A Boy and His Dog--how about some home-made treats for your best friend?

It's Sam's 18th birthday today!  Here's an archive picture of Sam at age 9 and Diesel as a ball-of fluff- 5-week old puppy.  

Fido's People Crackers*

Materials and directions:

1/4 cup hot tap water

8 chicken bouillon cubes (remember those?)

1 package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar,

1 1/2 cups tomato juice

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups wheat germ

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour.

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Pour the hat tap water into a large bowl.  Add the chicken bouillon cubes and crush them with a fork.  Stir in the yeast and let stand for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the tomato juice, 1 cup all-purpose flour and the wheat germ.  Stir with a large spoon to form a smooth batter.  Then stir in the remaining all-purpose and the whole wheat flours. (this will make the dough very dry and stiff).  You'll probably have to use your hands to finish mixing.
3. Sprinkle flour on a surface such as a cutting board, then take a couple of handfuls of dough out and work into a small ball shape.  Then, with a rolling pin flatten the balls to about 1/4" thick on the cutting board.  If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.
4. Now, use a table knife to cut out your people shapes, or use a bone-shaped cookie cutter, or a ginger-bread boy cutter--or any shape you want! Then repeat the whole process again with the rest of the dough, working a couple of handfuls at a time.
5. Finally, use a spatula to put your people bicuits onto a cookie sheet.  Then bake at 300 degrees for about an hour.  Afterwards, let them dry in the turned-off oven for quite a while, 4 hours or so.  (teaches patience)
6. Store in an air-tight container, and dole out to your doggie when he/she deserves a little treat!

*from KidsCooking:  A Very Slightly Messy Manual, by the editors of Klutz Press, 1987.

Sam and Diesel as grown-ups.