So I looked at Saro. He looked at me. I said, “Why not?” and went to the Internet to find a recipe for dog biscuits. I already had the bone-shaped cookie cutter.

These dog biscuits are just about the easiest thing you can make. I made a batch over the weekend and plan to make many, many more. It seems silly now to buy store-bought biscuits. Plus, I get my baking fix without filling the house with a bunch of sugary treats.

Here’s the recipe. I mixed this by hand, according to the recipe, but I think it can be done in the food processor too. I’ll try it next time.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup peanut butter (all-natural)
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil

1    Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine oil, peanut butter and water. Add flour, one cup at a time, forming a dough. Knead dough into firm ball and roll to 1/4 inch thickness.
2    Roll out and cut into 3 to 4 inch pieces or use a cookie cutter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

I fed him a decent (somewhat expensive) food and he was happy to eat it. So happy, in fact, that he would drool with anticipation as I scooped the food into his bowl.

After some time, though, he became less enthusiastic. He would walk up to the bowl, sniff it, and walk away. He seemed to wait until he absolutely needed to eat; sometimes a whole day went by. I tried different brands and it was always the same thing: for a couple of days, he would eat it with no problem, and then he lost interest. I tried putting treats in his bowl with the food. Often that worked. It got him excited enough to take a few bites and then hunger took over and he would eat all the food. So, this was fine except…. I was tired of always bribing him to eat. And I didn’t want to pay for expensive food that he didn’t like. He often had watery poops, which led me to believe that the food wasn’t agreeing with him. Plus, I missed those days when he really loved his food.

So, one day, I went to the grocery store and bought some cheap, unhealthy, corn-based dog food. And of course, he loved it. He ate it all up. How could I argue with that? He has few pleasures in life: going outside and eating. I want him to have a good life. So I kept buying the cheap stuff and he kept eating it.

But the guilt got to me. It was like feeding him Twinkies. It was dyed bright colors and full of artificial flavors and poor-quality ingredients. I needed a new plan.

I did some research. I thought about it. And slowly, I realized that I was about to turn a corner in my life.

I made homemade Meat Cakes for the dog.

He gets one Cake with a scoop of food (Newman’s Organic, which is slightly cheaper than the premium brands, but still has decent ingredients). I make a batch of Meat Cakes every two weeks and freeze them.

He doesn’t drool while I prepare the food, but he does sit at my feet and wait for it. He eats it all up and then comes to me for a pet on the head. He seems happy. And he always gets compliments on his shiny coat.

If there are any other crazies dog lovers out there that want to try this, here’s the recipe I’m using. (I found it on the Internet somewhere.) It’s very simple and doesn’t take much time. A food processor makes the grating and chopping a breeze. It appears to have a good balance of meat, whole grains and vegetables. And, in a pinch, you can eat them too!

Saro’s Meat Cakes

3/4 cups brown rice
1 1/2 cups water
1 large potato, grated
2 large carrots, grated
1 large celery stalk, chopped
3 pounds ground beef
4 eggs
1 dash salt
1/8 cup olive oil
3/4 cups regular rolled oats

1    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 36 cups of 3 large muffin tins.
2    In a medium saucepan, combine the rice with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, uncovered, and cook 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool several minutes, then fluff with a fork and set aside.
3    In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, carrots, celery, ground beef, and eggs. Mix ingredients together using your hands or a sturdy spoon. Add salt, olive oil, rolled oats, and rice; mix well.
4    Fill each muffin cup with some of the meat mixture, and pat down the make it firm. Bake 45 minutes, or until surface feels set. Cool on a rack 10 minutes or longer.
5    Remove the meat cakes by turning the muffin tin upside down over a sheet of aluminum foil. Tap each muffin cup to release the cake. Refrigerate or freeze in sealed plastic bags. NOTE: Do not feed to dogs while still hot.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see. (Soulemama)

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

See, we’re laughing already.

For the past few issues, we have been fortunate enough to get some great photography from The Image of Research — an exhibit that showcases images of grad student thesis work. And it’s not just work by art majors (though they’re in the mix too). Computer science and biology students are also producing some very compelling imagery. I love the cover image for this issue; books arranged in a play on the color spectrum. Perfect!

(yes, that’s three pounds of grape tomatoes)

…bad for the big black dog.

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  .   .   .

