Emily and Einstein ****
by Linda Francis Lee
I’m joining Jain at Food for Thought, a delicious blog for readers with an appetite for the written word.
“He was a man who didn’t deserve a second chance…but he needed one. Emily and her husband, Sandy Portman, seemed to live a gracious if busy life in an old-world, Upper West Side apartment in the famous Dakota building. But one night on the way to meet Emily, Sandy dies in a tragic accident. The funeral isn’t even over before Emily learns she is on the verge of being evicted from their apartment. But worse than the possibility of losing her home, Emily is stunned when she discovers that her marriage was made up of lies.
Suddenly Emily is forced on a journey to find out who her husband really was…all the while feeling that somehow he isn’t really gone. And what if he isn’t? Angry, hurt, and sometimes betrayed by loving memories of the man she lost, Emily finds comfort in a scruffy dog named Einstein. But is Einstein’s seemingly odd determination that she save herself enough to make Emily confront her own past? Can he help her find a future-even after she meets a new man?”
This book received 4 stars from me and a 5 bone rating from Chloe & Gracie~ happy to play along for Food for Thought!
After the death of her husband, Emily turns to food and begins baking~ cupcakes & cookies. After my chocolate-fest, I decided I’d cut some calories and whip up some Dog Gone Good Treats.
I fetched my Three Dog Bakery Cookbook for some Chloe & Gracie-approved cookies that even Einstein, “a wiry little dog who acts like a snob of a man,” would enjoy. These smelled SO good baking, my husband came home and asked what was on the menu for dinner that smelled so good. . .
Oops~ Uhmmm. . . dog treats?
The recipe stated it would make 30 cookies, but I got closer to 6 dozen~ more than I bargained for & enough to share with ALL the other dogs in Central Park where Emily & Einstein go running :)
Ingredients
~ ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
~ 1 egg
~ ½ cup natural peanut butter
~ 1 teaspoon vanilla
~ 1 ¼ cups water
~ 4 cups whole-wheat flour
~ ½ cup cornmeal
~ ½ cup quick cook oats
~ ¼ cup chopped peanuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine applesauce, egg, peanut butter, vanilla & water.
In a second bowl, combine dry ingredients and peanuts.
Add dry to wet ingredients and mix well. (I used the food processor to pulse everything together since the 5 cups of dry ingredients makes this challenging to mix.)
Turn dough onto floured surface and knead. Roll out to ¼ inch thick and cut into shapes.
Place on parchment or greased cookie sheet and bake. The recipe called for 45 minutes of baking time~ mine were done closer to 25 minutes~ watch and remove when slightly browned. Cool on a rack and store in sealed container.
We had some Einstein-inspiration & fun from The Lucky Charms Episode for Food for Thought:
“That day the primal part took over when my wretchedly overactive nose caught a whiff of something. I scrambled into the kitchen to investigate and found a box of Lucky Charms…”
“Much like Pavlov’s dog, I started salivating, the need for more of those horrid Lucky Charm suffusing my body. So I did the only thing I could. I upended the box, cereal spilling across my fine wood table. I could hardly contain myself as I scarfed up every last puffy marshmallow and crunchy nugget.”
“I scrambled to my feet on the kitchen tabletop, lost to the unwieldy darkness. I swung my head, unable to see a thing as I tried to remove what I only half understood was the box. I barked and whimpered, dancing over the table, mindless of my hard, curving nails clawing into the wood, certain the damned cartoon leprechaun was attacking me.”
Chloe says these cookies are magically delicious :)
Einstein attracts the attention of an overly amorous poodle which prompted me to mix up some Valentine’s Day cupcake-esque-muffins, perfect for a frisky feast~
Ingredients
~ 1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
~ 1 cup rolled oats
~ 1 cup oat bran
~ 2 teaspoons baking soda
~ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
~ 2 apples, peeled and diced
~ 1 egg
~ ¼ cup honey
~ 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
~ ¼ cup walnuts
~ 1 cup skim milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a bowl, combine dry ingredients.
