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Noodles in Japan: Udon
Noodle is familiar food to many people in the world. Noodle comes with variety, and there are different kinds of shapes, length, and are made from different flours and ingredients.
In Japan, there are 3 kinds of noodles: Udon, Soba, and Ramen.
What is Udon?
Udon is kind of noodle and usually white in color and each noodle is much thicker (maybe around 1/4" in width) than regular pastas you are familiar with in the states. It is made from wheat flour and usually served in hot soy sauce based broth. Udon can be found at International ail in the grocery store or Asian store.
You can read more on Udon at wikipedia page here.
Most common way Udon is served is with hot soy sauce based broth, but you can find more variety in Udon dishes. Bellow is some of the examples in Udon dish.
* Nabeyaki Udon,which is cooked in clay pot with vegetable and meat
* Yamakake Udon, which is topped with grated taro
* Tempura Udon, which is topped with tempura on top.
When my mother makes Tempura Udon, she topped with tempura onion & tempura (thinly sliced) carrot. At restaurant, common topping is tempura shrimp.
* Tsukimi Udon
Udon topped with raw egg. Hot broth poaches an egg.
* Curry Udon, which is Udon served in curry sauce.
How can you make Udon?
I came across "how to" video on Udon at youtube. If you like to try out Udon dish with your homemade Udon, try and see how it comes out. If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook,please click here to watch the video.
In the video at the end, the video suggest topping but, some of them are not traditional topping such as Basil, Parsley. They are the two I have never used as topping or never seen topped with, and Chili powder is probably pointing to Shichmi (seven spice mixture in Japan.) and definitely not chili powder you will use for making "Chili".
Easiest Udon dish is, you can make Dashi broth and add cooked Udon and add topping and serve.
How do you make dashi?
You can make 2 ways. One way is to buy a powdered Dashi called "Hon Dashi",which you just add powder to water. The other way is to make your own Dashi from scratch. If you make dashi from scratch there are a couple of ways to make it, but most basic way is as followings.
Add about 5 inch long Konbu (kelp) into 900ml water, and heat it up. Then, when kelp is coming to top,take the kelp out from water and add Katsuo Bushi (Bonito flakes), and when boil,turn off the heat,let it sit a little till bonito flakes sink down to bottom and, to the bowl with sieve and cheese cloth, pour it over to take the chunk out from kelp bonito flake water aka Dashi and you have Dashi broth.
So, if you make basic Udon dish, make Dashi broth first. Then, to about 300ml Dashi, add about 1tbs of soy sauce, 1/2 tbs of Mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine), and add cooked Udon, and add whatever topping you like such as chopped green onion, tempura etc and there you have it.
Sometimes it is nice change to have different kinds of Noodle. Try it out and make Noodle with your family. Noodle making can be fun family event for kids too.
Enjoy!
In Japan, there are 3 kinds of noodles: Udon, Soba, and Ramen.
What is Udon?
Udon is kind of noodle and usually white in color and each noodle is much thicker (maybe around 1/4" in width) than regular pastas you are familiar with in the states. It is made from wheat flour and usually served in hot soy sauce based broth. Udon can be found at International ail in the grocery store or Asian store.
You can read more on Udon at wikipedia page here.
Most common way Udon is served is with hot soy sauce based broth, but you can find more variety in Udon dishes. Bellow is some of the examples in Udon dish.
* Nabeyaki Udon,which is cooked in clay pot with vegetable and meat
* Yamakake Udon, which is topped with grated taro
* Tempura Udon, which is topped with tempura on top.
When my mother makes Tempura Udon, she topped with tempura onion & tempura (thinly sliced) carrot. At restaurant, common topping is tempura shrimp.
* Tsukimi Udon
Udon topped with raw egg. Hot broth poaches an egg.
* Curry Udon, which is Udon served in curry sauce.
How can you make Udon?
I came across "how to" video on Udon at youtube. If you like to try out Udon dish with your homemade Udon, try and see how it comes out. If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook,please click here to watch the video.
Easiest Udon dish is, you can make Dashi broth and add cooked Udon and add topping and serve.
How do you make dashi?
You can make 2 ways. One way is to buy a powdered Dashi called "Hon Dashi",which you just add powder to water. The other way is to make your own Dashi from scratch. If you make dashi from scratch there are a couple of ways to make it, but most basic way is as followings.
Add about 5 inch long Konbu (kelp) into 900ml water, and heat it up. Then, when kelp is coming to top,take the kelp out from water and add Katsuo Bushi (Bonito flakes), and when boil,turn off the heat,let it sit a little till bonito flakes sink down to bottom and, to the bowl with sieve and cheese cloth, pour it over to take the chunk out from kelp bonito flake water aka Dashi and you have Dashi broth.
So, if you make basic Udon dish, make Dashi broth first. Then, to about 300ml Dashi, add about 1tbs of soy sauce, 1/2 tbs of Mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine), and add cooked Udon, and add whatever topping you like such as chopped green onion, tempura etc and there you have it.
Sometimes it is nice change to have different kinds of Noodle. Try it out and make Noodle with your family. Noodle making can be fun family event for kids too.
Enjoy!
OC, BG,Dott,Gimli,Mercy,Pippin and Sadie, March 14th, 2010
We got feed back from their Corgi named "OC".What OC and others think about our treats? Read on..
***********************************
"Today, I get to tell you about the Good News! WE got a package in the mail! It was a BIG box and it smelled really GOOD! It was from Yassy’s Gourmet Dog Kitchen!"
"The deer antler had lasted FOREVER, even with all seven of us chewing on it all the time."
