Here he is being adorable.
And here he is being adorable at the beach.
Now, if you had an awesome and adorable little dog like Gromit, wouldn't you want to spoil it rotten? Of course you would.
Among Gromit's many adorable habits is to come running whenever he hears us at the fridge. Not because he wants whatever food we have in there (okay, he probably does want whatever food we have in there) but because he loves ice. The ice maker and ice dispenser are really, really exciting to him. Because Gromit is spoiled rotten, I've gotten in the habit of dropping ice on purpose. He's just so cute, licking ice cubes.
Also, it's July, and he's a little black dog. He gets hot when we go for walks. I figure he deserves ice after that. It's not like the ingredients are bad for him.
But of course, I can't just leave it at ice. I get bored. Today I thought, "I bet Gromit would really like frozen peanut butter mousse." I went exploring the internet for a frozen peanut butter mousse recipe for dogs. What I discovered is one recipe posted endlessly everywhere: melt one cup peanut butter in the microwave, mix with 32 ounces yogurt, freeze. The recipes only vary in how they misspell "yogurt"; I saw "yogugt," "yougert," "yougurt," and "yohgurt." I also found a ton of websites claiming that some if not most dogs are lactose intolerant, and shouldn't have yogurt. I don't think Gromit is lactose intolerant - he loves these things - but still. Oh, and I don't have any plain yogurt, only vanilla, which is full of sugar.
What else might work as a binding ingredient? Apparently dogs aren't supposed to have applesauce (I do have unsweetened applesauce). Hmm. What about oatmeal?
Gromit Pops
1. Cook some runny oatmeal. I only have steel cut Irish oatmeal because I am pretentious. (Oh, and because it tastes better than quick-cooking oatmeal.) It usually calls for 4 parts water to 1 part oatmeal, so I made it with 5 parts water to 1 part oatmeal - in this case, 1.25 cups water and 0.25 cups oatmeal.
2. When oats are cooked, remove from heat and add 1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter. Stir until melted. It'll thicken considerably. I'd recommend all-natural peanut butter for two reasons. One, it's better for you and the dog. Two, the oils will separate out a bit while freezing, which makes it much easier to pop these things out of the mold.
3. Divide mixture into vessels for freezing. Ice cube trays would work. I used six little plastic cups. (Gromit is a little dog - 20 pounds - so I should probably have used eight plastic cups.)
4. Optional: Break a pressed rawhide chewy in half to make a "stick." Arrange it in there.
5. Freeze.
My test committee approved.
It occurred to me that these might stain a carpet if allowed to melt into it. However, as you can see, my carpet is the same color as the pupsicles. Score.
Media pairing: May I recommend the latest Wallace and Gromit short, A Matter of Loaf and Death? It just so happens to be about baking, sort of. And yes, of course that's why my awesome little dog is named Gromit. I just wish he would learn engineering...
