Yesterday I finished cooking a large pot of brodo, a turkey/beef stock from The Splendid Table cookbook. It calls for 9 pounds of turkey wings that simmer for 14 hours with lots of vegetables and 4 pounds of beef shank. I get about 3 gallons of stock from it.

I get my turkey wings from a butcher shop that gets a case of them for me directly from the meat packing plant. They are enormous and meaty. After simmering for 14 hours, however, there is not much taste left in the meat. I can’t make myself throw them away, so I freeze the meat in small bags for our dogs. They get a few pieces of the turkey in their daily kibble. They love it.

They also get roasted butternut squash and beef protein sprinkles every day in their kibble. I roast the squash with our Turkish olive oil brushed on it. At least once a day they get gullet strips, and they have collagen chews to gnaw on. Yes, we have terribly spoiled terriers. They get so excited it is hard to stop since they seem so happy.

I think we spoil our dogs with snacks because we spoil ourselves with good food. They don’t seem to get fat on these snacks, but they are busy, active dogs who race around and burn off lots of calories. By the end of the day they collapse and sleep soundly all night.

What are your favorite snacks? How do you spoil the people and creatures you love? How are you spoiled?