" She got us a medium sized regular deer antler, and an “antler with some velvet on". She also ordered some Baguette Buffalo Liver Biscuits and some Greek Salmon Biscuits which are grain and gluten free, and handmade just before they are shipped out. She hasn’t given us any of the Salmon Biscuits yet."
"The Buffalo Liver Biscuits are WONDERFUL and we all gobbled ours up right away!"
If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook, please click here to watch the video.
"What is really great is that Yassy gives people/dogs that order, a free treat with each order. This time, we got a sheep trachea and a dehydrated Rabbit’s ear, too!Mom gave ME the sheep trachea (more good for the joints stuff) and Mercy snagged the rabbit’s ear from BG and split with it before the boys even saw what happened! She is sneaky that way… "
If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook, please click here to watch the video.
"ALL of us have been taking turns on the regular Deer Antler and even though Mom tried to keep track of the Antler with some velvet left on, it’s either gone or hidden, now. It IS a lot softer and easier to chew than the regular antler which hardly looks like it’s got a dent in it yet. "
If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook, please click here to watch the video.
" If you are on facebook, you should become a fan and friend of Yassy and Miss Palette, her corgi, because they are a great pair, and share some interesting info. She also has a special coupon code that you can get that way and save money on her dog treats! Doesn't Palette look like ME?!"
Palette enjoys "picnic in the snow"- Do we (OC &Palette) look alike?-Palette
OC, CA
**Feedback is used with permission**
*********************
To read full feedback from OC, please visit their blog site "Corgi Country". ( Please click here. )
To watch rest of feedback videos ( they got 2 more videos ), you can click on Part 5, Part 6.
Also, OC has told us they have "Miss Mercy's Mystery Monday" for a chance to win Dott's Book or Gift card or Miss Mercy's Mystery Budge. It looks fun! You can see me (Palette) appeared in the mystery question here.
Dott has Facebook page. You can become a fan of Little Dott page. (Please click here.)
***********************************
"Today, I get to tell you about the Good News! WE got a package in the mail! It was a BIG box and it smelled really GOOD! It was from Yassy’s Gourmet Dog Kitchen!"
OC, BG, Dott, Gimli, Mercy,Pippin, and Sadie Checking the treats-full of box Part I
If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook, please click here to watch the video.
" She got us a medium sized regular deer antler, and an “antler with some velvet on". She also ordered some Baguette Buffalo Liver Biscuits and some Greek Salmon Biscuits which are grain and gluten free, and handmade just before they are shipped out. She hasn’t given us any of the Salmon Biscuits yet."
"The Buffalo Liver Biscuits are WONDERFUL and we all gobbled ours up right away!"
OC, BG, Dott, Gimli, Mercy,Pippin, and Sadie Checking the treats-full of box Part II
"What is really great is that Yassy gives people/dogs that order, a free treat with each order. This time, we got a sheep trachea and a dehydrated Rabbit’s ear, too!Mom gave ME the sheep trachea (more good for the joints stuff) and Mercy snagged the rabbit’s ear from BG and split with it before the boys even saw what happened! She is sneaky that way… "
OC, BG, Dott, Gimli, Mercy,Pippin, and Sadie Checking the treats-full of box Part III
"ALL of us have been taking turns on the regular Deer Antler and even though Mom tried to keep track of the Antler with some velvet left on, it’s either gone or hidden, now. It IS a lot softer and easier to chew than the regular antler which hardly looks like it’s got a dent in it yet. "
OC, BG, Dott, Gimli, Mercy,Pippin, and Sadie Checking the treats-full of box Part IV
" If you are on facebook, you should become a fan and friend of Yassy and Miss Palette, her corgi, because they are a great pair, and share some interesting info. She also has a special coupon code that you can get that way and save money on her dog treats! Doesn't Palette look like ME?!"
Palette enjoys "picnic in the snow"- Do we (OC &Palette) look alike?-Palette
OC, CA
**Feedback is used with permission**
*********************
To read full feedback from OC, please visit their blog site "Corgi Country". ( Please click here. )
To watch rest of feedback videos ( they got 2 more videos ), you can click on Part 5, Part 6.
Also, OC has told us they have "Miss Mercy's Mystery Monday" for a chance to win Dott's Book or Gift card or Miss Mercy's Mystery Budge. It looks fun! You can see me (Palette) appeared in the mystery question here.
Dott has Facebook page. You can become a fan of Little Dott page. (Please click here.)
All natural dog treats & Deer Antlers - Free shipping with order over $55
Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen carry all natural dog treats from wide variety of protein source: kangaroo, buffalo, beef, lamb, goat,wild caught salmon, ostrich,rabbit etc etc along with long lasting chew "Deer Antlers".
All of the treats you can find at our store are not fortified with vitamins or minerals, not having any of artificial flavorings or coloring, no sea salt, no garlic,no sugar, no natural preservatives (mixed tocopherols etc) etc that you would find many of so-called "all natural dog treats" on the market.
From Mar 12th through 18th, you can get treats and chews with offer "Free shipping with order over $55".
Normally,we offer free shipping with order over $100, but with this offer, you can get free shipping with order over $55 merchandise total (shipping fee excluded).
"Free shipping" offer starts & end with eastern time zone clock of USA.
Please use coupon code "55FRSH"when you check out to get Free shipping. Otherwise,store system would not recognize the special treatment. The coupon codebox to type in the code will appear on payment page.
** Please check out new treats
Free Range Brazilian Moo! bully sticks 5"-6" 1 lb bag.
This is great treat for those who gives bully sticks often. 1 lb of bag contains approx between 22-26 sticks.
Please enjoy treat hunt for your furry friends!!