Add apples, egg, honey, oil & walnuts. Stir, add milk and mix thoroughly.
Spoon batter into greased muffin tin (I used papers) so cups are ¾ full and bake for 20- 25 minutes. Cool before serving and store in sealed container.
I got almost 2 dozen~ the recipe says it yields 16. I used smallish scoops for small dogs.
Since Chloe & Gracie are middle-aged ladies, they have to watch their girlish figures so we parcelled out Valentine treats to their canine cousins & pals. . .
Just checking to see if there are enough for everyone~ let’s see…Striker, Copper, Pickles, Trixie & LadyBug…
Solo, Smitty, Woody, Pink, Blue & Brutus~
Einstein’s parting words of wisdom:
“In order to live a life truly worth living you had to have strength in the face of adversity, patience when confronted with challenge, and bravery in the face of fear.”
It was a tasty and full day posing for photos~ Chloe & Gracie’s parting words of wisdom:
Blogging is exhausting!
Tomorrow we take the day off and it’s back to our normal diet of dry kibble.
If you’re joining in the fun with Emily & Einstein for FFT, let me know by comment & I’ll add a link back to this post so every dog one can enjoy a taste :)
Other Thoughtful Reviews:
A taste of New York City from Maggie here.
Sample Sarah’s NYC tour & review here.
Precious, precious pictures of Chloe and Gracie! They are very blessed to have you cook treats for them! Looking at the ingredients I think I would like them too!
Cute post. Love your sense of humor and clever review.
Oh, my! Methinks this post is magically delicious! I love it. Chloe and Gracie are two lucky little pups! My sweet Westie had to have her teeth cleaned yesterday, poor baby! I just adore your blog. Your posts always make me smile! I hope you have a great rest of the week!
xo,
Ricki Jill
What an entertaining post, Mary! These recipes are keepers. xo
The tulips are beautiful, Mary, and the dog treats look and sound wonderful. But the real stars of the post are Gracie and Chloe. They are adorable and irresistible!
This looks like a really good book; I’m sensing a very poignant story. I’ll have to try to find that one for sure. Thanks for sharing.
Denise
Chloe and Gracie are sooooo precious. I’d love to hug and smooch them.
I LOVE this post! All the pictures of Chloe and Gracie are adorable. I went back over and over them. They are so photogenic and just too cute. The treats look wonderful. You are such a good mommy. I’m going to get that book. It sounds like something I would really like, but then I’m a true doggie person! Thanks for your wonderful post and give Chloe and Gracie kisses from me and Sugar Plum and Meeka.
I think Chloe and Gracie are all the magic one needs! Fun post!! I love the Food for Thought posts.
Now you’ve really done it, Mary. Maizy, my pooch, is sitting on my lap as I read this and she’s feeling very hurt that her person doesn’t show the same kind of love as you. It’s a good thing you included the recipe for the treats because she may be nipping at my heels until I make some for her!
Mary, I knew Chloe and Gracie would be the stars of this post. They are adorable. I didn’t cook for this one. Had eaten way too much chocolate during the CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE review. Oh, can one eat too much chocolate? Well, anyway, I didn’t need to be baking cupcakes and chocolate croissants. I’ve got mine ready, so I’ll go ahead and post it today. Just posted a tablescape last night so this will be a first for me to have two new posts the same day. Wow!
I think I’ll pick up a copy of that book for our friends who are getting the new puppy on Saturday. ~ Sarah
Well my brood verses your ladies, hands down you win! They look so cute and delicate, I had an honest to goodness dog fight when Cassie put her head in the box after jasper shook it off his head on the kitchen table… Yes ON, what on earth was I thinking hyping jasper up even more with sugar! I laughed all morning after I seperated them, my dogs are like helicopters hovering above ground, your ladies look exhausted after their union mandated breaks!
I so love your post, it’s so pretty… I felt lucky to get live action shots with my gang, pretty wasn’t an option… Wait til mine see yours was catered :(
You know I am on my cell phone which makes me brief, I am wild over your diva dolls, I will be back next week when I can really study their method acting to teach my hell hounds a thing or two!
