Wednesday, November 16, 2011

My Running Buddy Cola and Something I don't usually do

Several people have asked questions about Cola including asking if there were any runs that I did not take him on.  The answer is I take Cola on every run I go on and I have since he was 6 months old.  Occasionally if he is muddy or covered in manure i make him stay home while I drive the kids to someone's house and run from there.  He has gone on runs of up to 16 miles which is the furthest I have run. 
 You've seen pictures of him all grown up.  Here he is as a puppy.  So cute!
 The cat was bigger than he was when we brought him home!
 We have officially had him for a year now!  We almost lost him once when he got kicked in the head by a horse (hazards of country living) but he recovered and you can still feel a ridge in his head where the horse kicked him.  We thought he was a goner.  :(

Cola is a 5H stockdog. What is a 5H stock dog you ask? They are a working dog. Bred for working with sheepp or cattle.   

The 5 H's stand for herding, heeling, heeding, hardiness, and heading. Most of you are probably thinking WHAT?  If you want an explanation you can check it out HERE 5H stock dogs are roughly 50% Border Collie for the heeding, herding, and heeling traits; 25% Blue Heeler for heeling and hardiness traits; and 6% Bull Terrier for the hard-to-find heading trait as well as to add genes for a short, slick coat. The rest depends on the strengths of the particular strains of dogs used.    They are hard workers and can pretty much run all day.  They originated in Austrailia and my Aunt Linda and her husband started breeding them sometime in the early 1990's. 

They usually do not make good pets for people living in the city as they are so high energy and active.  If they get bored they start developing bad habits .  An 8 mile run is a walk in the park for my dog


Border Collies have a very high need for exercise and can be expected to have high indoor activity. They are vigorous dogs that require good hard exercise on a regular basis. They make good watch dogs and poor guard dogs. They have a high learning rate and a very high obedience level.
—Country Journal, December 1987.

They are generally great with kids, although when the kids start running around the house like crazy I usually have to put Cola out as he gets to excited and wants to jump on them.  

Okay here is something I don't usually do.  I don't really enjoy cooking or baking even though I adore eating, but we had a Thanksgiving potluck at work yesterday and I made my requested Sweet Potato Casserole.  I made it last year and everyone loved it.  I get so many recipe requests for it.  My mom started making this for Thanksgiving years ago and it really is the best way to eat sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving. 
I stole this picture from allrecipes.com because I never got a picture of mine. 

ingredients list
 
  • 4 1/2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs, beaten
 Mix together and put into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  I like to mix in a little cinnamon too.

Ingredients for the topping
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
mix together the flour and brown sugar, cut in butter with a fork until crumbly, and pecans and sprinkle over sweet potato mixture.

 Put in the oven at 350 for about 25 minutes and ENJOY!

Have you tried this kind of sweet potato recipe before?  What is your favorite way to eat them?

36 comments:

  1. My friend Lisa has a dog just like Cola, he's a puppy too and is sooo smart! He sure is cute. Did you name him Cola after the drink?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that your dog goes with you on all of your runs. That is so neat and he is such a gorgeous dog. I am glad that he recovered okay from the accidient, that can be so scary.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your running buddy is too cute! I keep saying I'd like to start running with my dog - maybe after this half is over.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tals sounds a lot like Cola! She is a heeler/rottweiler mix (I think) but her personality and energy level are ALL heeler! Sometimes I kick myself for asking for a dog who "loved running and hiking!"

    ReplyDelete
  5. I bet Cola and Peanut would get along really well! I always say that Peanut is really meant for country living and wouldn't make it in an urban area. Too much energy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cola and my CB look so similar as pups- that same goofy deadpan stare. Lol

    The sweet potato casserole looks so good. I just roasted some sweet taters last night. Mmmmm :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. aw, how cute is he! Since I started running, I think how great it would be to have a dog tot run with. I do a lot of my running alone and a dog would be great company :). I am so glad he is okay after such a scary accident!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love your dogs name!!! We have a Great Dane and they really are made for long distance running so she stays home and holds down the fort.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. YUM! that recipe sounds so delicious. and Cola is sooooo adorable! what a great running buddy. Plus 16 miles!?! wow! super dog!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Cola is adorable!!!! We run with our dog, a pointer/lab, and he's gone as far as 20 miles and loves it!