*You can get FREE one count of lamb trachea (Lamb version of Moo-tubes)with every order!
* Watch Palette enjoy her Lamb trachea bellow.If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook,please click here to watch the video.
**If your dogs were allergic to lamb,and cannot enjoy "one count of free lamb trachea" that comes with your order, please let us know. We will include something else.
* We accept only US order,no international order please.
All of the treats you can find at our store are not fortified with vitamins or minerals, not having any of artificial flavorings or coloring, no sea salt, no garlic,no sugar, no natural preservatives (mixed tocopherols etc) etc that you would find many of so-called "all natural dog treats" on the market.
From Mar 12th through 18th, you can get treats and chews with offer "Free shipping with order over $55".
Normally,we offer free shipping with order over $100, but with this offer, you can get free shipping with order over $55 merchandise total (shipping fee excluded).
"Free shipping" offer starts & end with eastern time zone clock of USA.
Please use coupon code "55FRSH"when you check out to get Free shipping. Otherwise,store system would not recognize the special treatment. The coupon codebox to type in the code will appear on payment page.
** Please check out new treats
Free Range Brazilian Moo! bully sticks 5"-6" 1 lb bag.
This is great treat for those who gives bully sticks often. 1 lb of bag contains approx between 22-26 sticks.
Please enjoy treat hunt for your furry friends!!
*You can get FREE one count of lamb trachea (Lamb version of Moo-tubes)with every order!
* Watch Palette enjoy her Lamb trachea bellow.If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook,please click here to watch the video.
**If your dogs were allergic to lamb,and cannot enjoy "one count of free lamb trachea" that comes with your order, please let us know. We will include something else.
* We accept only US order,no international order please.
If you become fan of our Facebook page, you can get "Fan only" offer,and discounts.
Please find "Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen" on Facebook.
**Facebookpage fan will get code for free shipping with order over $45 shortly as update.Please check Facebook message inbox, click on update to see the update mail.
To visit our store,please click here or paste and copy the link bellow into your browser.
http://yassysgdk.com/main.sc
How well do you know your country's culture?- Travel Quiz
Whenever you travel to foreign countries, chances are people would ask you many question on your culture. I have been to Australia, France, Holland, England and USA, plus one day trip to Canada, and many times, people come up to me and ask where I am from and, conversation starts from then and they tend to ask about Japanese culture.
You would think you know your country and your culture but sometimes, I get questions I do not know the answer to or do not know much about. People ask things you have never wondered about sometimes, and give you opportunity to look things from different angle and that is very interesting part of conversation with somebody in foreign countries.
Recently, I came across travel quiz on National Geographic website, and found that they have quizzes from different countries,different cities,holidays, International foods.... I thought it very interesting.
Test yourself to see if you know your countries there and also, try other countries quizzes. You may learn some interesting things on the countries you have picked. I have tried Japan quiz and, my score was 60.
To visit National Geographic website Travel Quizzes, please click here.
Have fun!
You would think you know your country and your culture but sometimes, I get questions I do not know the answer to or do not know much about. People ask things you have never wondered about sometimes, and give you opportunity to look things from different angle and that is very interesting part of conversation with somebody in foreign countries.
Recently, I came across travel quiz on National Geographic website, and found that they have quizzes from different countries,different cities,holidays, International foods.... I thought it very interesting.
Test yourself to see if you know your countries there and also, try other countries quizzes. You may learn some interesting things on the countries you have picked. I have tried Japan quiz and, my score was 60.
To visit National Geographic website Travel Quizzes, please click here.
Have fun!
Yassy's Gourmet Dog Kitchen Bulk Menu -Updated March 11th,2010
Regular Bulk Menu
** Menu bellow will be affected by weekly sales
** You can use discount coupon code on these menu
** You can earn GDK points
** If your order is over $100, you get free shipping
**Buffalo
Buffalo Trachea 6" 5 pieces $16.50
**Beef
Angus beef Bully sticks 2"-4" 10 pieces $13.75
Free Range Beef braided bully sticks 12" 10 pieces $66.44
** Lamb
Free Range American Lamb Trachea 6" 12 pieces $10.21
Free shipping Bulk Menu
** Menu bellow will NOT be affected by weekly sales
** You can use discount coupon code on these menu
** You can earn GDK points
Assorted training treat package $49.92
Grass-fed Angus Beef Trachea 6" 36 pieces $56.04
You can place an order these bulk items on our store website.
Please note that when your order is large volume order with free shipping (exclude menu under free shipping package), order will ship via parcel post.
We take Paypal and personal check as payment.
We ship every Monday,Tuesday,and every other Wednesday.
** Menu bellow will be affected by weekly sales
** You can use discount coupon code on these menu
** You can earn GDK points
** If your order is over $100, you get free shipping
**Buffalo
Buffalo Bully sticks 4" 10 pieces $22.56
Buffalo Bully sticks 6" 10 pieces $40.32
Buffalo Bully sticks 12" 10 pieces $87.45Buffalo Trachea 6" 5 pieces $16.50
Buffalo Trachea 6" 10 pieces $32.20
**Beef
Angus beef Bully sticks 2"-4" 10 pieces $13.75
Angus beef Bully sticks 7" 10 pieces $42.42
Angus beef Bully sticks 12" 10 pieces $77.25Free Range Beef braided bully sticks 12" 10 pieces $66.44
Grass-fed Angus Beef Trachea 6" 6 pieces $7.71
Grass-fed Angus Beef Trachea 6" 12 pieces $14.88Grass-fed Angus beef Tripe twist 5" 10 packages $75.83
Grass-fed Angus beef Tripe springs 10"-11" 10 packages $52.21Grass-fed Angus beef tendon 8"-11" (Paddywack) 10 pieces $29.85
** Lamb
Free Range American Lamb Trachea 6" 12 pieces $10.21
Free Range American Lamb Trachea 6" 24 pieces $19.18
Free shipping Bulk Menu
** Menu bellow will NOT be affected by weekly sales
** You can use discount coupon code on these menu
** You can earn GDK points
Assorted training treat package $49.92
Grass-fed Angus Beef Trachea 6" 36 pieces $56.04
Buffalo Trachea 6" 12 pieces $50.53
Free Range American Lamb Trachea 6" 50 pieces $51.61You can place an order these bulk items on our store website.