While decidedly *not* weather-appropriate, I’ve been crazy with knitting projects lately. I finished my first-ever sweater while on vacation in North Carolina. The size was a little off, so I gave it to my mom and promptly knitted another one for myself. The Shalom sweater. It’s totally my new favorite. I want to do another one, this time with sleeves.

I finished this manly vest and have a baby sweater on the needles for a little one due in December.

And just this past weekend, I started this stripey little number to use up a bunch of yarn I’ve had sitting around for a year or so. It was intended to be a short-sleeved, cropped cardigan, but I’m making  it full-length. Which of course means that I’m going to have to buy some more yarn — so much for stash-busting!

Hope you’re having a fantastic August!

So, here (in no particular order) are some State of the Garden photos.

Huge okra pods (should've picked em earlier)

The tomato section (at least 20 plants)

Heirloom tomato

Okra harvest

Kale

Saro, with today's harvest

Today's harvest

Nyagous black tomatoes

Sweet pepper (we thought we planted Bells)

Carrot peeking out

Broccoli

Beets ready for pickin'

Some of the *millions* of grape tomatoes

The two main beds

I’ll try to catch up, but first I want to give a shout out to the Ashtanga Yoga Center on the Outer Banks in Nags Head, NC.

Outer Banks version of a strip mall

From the car window

Shoes outside the shala

Astanga Yoga Center

I spent a wonderful week vacationing with the family and was positively thrilled to discover an Ashtanga yoga shala just ten minutes from our house. I arrived on Saturday and went to Sunday’s Led Primary class, which was a full two hours. The rest of the week, I went to Mysore at 6.30 am.

The studio is small and, at this time of year, unbelievably hot and humid. I’d never practiced in that kind of heat and it was intense. The studio, of course, is not air conditioned and the windows were kept closed. My family had lots of questions about this. Why is yoga practiced indoors, with so much heat and humidity? I didn’t have an answer other than: that’s just the traditional method. In the Yoga Mala, Pattabhi Jois references the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and says that yoga should not be practiced outdoors: “…the body will be sapped and its power exhausted if, in an effort to dry the sweat of practice, it is exposed to outside air.” Sweat should not be wiped off, but should be massaged into the body. I tried to do this, but the sweat was too much. It didn’t dry, so I used a towel.

One perk of all that sweat is that my arms effortlessly slipped through the lotus in Garba Pindasana. I laughed. Typically, it’s just not possible because I sweat only enough to get sticky, but this time I was downright slick!

While the heat and the sweat was impressive, I did my best to “just practice”. The studio has great energy. It’s dimly lit, peaceful and friendly. Michelle, who owns the studio and teaches most of the classes, studied with Tim Miller in Encinitas, CA. She follows the traditional method and is both gentle and firm with adjustments. In the short time I was there, I got some good feedback and things to work on. She was welcoming and, by the end of the week, I was sad to go. The studio has a nice community; students are at all levels and are friendly, chatting a bit before, during and after practice.

If you are ever in the area, stop by and check out this great little shala! Thanks, Michelle, for  creating such a nice practice environment!

This week:

• I woke up without fuss every day at 5am, and wasn’t completely wiped out later in the day. Typically, I have to drag myself out of bed at 7.30.

• I did the full Primary Series, with minimal fuss, every day. No cheating or skipping poses, even when I was so tired.

This alone is noteworthy. I crave routine, discipline and early wake-ups, but find it so difficult to achieve.

There were also learnings in the physical experience. After being incredibly sore for the first couple of days, I fell into a nice rhythm. I worried about over-stressing my shoulder, but found that I could back off just a bit and keep working. When the soreness abated, I felt my strength building up.

There is a big difference between practicing 3-5 days a week (variably) and the consistency of a 6-day week with one day off. I thought my four days a week of Ashtanga were going well. But in just one week, I saw progress in poses that haven’t changed for me in years. The bind in Marichyasana D is coming. I wasn’t able to be assisted into the pose a few weeks ago; now I can see that if I keep working, I’ll be able to do it myself eventually.

That said, I was very happy for the day off today. I slept till 6.45. It’s still hard to imagine doing this practice every day. Day in and day out. Month after month. I feel like I would eventually begin to rebel against the structure. It’s easy to practice when you have a Master Teacher there to support you. For now, I’ll take it one week at a time and try to keep them with me.

Thank you Manju and Greg for a wonderful week!

Me and Manju (with Ganesh)