Touching raw meat

The past two days in a row I have handled raw chicken, something that I rarely do for my husband, in order to cook dinner for our dog. I have been wanting to take Kuma off of store-bought dog food for a while. When I was in New York in September I came across a book called Pet Food Nation (what would I do without the "staff recommendation" section at Barnes & Noble). In it is a detailed account of some of the horrors of what goes into commercial pet food, something that was brought to worldwide attention earlier this year when tainted pet food with ingredients manufactured in China killed pets in the US. The book also contains a step-by-step guide to cooking for your pet and includes several recipes.

From now on Kuma will be eating a healthy mix of ingredients including chicken breasts, hearts, and livers; brown rice and whole wheat pasta; steamed vegetables such as string beans, broccoli, and cabbage; and eggs (only as a treat on weekends). Today I purchased organ meats for the first time in my life (see photo). I was pleasantly surprised to find that our supermarket carries organic chicken livers. Tomorrow morning I will sauté up some heart and liver, also a first in my culinary repertoire. But, it's for a good cause, so, here goes!