Please note that when your order is large volume order with free shipping (exclude menu under free shipping package), order will ship via parcel post.
We take Paypal and personal check as payment.
We ship every Monday,Tuesday,and every other Wednesday.
VA resident gets 5% sales tax.
To visit our store,please click here or paste and copy the link bellow into your browser.
http://yassysgdk.com/main.sc
Save your fingers- how to let your dogs take treats gently from your hands
" To your den!" Palette awaits for me to say this every night. Because she knows she can get her small snack before bed. I follow her to crate and wait for her to lie down. I place her treat on her bed, and when she hears me say "OK", she gently goes for her treats and enjoy every bite of the treats.
4 years ago, when she was still small puppy, she was so enthusiastic about treats that she jump, twirl, jump trying to get to the treat even before I offer the treats to her. If she could smell treats in my hands, she went just like alligator jump up from water for a whole chicken for meal. And, her bed time ritual was just like that, nothing like today. As soon as she saw the treat in my hands, before I even could place it onto her bed, she went for it and, she did not take a moment for a breathe, take treats gently.
At about when she was 3-4 months old, we enrolled to puppy training class and at early class time, we learned how to teach our dog to take food gently from your hands.
The trainer has told us to teach the dogs to learn "take it". When I say "take it", Palette would take whatever you have in your hand gently whether it is a treats or toys. So, for her, "take it" means "take it gently". So, she does not have separate command "Gently". Occasionally, her emotion takes over and she jumps up for treats but, I never let her have it. Only when she is ready to get the treats gently, I let her have it.
So, how our puppy class trainer has taught us to teach "take it"?
As I have written in previous entry titled "Attention-how to keep dogs' attention to you", to teach anything to your dogs, you need to have your dogs' attention to you. If you do not have attention from your dog, you cannot teach anything. So, teach your dog "watch me" before teaching "take it".
If you do use clicker, every time your dog watches you, you click and give them a treats. I usually use clicker until Palette learns the cue & behavior and fade it away. Our puppy class trainer told us that easiest way to get attention from your dog to be able to click and treats, you can grab the treats in hands and hold it at your forehead. That way, dogs' eyes would follow the treats naturally, so when they look you up, you can click and treats.
To read more on clicker training at previous entry " Clicker training: clicker is your friend", please click here.
Once your dogs knows " Watch me", you can start teaching them "take it".
This is very good command to teach because dogs do not know that our skin is delicate.
1. Let your dog sit in front of you
2.Hold treats in hands and make a fist. Dogs would probably bites at your hands first.
3.If they bite at your fist, hide your fist behind you and say "Try again". I personally do not use "No" but rather, I say "Try again". And take a moment for breathe and offer the fist again.
4.Only when they stopped biting at your hands, click the clicker, and you say "Take it", and open the hand and let them take the treats
5. If your dogs paws at your fists or barked at you from frustration, ignore it, say nothing.
Repeat it and they can learn to take treats/toys gently from you with cue "Take it".
Also, if you have watched videos in series of "Palette's note" entries, you can see me place the treats near Palette and I tell her "wait" and take a couple of seconds and finally tell her "OK" to enjoy the treats. It is another way you can teach them to take the treats from you without jumping up to your fingers and also to save your fingers.
It is something you can practice on meal time. If you feed kibble, pour kibble as you normally do into dog bowl and let your dog sit and give you an attention to you.
Then, you can lower the food bowl to floor but as soon as their butt went up to get to the food, food bowl will goes up, and say "ergh, ergh. Try again" and start over.
When your dog sit and give you attention, lower the food onto floor and only when 4 paws and butt on floor, you put the food bowl on floor, say "wait" and give them a second of breathe and release them with cue "ok" or any other release command you use. You can gradually give the breathing time longer as they learn the cue & behavior.
As a side note, "wait" command is also effective for door dasher dog. With door dasher dogs, instead of food bowl, food bowl part becomes door.
1. Let dog sit, watch you
2. Slowly open the door about 1 inch wide and as soon as butt goes up, door close, and repeat it. As they can remain sit position when door open slightly, you can up the bar higher, meaning, open door more wider and practice.
Why teach your dog "take it" with fist and open palm is that dog naturally take food gently if you offer treats on open palm.
Teaching your dog your skin is more delicate than theirs at early age is better. You can teach them "take treats nicely" and at the same time, you also may want to teach them in other scenario.
Especially when dog is puppy hood, they tend to be mouthy and with their instinct, they tend to grab thing that moves. Palette is Corgi and I do not know how many occasions she tried to nip my heal or grab the cuff of jeans.
I turned back to Palette stop moving and ignored her every time she nipped me. This way, she leaned that every time she puts her mouth on me, she loose my attention and nipping has stopped.
Also, it is important to give them plenty of chewing object to protect your furniture and your skin. Especially when teething time, they get more mouthy and our vet told us to give her ice cubes because cold temperature numb the pain and also can satisfy their needs to chew. Also, we were told it is good to give them broth soaked and froze cloth to chew on. Of course, whenever you give any kinds of chew, supervising your dog is necessary.