    That recipe looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  11. ummmm Christy your blog has transformed I love this post...dogs and recipes :D YAY!!!!!! Cola is awesome I love blue heelers and border collies, and bull terriers....get mix! I thought you were supposed to run /w puppies, but cola just runs off leash right? b/c you're in the country meaning he ? can do what he wants :) love it

    ReplyDelete
  12. Cola's puppy pictures are so cute! I love the one of him and the cat!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love me some Cola dog!!!

    I'm still working with Wyatt to run with me, but since its getting winter, we'll have to pick it up next spring.

    ReplyDelete
  14. OMG Cola is so cute and the best running partner!
    Our friends have 3 border collies and the kids just love visiting there.

    ReplyDelete
  15. ooh this sounds really good, thanks. I think I should probably do a test run this weekend. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. I dont like sweet potatoes...
    We never had those at my house
    Canadians dont do the traditional Thanksgiving
    Thanksgiving meal is Christmas minus those and yams and pumpkin pie.

    I do like you dog! so cute! he is a better runner than me! 16 miles!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. OMG! Your sweet potato casserole looks awesome. And you told me you can't cook!

    We call those orange sweet potatoes 'yams' but that is just to distinguish them from the drier, yellowish ones (which I am not a fan of at all!)

    I LOOOOOOOVE dogs. All dogs, any dogs. Your Cola is such a neat mix of breeds, no wonder he can run so far and so often and is so smart!

    And such an adorable puppy with his blue eyes. Did they turn to brown as he got older?

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love sweet potatoes in all forms. When my kids were babies I'd microwave them, chopped up and mixed with cinnamon and nutmeg, for nine minutes. And I'd sneak some for myself. Your casserole sounds heavenly.

    I'm having dog envy after reading about Cola. My mom has a part-border-collie, too. VERY high energy.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Love, love love this post! I have one of my dogs that I can run with but I have yet to be able to run his speed!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your dog is adorable. He reminds me a lot of my dog Bear. Bear is a border collie, but I'm not sure if he's pure-bred. We adopted him from the Humane Society so we're not sure of his lineage. Bear loves to run and hike with me, and he is very smart. He also loves to play frisbee! I'm glad you have such a great running partner.

    ReplyDelete
  21. That sounds YUMMMMMM! I am going to make that!

    Your dog is adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  22. what a cutie! glad that he made it through the konk on the head. he has beautiful eyes. i wish that my pups could run, they are almost five and probably the size that cola was when you got him.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Your dog is so cute! My weenie dogs would DIE if I tried to get them to run. They are super lazy. For giggles we managed to get one to walk on the treadmill. The other one (the laziest one) sat down and fell off. LOL!
    I like sweet potato fries!

    ReplyDelete
  24. i love COLA!! and 16 miles?!? my pup could probably eat 16 treats, but that's about it!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Such a cute dog! Impressive he can run so far!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. love your dog! so cute!! we are thinking about a border collie or an australian shepherd or a pug.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This is so awesome that you have a running companion no matter what! You are very fortunate.

    Do you carry water for him or do you just know places you can stop for him to drink? I need to start taking my dog on more runs.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I haven't tried that dish before. It looks really good! We sometimes make candied yams, which I like, but this one seems different and yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Cola is so freaking cute! I wish Bungee could got 16 miles with me!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks for the update on your buddy. He's so adorable and I love that he can run so much. My little fluff balls are useless for running.

    I'm totally making that sweet potato pie, yum! I was just thinking that I wanted to make something like that.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Oh your dog is SO cute. My daughter and and are dying over the pictures, we had to give our dog away a few months ago...so sad. Miss her dearly. I've never had sweet potato anything...I just may try that recipe. Thanks!!

    runningtobeskinny.com

    ReplyDelete
  32. Cola is such a cute dog! I would love to have a dog to run with. My little min pins would die after a few blocks!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I just need to say. That sweet potato casserole is my favorite Thanksgiving food (at least for now- since you posted a picture of it. haha ) THANK YOU for the recipe!!!

    ReplyDelete
  34. awwww what adorable puppy pictures of cola!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Our 6 year old heeler/aussie shepherd/border cross working dog got lung cancer and had to be euthanised. A neighbor has a 5h cross litter due soon and was not sure if this might be the dog we need. Your post has convinced us this will be a great replacement for "Turbo".

    ReplyDelete

Because I love hearing from you all!