Thunk! I saw the light in the kitchen ceiling sway with the commotion overhead. My mother shouted, “What is going on up there?” She didn’t miss a beat as she chopped away at vegetables and just shook her head when no response came. It was a standard night in my childhood home where my four brothers would wreak havoc on the household, but the kitchen was my favorite place to be. Our kitchen sat in the back of the house, and my brothers avoided it out of fear they would be asked to complete a chore.
As my mother bustled around the kitchen each night preparing dinner, I happily sat on the yellow, outdated linoleum floor chattering away. Our family dog Boscoe had a worn out dog bed that sat in the kitchen next to the back door where I would sit next to him, petting his bristly brown fur and feeding him bits of food behind my mother’s back. I watched my mother chop food and carefully check the rising dough in the oven or strain the spaghetti noodles in a cloud of steam. I associated the kitchen with a sense of comfort and solitude from the chaos of my four older brothers. It was the best spot in the world, nestled next to Boscoe listening to the thwack of the knife on the cutting board or the gentle tink of the wooden spoon against the side of the pot as my mother stirred something delicious.
When I got older, I spent less and less time in the kitchen with my mother as I learned to dodge chores, too. From time to time, I thought about the cozy evenings as I would pet Boscoe and ask my mother the many curious questions of childhood. Reveling in the comforts of home and breathing in the smell of warm biscuits was one of my fondest memories of childhood. When I started my own family, I hoped to create the same atmosphere for my son. Then, reality set in.
It turns out, I am a terrible cook and our family dog is a bit more active than Boscoe. In fact, it is pretty much chaos in our kitchen. Our toddler is vrooming cars on the floor, and I rush from one thing to the next trying not to burn what is on the stove and avoid tripping over the tail-wagging dog in search of food. My husband is always conveniently looking over my shoulder ready to turn the stove off just as the pot is about to boil over. There always seems to be an aroma of burnt food usually from remnants of previous meals stuck on the stovetop or in the oven bottom and slowly burning as I attempt another meal.
Even with all that commotion, our kitchen is our favorite place in the house. It is always full of life and love, a place where we come together to laugh and talk about our day. In our kitchen, we prepare our meals as a family, and it is my favorite place for different reasons now. I see the gradual growth of my son as he gets closer to reaching items on the counter, and my husband and I talk about the future. This happy place wouldn’t be complete without our dog, Crosby. It is where he excitedly greets us after a long day. He is one of the family, and his nutritional health is just as important as the rest of the family’s. Thankfully, he doesn’t have to rely on me to cook his meals, and I can rely on Milo’s Kitchen® to create healthy home-style snacks to distract him from the food I am burning on the stove.
With snacks inspired from delicious recipes for people, Milo’s Kitchen® creates handcrafted recipes specifically for dogs. I have to admit they might even smell tastier than some of the meals I make! Crosby gobbles up the Steak Grilled Recipe with Angus Steak and is always begging for more. The Chicken Meatballs are perfect to toss when I am trying to get him out of the kitchen, and the Beef Sausage Slices with Rice are probably his favorite treat. Part of showing him love is giving him snacks that are healthy as well as good tasting with flavors he craves as a dog. Milo’s Kitchen® makes treats that are free of artificial flavors and colors, and the best part is they are made right here in the U.S.
Food brings people together and proves to be the center of most gatherings. It is no surprise that so many families find the kitchen to be one of the happiest and lively places in the home, and the family dog agrees! Give your dog treats made to appeal to their carnivore tastes and created with only the best ingredients. Visit Milo’s Kitchen® on Facebook for more information about their yummy home-style treats, and if you don’t have a furry family member find out which five breeds are the best family dogs from The Noseprint.
This post brought to you by Milo’s Kitchen. All opinions remain my own.