To read more on long lasting chew/recreational chew in previous entry titled "Long lasting chew/Recreational bones for dogs", please click here.
Lastly, do not play with your dogs the way they see your hands as toy.
4 years ago, when she was still small puppy, she was so enthusiastic about treats that she jump, twirl, jump trying to get to the treat even before I offer the treats to her. If she could smell treats in my hands, she went just like alligator jump up from water for a whole chicken for meal. And, her bed time ritual was just like that, nothing like today. As soon as she saw the treat in my hands, before I even could place it onto her bed, she went for it and, she did not take a moment for a breathe, take treats gently.
At about when she was 3-4 months old, we enrolled to puppy training class and at early class time, we learned how to teach our dog to take food gently from your hands.
The trainer has told us to teach the dogs to learn "take it". When I say "take it", Palette would take whatever you have in your hand gently whether it is a treats or toys. So, for her, "take it" means "take it gently". So, she does not have separate command "Gently". Occasionally, her emotion takes over and she jumps up for treats but, I never let her have it. Only when she is ready to get the treats gently, I let her have it.
So, how our puppy class trainer has taught us to teach "take it"?
As I have written in previous entry titled "Attention-how to keep dogs' attention to you", to teach anything to your dogs, you need to have your dogs' attention to you. If you do not have attention from your dog, you cannot teach anything. So, teach your dog "watch me" before teaching "take it".
If you do use clicker, every time your dog watches you, you click and give them a treats. I usually use clicker until Palette learns the cue & behavior and fade it away. Our puppy class trainer told us that easiest way to get attention from your dog to be able to click and treats, you can grab the treats in hands and hold it at your forehead. That way, dogs' eyes would follow the treats naturally, so when they look you up, you can click and treats.
To read more on clicker training at previous entry " Clicker training: clicker is your friend", please click here.
Once your dogs knows " Watch me", you can start teaching them "take it".
This is very good command to teach because dogs do not know that our skin is delicate.
1. Let your dog sit in front of you
2.Hold treats in hands and make a fist. Dogs would probably bites at your hands first.
3.If they bite at your fist, hide your fist behind you and say "Try again". I personally do not use "No" but rather, I say "Try again". And take a moment for breathe and offer the fist again.
4.Only when they stopped biting at your hands, click the clicker, and you say "Take it", and open the hand and let them take the treats
5. If your dogs paws at your fists or barked at you from frustration, ignore it, say nothing.
Repeat it and they can learn to take treats/toys gently from you with cue "Take it".
Also, if you have watched videos in series of "Palette's note" entries, you can see me place the treats near Palette and I tell her "wait" and take a couple of seconds and finally tell her "OK" to enjoy the treats. It is another way you can teach them to take the treats from you without jumping up to your fingers and also to save your fingers.
It is something you can practice on meal time. If you feed kibble, pour kibble as you normally do into dog bowl and let your dog sit and give you an attention to you.
Then, you can lower the food bowl to floor but as soon as their butt went up to get to the food, food bowl will goes up, and say "ergh, ergh. Try again" and start over.
When your dog sit and give you attention, lower the food onto floor and only when 4 paws and butt on floor, you put the food bowl on floor, say "wait" and give them a second of breathe and release them with cue "ok" or any other release command you use. You can gradually give the breathing time longer as they learn the cue & behavior.
As a side note, "wait" command is also effective for door dasher dog. With door dasher dogs, instead of food bowl, food bowl part becomes door.
1. Let dog sit, watch you
2. Slowly open the door about 1 inch wide and as soon as butt goes up, door close, and repeat it. As they can remain sit position when door open slightly, you can up the bar higher, meaning, open door more wider and practice.
Why teach your dog "take it" with fist and open palm is that dog naturally take food gently if you offer treats on open palm.
Teaching your dog your skin is more delicate than theirs at early age is better. You can teach them "take treats nicely" and at the same time, you also may want to teach them in other scenario.
Especially when dog is puppy hood, they tend to be mouthy and with their instinct, they tend to grab thing that moves. Palette is Corgi and I do not know how many occasions she tried to nip my heal or grab the cuff of jeans.
I turned back to Palette stop moving and ignored her every time she nipped me. This way, she leaned that every time she puts her mouth on me, she loose my attention and nipping has stopped.
Also, it is important to give them plenty of chewing object to protect your furniture and your skin. Especially when teething time, they get more mouthy and our vet told us to give her ice cubes because cold temperature numb the pain and also can satisfy their needs to chew. Also, we were told it is good to give them broth soaked and froze cloth to chew on. Of course, whenever you give any kinds of chew, supervising your dog is necessary.
To read more on long lasting chew/recreational chew in previous entry titled "Long lasting chew/Recreational bones for dogs", please click here.
Lastly, do not play with your dogs the way they see your hands as toy.
Pork blueberry grape sausage-breakfast style
I love to cook, I love to recreate restaurant dishes, and sometimes, I love making made-up dishes. Recently, I was talking to my twitter friend about gourmet sausage from Whole Foods Market, and talked about Pork blueberry sausage. I personally never had one from them but I heard it is very good.
One second, I thought " Fruits in sausage??" but then, when you think about it, there are blueberry steak sauce which I enjoyed before and, Pomegranate gravy steak sauce my husband loves. So, it may not be so strange as it sounds.
A week later, I did experiment to make pork blueberry grape sausage. I made it with breakfast style and not Italian sausage style. Next time, I would love to experiment it with Italian sausage style.