Darling, beautiful and tasty too Mary, thanks so much for being my food for thought cohort!
How lucky are they to have such a great “mom”..then again, I am sure you feel you are the lucky one to have them…They are adorable and I love the recipes…I am sure they are your “lucky charms”…Have a great day..Beautiful post as always!
Fabulous review, Chloe & Gracie are such elegant ladies and so photogenic. Mr Ben didn’t get specially baked treats for my fft post but he did end up licking the ny cheesecake off the floor!
Chloe and Gracie are adorable…and yes, as Maggie says above, elegant and very photogenic ladies. The recipes sound delicious and not just for out little canine friends! I’m already looking up the book to read…Thank you, Mary!
Chloe and Gracie could not be more darling and your home made treats sound amazing. I will look for this book.
How adorable! Your pooches look so happy with their treats :)
Brava, Chloe & Gracie for your excellent portrayal of Eisenstein for this post! It looks like you found the Lucky Charms box very interesting..lol..and enjoyed your special treats. It is so nice you shared with friends!
This book sounds very intriguing, Mary. I must out it on my list of books I want to read.
Well, Chloe and Gracie have grabbed my heart and won’t let go! How sweet are they!?! I love how they smile and pose for you. The book sounds wonderful and I look forward to reading it. Isn’t it fun to watch dogs and cats play with an empty box. Mine would always sit in it or put their head in it and walk all over hitting all the walls because they couldn’t see where they were going. They loved it! I love your review and I’ve got to admit that I couldn’t take my eyes off of Chloe and Gracie. They certainly loved your homemade treats.
sweet,
emily and einstein, what a cool combination.
Such a cute pair starring in your blog today. This is the second review I have come across for this blog in the last hour and I had never heard of it before!
I hope you are keeping well, still reading your posts in my reader but apologies for not calling by to comment very often, time just seems to get swallowed up by real life!
haha…people think OUR dogs are spoiled!! Fun!
Beautiful photos of your pups, Mary! I enjoyed seeing this post and your pie crust post, as well.
I am getting back into the swing of things, slowly by surely.
So happy I stopped by this evening. Gorgeous posts, as always.
Your Chloe and Gracie are just adorable. What a great post, the doggies are just spoiled with all the wonderful treats. The book sounds interesting, I will have to look for a copy. Thanks for sharing, have a great week
Lovely mosaics. Homemade treats for the pups…
Lucky doggies!
Your dogs are so sweet, and to spoil them with homemade treats. I feel guilty now that I’ve been buying store bought.
Cute mosaics.
What happy puppies and very sweet photos! Enjoy your week! ♥ Looks like the fun has begun! ♥
I love the cover on that book! Your pups are so sweet ;o)
Chloe and Gracie are just adorable…I am going to find that book…it sounds so interesting. Your pictures are wonderful!
Aw, how cute!!! You are such a good dog mommy to make those home baked goodies! :) xoxo
Wee Rory would love those treats! Have you read The Art of Racing in the Rain? I’ll be you’d love it!
So cute!!!! My fluffies would be soooo happy.
Wonderful to have you be a part of Seasonal Sundays!
- The Tablescaper
I love those dogs! Two spoiled pooches indeed!!
Hugs,
Jann
Great! I made those for Sam.
Have a wonderful week,
Markus
The pups are adorable. I will give my daughter in law the cookie recipe as they have a lab with lots of allergies and cookies with meat products are a no no. I will look for the book. It sounds intriguing. V
This sounds like a Magnificent book…
And I just know My little wiener dog would love those Magically delicious treats…
Marvelous post for the letter “M”…
Thanks for linking!
A+
I’m in the mood for a good book. Thank you for the recommendation!
I don’t live with a dog (we have a cat – used to have 5 until they all died of old age), but I do bake up treats on occasion for canine friends. These recipes look really good and the ingredients are simple. I will try these next. I’m passing them along, too, to someone at my office who has a teeny dog, much like your sweeties. I think her young daughters would love to bake up these.