Thursday, November 20, 2008

Dogs on Thursday

Just look at this lovely picture of the residents of BritKnitterville! See how sweetly they are sitting, posing for their picture, with absolutely no incentive at all. Just the willingness to be calm, obedient little girls and boy.



Well, maybe not. There may have been some bribery involved.



Yep, they're concentrating on a pumpkin spice muffin, trying to figure out how they are going to possibly get it out of my hand while I'm distracted taking pictures.

I found the recipe for these super-easy muffins on Chan's blog, and she got it from fellow pumpkin lover Gaylen. All you do is take a box of cake mix, and mix it with a 15 oz. can of pumpkin, and bake at 350 degrees for 24 minutes. That's it! It takes a lot of mixing, and I still didn't get all of the little lumps out, but that's OK. Chan used a Devil's Food cake mix, but since I was in day three of a whopper of a headache the day I made these, I decided to skip the chocolate and used a spice cake mix instead. Yum, pumpkin spice muffins, as easy as 1-2-3!

Well, maybe not quite that easy here in Britknitterville... A certain dog, who shall remain nameless, likes to "help" in the kitchen. OK, I'll give you some clues. He's a boy, has long gumby-type legs, and his name starts with a "C" and rhymes with Schmooper. Yup, it's Cooper.

He is absolutely obsessive when it comes to food, and he likes to surf around the counter tops to see if there is anything that his freakishly long legs will allow him to reach and pull down. Fortunately the oven has a control-lock feature that prevents Cooper from turning the oven on inadvertently. However, it does not stop Mr. Cooper McStretchy-Legs from turning the oven off. I didn't realize the oven was off until the timer buzzed, at which time I turned the oven back on and left the muffins in there for another 10 minutes. The result was two dozen muffins that looked and smelled delicious, but had the consistency of modeling clay. They are so easy to make, I'll definitely make them again, but next time I'll watch Cooper like a hawk.

Oh well, at least Emma, Tara and Cooper like modeling clay.

17 comments:

SissySees said...

I think spice cake is one of the varieties I have at home to try...

Bad Cooper! I worry about Sissy and the ceramic stovetop at our house, for similar reasons.

Donna Lee said...

How disconcerting to find your oven turned off in the middle of baking. At least Cooper didn't get hurt. And I love the felted slippers. They are so cute.

Mindy said...

Those are very cute photos. The muffins look good; I have a similar recipe somewhere for pumpkin muffins where I think it was 3 ingredients instead of two. If you like chocolate, I posted a recipe back in September on my blog for a "chocolate cherry cake" that Paula and I made when I went to visit. It's yummy and easy. You could probably use different flavors; it's the same concept as the muffins you made.

Paula said...

LOL! Oh they look so well behaved!
and the muffins look yummy, now I have to make some this weekend!

Tina. said...

Awesome photo! And they are so beautiful. I will have to try the pumpkin recipe. Happy DOT!

dogquilter said...

Food's usually involved in some of the best puppy pictures :)

Cindy said...

What good babies. Focused on the prize;--)

Lapdog Creations said...

I see you use the same photography methods as I ... lol

YawnOver said...

Cooper McStretchylegs, heh heh.

What a great picture of the three of them! Yummies are a great motivator, aren't they?

Sue said...

It's a challenge living with counter-surfers, isn't it? I have eight of them.

Anonymous said...

Your dogs are so cute! They are consentrating so hard. Love the pictures!

Vivian said...

Sounds like Cooper did it on purpose, so the pups get to have all the modeling clay. They are so cute sitting there. My dogs like to help in the kichen too, and fortunately they are small and can't get to too many things.

silfert said...

Mmm, pumpkin spice muffins... Trade you my banana rum pudding cake recipe?

Anonymous said...

Pumpkin spice muffins sound SO GOOD right now. YUM.

Maddie is obsessed with food too - I put it down to her highly suspect, I-think-living-on-the-streets puppyhood. She is an effortless trashcan diver, and has opened zippers and bags before, silently, to get at food. In the kitchen, I feel like I am constantly tripping over her.

Knitting it Out in an Urban Zoo said...

OMG that is hilarious! Cooper is very talented. Does he not realize that when oven goes off, no muffins come out? Silly boy.

Gosh those dogs of yours are so adorable!!!

Anonymous said...

Cool recipe! I have a ton of pumpkin puree in the freezer, I wonder if I spice it up with similar seasonings as the canned stuff, if I can try this out. Hmm...

Criquette said...

They look like TOTAL angels while they are begging.

I have a similar recipe that adds 2 eggs to 1 box of cake mix and 1 can pie filling. I've made white mix/cherry or blueberry filling, french vanilla cake with apricot filling (this one got rave reviews), and chocolate with pumpkin and a touch of cinnamon - delicious! I find I have to cook the muffins about 5-10 minutes longer than the recipe calls for.