In the Kitchen with Lydia

Lydia posing. She loves to have her picture taken.

If you see me around the ‘net anywhere you will have heard about Lydia aka Demon Dog aka Doggie Diva. She’s a black and white boxer that lets me live in my house and serve her whims.

Among Lydia’s many (less) endearing traits, she is a genuinely picky eater. I hear you dog owners saying I made her that way. Nope. She came that way. What dog do you know refuses a treat if it’s not the right one? Same with food – dog food or people food. There are times she manages to refuse all her treats and then sits and whines for one. After a while, when I simply can’t take it anymore, I get out different bags of treats and wait for her to make her selection. And yes, she does choose. Generally, she uses her paw to smack the bag of treats she does want, and her nose to reject the others. For the record, her all time favorite treat – that I have only seen her reject once—is duck jerky.

Consists of duck jerky for either dessert or an appetizer, lamb dog food (when she’s in the mood for dog food) and topping it off with some kind of salmon treat.  All that food could be too rich, but Lydia knows when she’s had enough and manages to put herself on a diet for a few days—aside from a few strips of jerky, she eats nothing. She’s such girl!

While the family room might be her domain, she loves hanging out in the kitchen. If she’s hungry and there is a pot on the stove, she stands in the middle of the kitchen and barks for it. There are certain words vital to any Doggie Diva’s vocabulary: food and hungry top the list. If something is cooking there’s a wait for it.

Last night I was making peanut butter biscotti. Lydia came to see what was going on in the kitchen. Told her I was cooking, so she went back to the Family Room. As the biscotti baked and the smell wafted through the house, Lydia’s nose went in the air. By the time I had them out of the oven and cooling, waiting to be sliced, she was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor watching my every move. Finally, it got to be too much. She barked. The cookies were all sliced and on the sheet and she didn’t have any. I gave her a sliver of the end. After all, aside from the sugar, a biscotti isn’t that much different than a dog biscuit!

These peanut butter biscotti are among my favorite. Not only do they taste great, but they are on the easy scale. I keep thinking they would be super delicious dunked in hot chocolate, but haven’t actually tried it yet.

Peanut Butter Biscotti

2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup water
1 1/4 cups roasted peanuts, unsalted

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, lightly beat together the eggs, peanut butter and water. Add to flour mixture and mix just until ingredients are incorporated. A little more water, a teaspoon at a time, can be added if mixture is too dry to make a smooth dough. Stir in peanuts.

Divide the dough into two portions, and form each into a log approximately 3 inches in diameter. Place the logs on the cookie sheet about 3 to 4 inches apart and flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake in preheated oven until light brown, about 40 minutes. Take out of the oven.

Turn the oven down to 300 degrees F. Let logs cool for 10 minutes, then cut into 3/4-inch thick bars. Place bars, cut side down, back on the cookie sheet and bake until crisp, about 20 minutes.