Fred Basset by Alex Graham for December 16, 2009

Yay-2 Nay-0

How long will it take?

Aside from chocolate not being healthy for dogs, that does sound good.

WOOOOOOWEEEEE!!! I hope you have plenty of milk!

Sorry, Fred, that really could be Death by Chocolate for you boy.

The Domestic Goddess does some good meat recipes, get your mistress to cook one of those for you instead.

I had to look up who Nigella (Lawson) is…I’ve not heard of her here in the States, but have determined that she’s on the Food Network. I’ve got to check out her program(me)…

She can use ‘doggie chocks’ for Fred.

NO CHOCOLATE FOR FRED! CHOCOLATE IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS FOR DOGS, ALSO NICOTINE, GRAPES AND RAISINS AND PEANUTS, AMONG OTHERS!

Thanks, BuzzDog - I wondered what the reference was - but I thought it was the name of the confection, not a person. who knew….

We have a landslide.

Sorry Fred, none for you but I’ll be happy to have your share and you can enjoy the pleasure of watching me enjoying it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigella_Lawson

I know now that chocolate is not good for dogs, but I have to say, when I was growing up, we kids all shared any treats, chocolate & otherwise, with a MULTITUDE of dogs & not a one ever got sick… I especially remember one dog always got to lick the chocolate ice cream bowls. (I know, nowdays that is not PC either.) I assume the overall amount must have been too small to be harmful. Now admittedly I was a child about 45 years ago… perhaps there were far fewer toxins overall in the world & a little chocolate didn’t hurt anyone too much. None of my dogs in recent years have even shown any interest in chocolate, so haven’t had to worry about it…

I wondered what the reference was - but I thought it was the name of the confection, not a person. who knew….

Who knew? Everyone in the UK! You’ve simply got to keep up with the British cultural references if you want to understand Fred! ;-)

We had a dog who loved M&M’s, but every time she got one, she also got the “scoots”. Amazingly, it took us several years to figure out cause and effect, and then only after reading about how chocolate is bad for dogs. Duh!

Nigella (Lawson) appears periodically on NPR to talk about food.

it sounded really good until the part about dark chocolate, i really don’t like the bitterness of that.

it most likely has a gazillion calories

I had something like this once, for about a month after just thinking about chocolate made me feel sick

Here’s a different one I hope you’ll like - the only fruitcake I’ve ever been tempted to make!

Best Fruitcake Ever Ingredients: 1 or 2 quarts Whiskey 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 tsp. salt 4 large eggs 1 cup dried fruit 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup of nuts 1 oz of lemon juice

Mixing Instructions: Before you start, sample the whiskey to check for quality. Good, isn’t it? Now go ahead and begin. Select a large mixing bowl, measuring cup, etc. Check the whiskey again as it must be just right. To be sure whiskey is of the highest quality, pour one level cup into a glass and drink it as fast as you can. Repeat.

With an electric mixer, beat 1 cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add 1 tsp. of thugar and beat the heck out of it. Meanwhile, make sure that the whiskey is still of the finest quality. Cry another cup.

Open the second quart if necessary. Add 2 arge leggs, 2 cups dried fruit and beat ‘til high. If druit gets stuck in the beaters, just pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the whiskey again, checking for toxscisticity. Next sift 3 cups of salt or anything - it really doesn’t matter. Sample the whiskey. Sift 1/2 pint lemon juice.

Fold in chopped butter and strained nuts. Add one babblespoon of brown thugar, or whatever color you can find and wix mell.

Grease oven and turn cake to 350 greedees. Now pour the whole mess into the boven and ake. Check whiskey again, and go to bed.

That is actually a real Nigella recipe - i’ve made it often for the church, and it disappears like lightning!

Oooh, sounds soooooooo delish! Mmmm,… :-P

Wow! I’m tempted to try both of those recipes. Thanks, folks!

Re. Fred Basset - Chocolate is VERY toxic to dogs. A comic strip that depicts a dog begging for chocolate, or that the dog will get or be given chocolate, is not responsible. It could result in a child or adult giving chocolate to a dog, with dire results.

Onions are very bad for dogs, too.

I saved this recipe but I doubt I’ll ever make it. It sure does sound delicious. Thanks for the recipe Joe.

Have a go at it, will you?