With this entry,I thought I would share the recipe of "Pork blueberry grape sausage - breakfast sausage style". If you were not sure if you would enjoy it,you can make plain breakfast sausage patties for back up.
So, how do you make "Pork blueberry grape sausage - breakfast sausage style"? Here is how.
1. In the food processor, put 6oz of fresh blueberry and whirl
2. To half pound of ground pork, add about 1/2tsp or so of ground sage, dry thyme, ground nutmeg, nature's season (salt and pepper seasoning blend with blue cap from Molton brand.You can find them at grocery store), cayenne pepper, and 1tbs or so of chopped fine Fresh rosemary, and spoonful of brown sugar and mix
3. To <2>, add 2 small spoonful or so of pureed blueberry, 1 small spoonful of grape spread (I used Polaner All fruits brand, 100% All Natural Fruits spread Grape flavor), and mix well. If the meat was too soft to touch, add some more ground pork.
** Usually, when I make burger, I add grated onion to make it juicy. With this sausage recipe, by adding a little bit of fruits spread with pureed fresh blueberry, it gives flavor and make the sausage juicy.
** I did not use dried fruits because I thought it would come out chewy or hard when cooked.
** If you were to make plain sausage and blueberry grape sausage, you can use 1lb of ground pork and put half pound each to two separate bowl and add same seasoning except blueberry and grape for plain sausage.
4. Make the skillet very very hot and cook the sausage until done.
** To taste the seasoning, you can make tiny baby pattie and cook for sample and see if it is well seasoned. If needed, you can adjust seasoning then.
Blueberry grape sausage is a bit on sweet side. It is a good change from usual breakfast sausage.
On a side note,you would probably have leftover pureed blueberry. You can use them in your smoothie or add in blueberry muffin batter or other baked goods.
Or, you can simply mix plain yogurt with leftover pureed blueberry in a bowl and pour them into ice cube tray and freeze them. You can give it to your dog as cool down treats after walk or fetch game.
Enjoy!
One second, I thought " Fruits in sausage??" but then, when you think about it, there are blueberry steak sauce which I enjoyed before and, Pomegranate gravy steak sauce my husband loves. So, it may not be so strange as it sounds.
A week later, I did experiment to make pork blueberry grape sausage. I made it with breakfast style and not Italian sausage style. Next time, I would love to experiment it with Italian sausage style.
With this entry,I thought I would share the recipe of "Pork blueberry grape sausage - breakfast sausage style". If you were not sure if you would enjoy it,you can make plain breakfast sausage patties for back up.
So, how do you make "Pork blueberry grape sausage - breakfast sausage style"? Here is how.
1. In the food processor, put 6oz of fresh blueberry and whirl
2. To half pound of ground pork, add about 1/2tsp or so of ground sage, dry thyme, ground nutmeg, nature's season (salt and pepper seasoning blend with blue cap from Molton brand.You can find them at grocery store), cayenne pepper, and 1tbs or so of chopped fine Fresh rosemary, and spoonful of brown sugar and mix
3. To <2>, add 2 small spoonful or so of pureed blueberry, 1 small spoonful of grape spread (I used Polaner All fruits brand, 100% All Natural Fruits spread Grape flavor), and mix well. If the meat was too soft to touch, add some more ground pork.
** Usually, when I make burger, I add grated onion to make it juicy. With this sausage recipe, by adding a little bit of fruits spread with pureed fresh blueberry, it gives flavor and make the sausage juicy.
** I did not use dried fruits because I thought it would come out chewy or hard when cooked.
** If you were to make plain sausage and blueberry grape sausage, you can use 1lb of ground pork and put half pound each to two separate bowl and add same seasoning except blueberry and grape for plain sausage.
4. Make the skillet very very hot and cook the sausage until done.
** To taste the seasoning, you can make tiny baby pattie and cook for sample and see if it is well seasoned. If needed, you can adjust seasoning then.
Blueberry grape sausage is a bit on sweet side. It is a good change from usual breakfast sausage.
On a side note,you would probably have leftover pureed blueberry. You can use them in your smoothie or add in blueberry muffin batter or other baked goods.
Or, you can simply mix plain yogurt with leftover pureed blueberry in a bowl and pour them into ice cube tray and freeze them. You can give it to your dog as cool down treats after walk or fetch game.
Enjoy!
Indoor dog parks
In previous entry titled " When outside is too cold for walk or rainy day, what can you do with your dog?", I wrote about what Palette and I normally do when outside is not in condition for walks or play outside. To recap, we play sniff out game, find it game, hide and seek and running around inside the house, we play ball/Frisbee (You can see Palette in action for fetch game in previous entry titled "Playing game of fetch ball/Frisbee"), and training. However, I would imagine that these activities level would be less than actual walk/jog.
Recently, I read about Indoor dog park located in Dallas, Texas. When I think about weather, not just rainy days, freezing cold days are not good condition for walk but also some of sunny days are not perfect for dogs to go for walk especially hot humid days in summer. When outside is very hot and humid, over exercising could cause overheat in dogs. So, indoor dog park idea sounds good. Have you been to one of those Indoor dog parks?
This particular Indoor dog park in Texas is called "Unleashed Indoor dog park", and it has everything in one location. Grooming place, supply store, dog day care, training for canine visitors, and for human visitors, there are restaurant, cafe, WiFi service.
When I looked at the picture of the park,it wowed me because I have never been there but it looked like football stadium or some kind with bright green artificial grass. The size of the park is said to be about 50,000 square foot,air conditioned. And there are outside dog park and also water park for dogs.
For dogs, this place could be equal value to our sense of amusement park.
