The Fur Babies' Foodie Fails (and Wins!)

My fur babies, bless their little hearts, are the biggest fans of anything that smells remotely like food. Which, in my kitchen, is pretty much *everything*, all the time. It’s a constant culinary circus, and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Though sometimes, my dear friends Eunice, Coco, Karla, and Jen, along with my sweet Sadie, who is my everything rolled into one magnificent Mama/Nana, have to remind me that a genius IQ and multiple scholastic degrees don’t exactly equip you for a food fight with a Chihuahua and a Chiweenie. Rex, my wonderful husband, just calls me his “ding bat” with a loving twinkle in his eye. And you know what? He’s not entirely wrong.

Take, for instance, the time I was attempting to make my famous vegan chocolate chip cookies. Rule #1, my friends: always have a squeaky throw toy on hand when your fur babies are in the kitchen. Rule #2: ensure your husband, or whoever is unfortunate enough to be in your orbit at that moment, has a substantial snack and a beverage *before* you embark on any culinary adventure. Otherwise, you’ll be as flustered and frustrated as a squirrel trying to hoard nuts in a wind tunnel, and you’ll forget what you’re doing. Hence, the ding bat. Has that ever happened to you? Hmmmm…

Anyway, back to the cookies. I had all my ingredients laid out, a veritable smorgasbord of flour, sugar, and that glorious vegan butter I’d discovered. That’s when Russo, my Chiweenie who genuinely believes he’s a mountain goat with a penchant for baked goods, decided he needed to supervise. He’s got this uncanny ability to scale anything, and before I could even blink, he was perched precariously on the edge of the kitchen counter, his little face contorted in what I can only assume was intense culinary critique. He’d nudge my hand with his wet nose, as if to say, “A little more vanilla, human. And for goodness sake, don’t skimp on the chocolate chips.”