Liam spent most of the morning outside yesterday, thanks to a lovely, almost springlike day. When puppies are around, lovely, springlike days can be a Godsend.
If they're chewing on something in the great outdoors while their handler is happily strolling and enjoying the fresh cool air, the chewing episode is probably not going to elicit big, scary "STOP! BAD!"
Having a puppy on a leash on such a day is good for both the puppy's health and for the person at the other end of the leash.
Lots of exercise as we walk, dart, run, stop, circle, reverse through the woods or across the vast front lawn.
Even better exercise when Mom is holding the leash while pulling a sled, filled with firewood, down the lane from the wood pile to the house.
That's when Liam and Mom both can play work horse.
After a few rounds of the aforementioned, the little guy gets a little tired and just plops down in the green grass.
Good plan for me as when I turned around on our outing yesterday, and discovered that I'd dropped one of my work gloves, near Liam but fortunately not even close to those little pin-prick teeth.
He was too busy playing the charm card, hoping to entice me to pick him up and give him a free ride through the rest of outdoors time at the Lovestead.
Forget the chew toy with five fingers still intact. Seeing the world while wrapped in Mom's arms looks a lot better.
No deal, though. I simply picked up the glove and announced, "Let's go!" With Kiwi and Foster running shotgun, Liam took off and for a while forgot about being tired.
That moment with those enchanting, alluring puppy eyes, though, made my day, as did several other moments throughout the day.
Later, I turned on some stirring Christmas music with Gwen Close and the Three Tenors and embarked on whipping up the next batch of Christmas cookies.
This variety happened to be the Praline Crumb Caramel Cheesecake Bar recipe my former student/babysitter and always a friend Cherry from Texas sent me a few years ago.
Occasional puppy distractions got me off track a couple of times while preparing these cookies.
Yes, the recipe did, after all, say to grease the pans.
Yes, save some of the dough from the base to sprinkle over the top. I ended up making another base to spray over the top, as the base was already baking in the oven in nongreased pans when I made that discovery.
Yes, nuts do go in the base. Oh well, I'll just make sure nuts go in the cookies somewhere. It all tastes the same, no matter how it looks, right?
No, the caramel syrup drizzled over the top of the final product must wait until AFTER the final product with its cream cheese, toffee bits, nuts, etc. goes to the oven for a second baking session.
I think I screwed up at that stage about the time I discovered Liam racing to his hovel underneath a bench in the corner of the living room.
I wondered what it was that prompted him on this particular escape run. Then, I turned around to see something drizzled on the carpet AND it wasn't that caramel syrup.
Bad Liam for drizzling No. 1 on the carpet.
Good Liam for knowing it was the wrong thing to do. I think we're making significant progress with this young man.
Back to the cookies. Okay, they're in there baking with that caramel all over the top, and I hope the bottom aka base layer does not stick to the pan because of no grease.
All turned out just fine, and regardless of several missteps in the baking process, the cookie gods must have been watching over me while I was sidetracked on Liam drizzle.
They are delicious, as always, and I'll provide the recipe below the photo.
BUT WAIT! There's a bonus for readers in this morning's cookie discussion, and you don't even need to grab a Border Collie pup to make it work.
The other day when I was baking the annual batch of Snickerdoodles, always requested by Annie, I tried a variation.
To keep this all legal and to honor copyright privilege for at least part of the idea, I'll give credit to Starbucks, where I have been enjoying their Toffeedoodles or caramel doodles or ToffeeSnickers.
I can't really remember what they call them, but I always remember that they sure are tasty (especially warmed up) with a cup of Starbucks drip coffee.
I love the combination so much that I decided to try them in my own kitchen and, of course, add the "Marianne" touch.
Turned out mouth-watering and then some.
So, here's what ya do. Take your basic Snickerdoodle recipe, throw in a little sour cream when you blend the eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla. Add a little cinnamon to the dry ingredients.
AND THEN, mix in a package of butterscotch chips AND a handful or two of English toffee bits. Roll into balls and smother with the usual coating of sugar and cinnamon.
Guaranteed you'll sample more than one when they come out of the oven.
Definite YUM, YUM and more YUM.
So there ya go. And do check below for Cherry's praline bar recipe.
I don't know if I'll bake cookies today, but I do know for sure that I'll be watching "Tuesday Night Live" on CNN when the script for this week's "Saturday Night Live" gets created.
Should be entertaining as always, both tonight and Saturday when the Hollywood actors portray the Washington Wannabe actors.
Happy Tuesday.
- Praline Crumb Caramel
Cheesecake Bars
Cookie Base and Topping
1 pouch (1lb 1.5oz) Sugar cookie mix (Betty Crocker)
1/2 C cold butter
1/2 C chopped pecans
1/2 C toffe bits
Filling
2 pkgs cream cheese, softened (8 oz ea)
1/2 C sugar
2 TBS all purpose flour
1/2 C caramel topping
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
Heat oven to 350. Spray bottom and sides of 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Place cookie mix in bowl; cut in butter using pastry blender or fork until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 1/2 C mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar. flour, 1/4 C of the caramel topping, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over partially baked cookie base. Sprinkle with reserved crumb topping, pecans and toffee bits.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled. Drizzle with remaining 1/4 C caramel topping.
1 pouch (1lb 1.5oz) Sugar cookie mix (Betty Crocker)
1/2 C cold butter
1/2 C chopped pecans
1/2 C toffe bits
Filling
2 pkgs cream cheese, softened (8 oz ea)
1/2 C sugar
2 TBS all purpose flour
1/2 C caramel topping
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
Heat oven to 350. Spray bottom and sides of 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Place cookie mix in bowl; cut in butter using pastry blender or fork until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 1/2 C mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar. flour, 1/4 C of the caramel topping, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over partially baked cookie base. Sprinkle with reserved crumb topping, pecans and toffee bits.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled. Drizzle with remaining 1/4 C caramel topping.
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