However, it will cost you money to enjoy this off leash area: $7.50 for one dog per day, $10 for 2 dogs. Also require vaccination record and registration process. Due to insurance reason, off leash play area is not allowed for certain breeds. So, if you got two dogs and if one dog was ok to enjoy off leash area while others don't, it is unfair for dog that cannot come in to enjoy the park. I feel that insurance company should look each individual dog personality not breed. I wonder whether park people cannot place some kind of temperament test to be able to get insurance for all dogs from insurance company.
For more information on Unleashed Indoor Dog Parks, please click here.
Do you have your favorite places to go to with your dogs?
Recently, I read about Indoor dog park located in Dallas, Texas. When I think about weather, not just rainy days, freezing cold days are not good condition for walk but also some of sunny days are not perfect for dogs to go for walk especially hot humid days in summer. When outside is very hot and humid, over exercising could cause overheat in dogs. So, indoor dog park idea sounds good. Have you been to one of those Indoor dog parks?
This particular Indoor dog park in Texas is called "Unleashed Indoor dog park", and it has everything in one location. Grooming place, supply store, dog day care, training for canine visitors, and for human visitors, there are restaurant, cafe, WiFi service.
When I looked at the picture of the park,it wowed me because I have never been there but it looked like football stadium or some kind with bright green artificial grass. The size of the park is said to be about 50,000 square foot,air conditioned. And there are outside dog park and also water park for dogs.
For dogs, this place could be equal value to our sense of amusement park.
However, it will cost you money to enjoy this off leash area: $7.50 for one dog per day, $10 for 2 dogs. Also require vaccination record and registration process. Due to insurance reason, off leash play area is not allowed for certain breeds. So, if you got two dogs and if one dog was ok to enjoy off leash area while others don't, it is unfair for dog that cannot come in to enjoy the park. I feel that insurance company should look each individual dog personality not breed. I wonder whether park people cannot place some kind of temperament test to be able to get insurance for all dogs from insurance company.
For more information on Unleashed Indoor Dog Parks, please click here.
Do you have your favorite places to go to with your dogs?
Red pepper alfredo sauce for pasta
One day, I was watching TV and Olive Garden's new dish commercial came on. The new dish was 4 cheese filling Ravioli with sausage in tomato alfredo sauce. Husband and I were talking then, that it will be our next dish to try out because it sounds delicious.
I usually plan one weekly menu ahead of time so that I can have grocery list ready for grocery shopping and, I do not have to scratch my head what to cook tomorrow. Plus, you get to see what you will be eating throughout the week and, I can make the plan not to serve beef meal all week etc. Planning menu ahead of time also is good for lowering grocery bill as well.
Anyway, off to grocery shopping that week and, I had secret plan then. I was going to attempt to try making similar ravioli dish we saw on TV commercial. Turned out it became a dish my husband loved it a lot. So, I thought today, I would share the recipe with you.
My goal is to make everything from scratch including ravioli pasta but, I still need to practice making pasta. So, pasta I used is store bought fresh Ravioli. I think I can call this dish Ravioli with cheesy red pepper alfredo sauce. So, how do you make it?
Here is how you make it.
1> Start pasta part
2> To big pan, add water,cover the pan so that it will boil faster
3> Start making red pepper alfredo sauce.
Put 1 tbs of butter, 1 tbs of Extra virgin olive oil, grated two cloves of garlic onto sauce pan, and when you smell garlic, add 200ml heavy cream .
4>Add chopped roasted pepper onto sauce pan, add a little bit of sun- dried tomato, add splash of sun dried tomato liquid
** I usually keep the sun-dried tomato jar even if you used up the sun-dried tomato itself because I can use the jar liquid for risotto or pasta sauce to add a bit more of flavor to dish
5> Add handful of grated Parmesan cheese, season it with Molton Nature's season (my favorite all time seasoning spice with blue cap), and simmer till sauce thicken. When sauce is thicken, add splash of Balsamic vinegar to the sauce. When I use sun-dried tomato, I always use balsamic vinegar at the end. It gives the dish a little bit of characteristic.
6>When water became rolling boil, add salt to water and add Ravioli of your choice or if you prefer, any pasta of your choice, and cook according to direction of the pasta package you use. I used fresh Ravioli pasta you can usually find in front of Deli section in the grocery store, and particular Ravioli I used was 4 cheese stuffed Ravioli.
7> When pasta is cooked, drain the water, turn off the stove, and put the pasta back into the big pan and add a little bit of red pepper alfredo sauce over, add chopped fresh Basil and mix gently, plate them up. Drizzle more sauce over the dish and serve. From red pepper in the white sauce, sauce color becomes orange color and with bright color of green from Basil, it looks very nice on plate.
We still have not tasted the new menu at Olive Garden yet because I ended up making similar and wanted to eat something different on the week. Next time we go there, we will try their menu.
For those who is wondering why I add Basil after turning off the stove, here is a reason. When you add Basil while you are still cooking on stove top, Basil would change color from bright green to dark unappealing color because of the heat from dish. Add Basil at the very end when stove is turned off, that way, color stay bright green. It goes same with pizza making. Don't sprinkle Basil when pizza is going to oven because it will burn and color changes to darken. When Pizza is coming out from oven to be served, sprinkle fresh Basil over and color of Basil stays green and gives pizza fresh taste.
When I chop Basil, I wash fresh basil leaves, make it pile, and roll like sushi and cut across over the dish. That way, I do not need to use cutting board and no need to transfer basil to dish.
Enjoy!!
I usually plan one weekly menu ahead of time so that I can have grocery list ready for grocery shopping and, I do not have to scratch my head what to cook tomorrow. Plus, you get to see what you will be eating throughout the week and, I can make the plan not to serve beef meal all week etc. Planning menu ahead of time also is good for lowering grocery bill as well.
Anyway, off to grocery shopping that week and, I had secret plan then. I was going to attempt to try making similar ravioli dish we saw on TV commercial. Turned out it became a dish my husband loved it a lot. So, I thought today, I would share the recipe with you.
My goal is to make everything from scratch including ravioli pasta but, I still need to practice making pasta. So, pasta I used is store bought fresh Ravioli. I think I can call this dish Ravioli with cheesy red pepper alfredo sauce. So, how do you make it?
Here is how you make it.
1> Start pasta part
2> To big pan, add water,cover the pan so that it will boil faster
3> Start making red pepper alfredo sauce.
Put 1 tbs of butter, 1 tbs of Extra virgin olive oil, grated two cloves of garlic onto sauce pan, and when you smell garlic, add 200ml heavy cream .
4>Add chopped roasted pepper onto sauce pan, add a little bit of sun- dried tomato, add splash of sun dried tomato liquid
** I usually keep the sun-dried tomato jar even if you used up the sun-dried tomato itself because I can use the jar liquid for risotto or pasta sauce to add a bit more of flavor to dish
5> Add handful of grated Parmesan cheese, season it with Molton Nature's season (my favorite all time seasoning spice with blue cap), and simmer till sauce thicken. When sauce is thicken, add splash of Balsamic vinegar to the sauce. When I use sun-dried tomato, I always use balsamic vinegar at the end. It gives the dish a little bit of characteristic.
6>When water became rolling boil, add salt to water and add Ravioli of your choice or if you prefer, any pasta of your choice, and cook according to direction of the pasta package you use. I used fresh Ravioli pasta you can usually find in front of Deli section in the grocery store, and particular Ravioli I used was 4 cheese stuffed Ravioli.
7> When pasta is cooked, drain the water, turn off the stove, and put the pasta back into the big pan and add a little bit of red pepper alfredo sauce over, add chopped fresh Basil and mix gently, plate them up. Drizzle more sauce over the dish and serve. From red pepper in the white sauce, sauce color becomes orange color and with bright color of green from Basil, it looks very nice on plate.
We still have not tasted the new menu at Olive Garden yet because I ended up making similar and wanted to eat something different on the week. Next time we go there, we will try their menu.
For those who is wondering why I add Basil after turning off the stove, here is a reason. When you add Basil while you are still cooking on stove top, Basil would change color from bright green to dark unappealing color because of the heat from dish. Add Basil at the very end when stove is turned off, that way, color stay bright green. It goes same with pizza making. Don't sprinkle Basil when pizza is going to oven because it will burn and color changes to darken. When Pizza is coming out from oven to be served, sprinkle fresh Basil over and color of Basil stays green and gives pizza fresh taste.
When I chop Basil, I wash fresh basil leaves, make it pile, and roll like sushi and cut across over the dish. That way, I do not need to use cutting board and no need to transfer basil to dish.
Enjoy!!
Why dogs cannot drink water without spattering water around water bowl?
Have you ever wondered why dogs cannot leave the water bowl area without spattering water around ? Palette, the Corgi, does leave some spattering around on water bowl holder but she does not leave big puddle of water on floor.
Why water is spattered when dogs drink water is something to do with how they drink water. You may know how they drink water but maybe not the way you think you know how they drink water.
When your dogs go to water bowl, take a closer look from side and observe how they drink water. Dogs use the tongue to drink water but they put their tongue into water, then curl to backwards and use the curled back tongue as their spoon to bring water to their mouth. Therefore, if they were drinking water in hurry, water tends to spatter around more because water on the curled back tongue gets spill more from tongue.
I have found a youtube video that show you how dogs drink water in slow motion. So, you get to see how they drink water in video bellow. If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook,please click here to watch video.
So, now you know how dogs drink water and how about cats?
According to pets.ca website, unlike dogs, they use their tongue differently. If you got a lick or two from cats, you would know that their tongue feels like sandpaper and rough. It is because they have pointy spikes to grab foods, prevent food from slipping away and, when they drink water, they place the water on front surface of the tongue, right on the pointy spikes, curls their tongue forwards, making the tongue shape like spoon and drink water. So, they would not make much spattering around water bowl.
To read full article on cats tongue at pets.ca website, please click here.
If cats lived with dogs, cats might have been thinking dogs are unskillful when it comes to drinking water
Why water is spattered when dogs drink water is something to do with how they drink water. You may know how they drink water but maybe not the way you think you know how they drink water.
When your dogs go to water bowl, take a closer look from side and observe how they drink water. Dogs use the tongue to drink water but they put their tongue into water, then curl to backwards and use the curled back tongue as their spoon to bring water to their mouth. Therefore, if they were drinking water in hurry, water tends to spatter around more because water on the curled back tongue gets spill more from tongue.
I have found a youtube video that show you how dogs drink water in slow motion. So, you get to see how they drink water in video bellow. If you are a blog subscriber or reading from facebook,please click here to watch video.
So, now you know how dogs drink water and how about cats?
According to pets.ca website, unlike dogs, they use their tongue differently. If you got a lick or two from cats, you would know that their tongue feels like sandpaper and rough. It is because they have pointy spikes to grab foods, prevent food from slipping away and, when they drink water, they place the water on front surface of the tongue, right on the pointy spikes, curls their tongue forwards, making the tongue shape like spoon and drink water. So, they would not make much spattering around water bowl.
To read full article on cats tongue at pets.ca website, please click here.
If cats lived with dogs, cats might have been thinking dogs are unskillful when it comes to drinking water
