Noah and his sissies

We helped mom make dindin tonight and we got to sample red peppers! Yummmmmmmmmm

So until next time..............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - Helping Mom Sew

Hi everybody! It's me, Autumn!Mom has been sewing for the last 2 weeks making curtains for our entire house to try and lock in the heat and keep us warmer this winter plus maybe conserve on the oil a wee bit more seeing as the prices are so much higher this year than last year!

She bought a whole bolt of white fabric and she heads upstairs to sew whenever she get a spare minute!

Mom is still unpacking boxes that gram sent and look what we found! Sewing machines - just my size! So I am sewing my tush off and helping mom all that I can! I like to be warm too!

We have the dining room all done and the family room is all done and now we're working on the bedroom windows! It's a lot of work so hopefully it'll work and save us lots of pennies this winter!The gardening chores are in full swing too! We've been hauling all of the garden ornaments out of the garden and storing them upstairs in the barn till next spring and pulling weeds and cutting back on all the plants! Pretty soon it'll be time to rake all of the leaves out of the gardens! This is autumn sedum! It's it just the most spectacular color?!I sure do love autumn! It's such a busy time of year but so rewarding!

See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

Wanna Play

Hey, Maggie! Do you wanna play with me?





Here - you grab onto the other end and pull REAL REAL hard with all your might, okay?

Hey, mom! Do you wanna play with me?

Thanks, mom!

Everyboy has been asking if we got pizza yesterday to make up for mom and dads lack of manners to bring us both doggie bags home from the pig roast! The answer is yes! It was a fresh tomato pizza with lots of garlic and basil! OMG, I'm drooling thinking about how yummy it was! We forgave them this once!

So until next time.............

Yer friend,

Mitch

The Pig Roast That Wasn't

Yesterday mom and I finished up the Cole Slaw salad for the pig roast! She mixed up the vinegar and oil and beef packets and tossed it in!

And seeing as I am official taste tester I had to make sure all the seasonings were exactly in order!

Perfection! Go with it, mom!

For those of you who would like to have the recipe~

Ramen Noodle Cole Slaw Salad

1 head of cabbage

2 Ramen beef noodle packets

1 cup sunflower seeds - mom used walnuts because dad is nuts over them!

1/2 cup slivered almonds

3-4 scallions, chopped - mom used chives right out of our garden instead

Murphey and Reilly's mom adds sesame seeds to her version of this recipe so we added those too and we also tossed in a few poppy seeds!

Break the noodles up and combine all above ingredients in a sealed tupperware container overnight. (note: save the actual beef packets that you find in with the ramen noodles. These are for the next step)

The next morning make the dressing.

Dressing:

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup white vinegar, cider vinegar is okay

2 beef packets

Mix together and pour over the cabbage/ramen mixture. Toss and serve!

It's very simple and VERY yummy!

The bad news is that we didn't get to go and we didn't get any doggie bag! Mom and dad told us all about the good food that was there and how succulent the pig was and how many choices of salads and desserts there were and they stuffed their faces and didn't bring us home anything - not even a smidge! How rude is that, I ask you?!

We hear that we might be having pizza with the football games today so we may just be in a forgiving mood!

So until next time.............

Love ya lots,

Maggie

The Annual Pig Roast

Tomorrow is Marlowe's annual pig roast that mom and dad attend and we both got to help mom prepare a salad that she will take with her tomorrow! No, we don't get to go! Bummer!

Mom had to run to the bank this morning and she took us for a ride!

The cashier sent cookies out the drive-in window that looked like Fig Newtons! She assured us that they were dog cookies and boy were they ever yummy! She even sent out a napkin so mom could wipe our faces! The heck with wiping our faces! I love to eat napkins - but this didn't happen! Rats!

Back at home mom got started on the salad. It's called Ramen Noodle Cole Slaw Salad. She diced the cabbage and chopped the walnuts!

She added the slivered almonds and the chives right out of our garden. Next were the broken Ramen noodles - not the beef packets yet - just the noodles today!

She stirred it all around and voila!

It sits overnight in the frig and tomorrow we mix the oil and the vinegar and the beef packets together and pour it over the cabbage and toss it! Pretty simple! We can't wait to taste it!

We sure wish we could go to this pig roast too! We hear the whole pawty is all about eating and socializing and listening to live music! We can do that!

So until next time..............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - The Beard Challenge

Hi everybody! It's me, Autumn! Today is a very important day! It's October 1st and we all have to log in our beard measurements for Stanley and Stella's beard growing competition in honor of Stanley's dearly departed buddy, Dovah Doo, who had one fabulous beard!

Stella states that the rules are open to any dog, hammie or cat! Well, I'm a wheelie dog! Do I count, Stella? My beard is an impressive 1 1/4"!

Farley got wind of the challenge and he wanted to enter too! We don't think he's going to win much as his measley peach fuzz is less than 1/4" but he didn't want to feel left out!

My friend, Johnathan is the only doggie stuffie that can possible even come close to a win at

2 3/4"!! whoooooohooooooooo - way to go, Johanathan!

And seeing as it's Wednesday and it's my day to blog, Maggie and Mitch asked me if I'd please post their measurement pictures too!

Mitch's little boy beard, if you yank it down because it's curling from all the apple juice from the free apples that he steals, is 2 1/4"! You still have him beat, Johnathan! Nice work!

And now for my sissy! OMG, I think she lost inches from last year! It must be that darn Mitch's fault! He does tug at it every so often! It's only 4" if you straighten out the ruler and last January it was a whole half inch longer!

I'll be reading all of my herb books, Maggie, and we'll see what we can do to rub into your beard to help it grow fast and furious before January 1, 2009!

See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn