Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Very special guest, part 1

Today we have a special treat, pups and kitties! My friend Gerri, who is the owner and chief baker for Happy Hearts Cookies, has agreed to be interviewed right here on Huffle Mawson, Explorer Cat.

Those of you pups out there who are always looking for good, tasty and healthy treats, keep reading! Gerri is based in Louisiana and ships her cookies all over the USA, and any other countries that will allow processed foods to be sent via airmail. Last year I sent my best friend Zim and his brother and sisters Happy Hearts Cookies for Christmas, and boy were they excited! Anyway without further ado, here is the interview with Gerri. HM is me, GD is Gerri, just in case you were wondering.HM: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your pups, Gerri.
GD: A little about me, the dog cookie baker? Well, as you can tell, I love my dogs very much and I like to bake, and I really enjoy creating dog cookies. I’m very fortunate to have a husband that supports this little business venture (which costs more than it makes). I do take care of our household that includes me, hubby, and three dogs. The three pups of this family are MayaMarie, a small Siberian husky with terrible tummy issue, who is the reason for creating the HH dog cookies; Bella, she’s an all white Siberian husky, who is now bigger than MayaMarie, and Missy, my “old girl” who is a shepherd/husky. We live in modest house, and have renovated everything in it ourselves. We even fixed our roof after a storm. I used to do a lot of crafts and hope to start a couple of projects this summer that should be fun. I used to be legal secretary, but after 30 years, I have resolved to being retired. Hubby is a mechanic and is currently restoring an old Porsche 944. Helping him find parts on eBay has been fun.

Phantom can't talk - he's too busy eating a Happy Hearts cookie!

HM: Why did you start Happy Hearts Cookies?
GD: Because MayaMarie has such terrible tummy issues. She can not eat processed dog food, so I have to cook for her and I felt so bad that she could not have any treats. Since I like to bake, I decided to make her some cookies. I did research on flours, fruits, and all sorts of ingredients. She has never complained. She has a serious sweet potato addiction and when I cook the sweet potato to prepare it to make sweet potato cookies she will sit and watch it cook and woo woo to it. Of course when it’s done, I have to cut a piece off and let it cool so she can taste it before it goes in my cookie mix.

HM: What’s so good about Happy Hearts?
GD: I’m gonna be bold and say because I make them. They taste good and are made in my kitchen by me only. A lot of personal time goes into every batch of cookies.
HM: Why are you different to other dog cookie companies?
GD: I use fresh, healthy ingredients that I use for my own dogs and myself. I take the time to ask if your dog is allergic to something and I will change up the recipe. I even do “special request” recipes. My quality control is controlled by me, personally. I actually taste whatever ingredients I use and the finished product has to be liked by me and my three taste testers. And to make an order even more fun, you always get a free bag of fun shapes with every order.

HM: Do you have government approval and all that formal stuff?
GD: Oh yes! I actually send my cookies to the LA Dept of Agriculture and have the lab analysis done. Once I get that info back (takes about a month) I send in the proper paperwork to another section of the Dept of Agriculture to have that cookie registered. I even have a manufacturer number. I just got in my paperwork to renew my license and my current menu of cookies. I’m actually legal too! I’m incorporated and pay taxes. HH could use a good bookkeeper, file clerk and paper shredder, so if any pup or kitty out there wants to work for cookies, I’m interested.

HM: I have a friend whose dog has food allergies. Are you able to help out pups with that problem?
GD: Most definitely. That seems to be my most requested service. Tell me what you can and cannot have and I’ll create a dog cookie for you. I'm always creating new recipes so all you have to do is ask.
Steve and Kat always sit pretty for Happy Hearts cookies!

Well, pups and kitties, that's not all. Tune in tomorrow for part two of the interview, and on Thursday for a special competition. And don't forget to visit Happy Hearts Cookies! Or you can email Gerri direct if you have any questions.

25 comments:

Steve, Kat, & Wilbur said...

Great interview, Huffle! You could have a bright future in journalism. Maybe you can be the next Barbara Walters and do specials on the year's most fascinating pups and kitties.

We do love Happy Hearts!

Steve and Kat

Jack & Moo said...

Bravo! Bravo! A brilliant interview, Huffle. We love HH cookies, too, especially those sweet potato ones, and the 3-cheese and the blueberry-banananana ones...oh, we love them all!

Woos & aa-roos,
Star & Jack a-roo

Angel Ginger Jasper said...

MMm sounds good, are there cat one's too ? I will check it out.

You are a very good interviewer, you should be on TV.

Hugs GJ x

The Army of Four said...

This is the most exciting interview I've ever read!!!
Tail wags,
Storms

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

Grrrreat work!

I know
My mom knows
My Doggy Nanny knows
My khousin Abby knows
My Auntie Di knows

HAPPY HEARTS ARE THE BEST!

I khan't wait to see Part 2!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
PeeEssWoo: I mean my mom steals mine when she doesn't think I'm looking BUT I khan smell 'em on her breath!

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

Great post, Huffle - our favorite treats!!!! We love all the flavors she makes. Pumpkin oat are our favorites but those sweet potato ones are pretty terrific too. Like Khyra, we have to keep an eye on the Mom, she likes to sample them too.

Woos, the OP Pack

Anonymous said...

Mmmm Mmmm Good! This was a great interview. Can't wait for Part 2... Humm... i need a HH cookie now.
hugs,
Sitka

Biloxi and Siber-sibs said...

HaRoooo Huffle!
Great interwoo! We didn't knows all dat. Furry interesting. Now Maw knows why we likes dem so much too!!!


Husky kisses,
Biloxi

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

What an awesome interview. Those cookies sure sound really good and we know they are made with love...

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

Mason Dixie said...

What a great interview. I love how she will make special requests for those special tummy's out there. =)

Princess Eva and Brice said...

Wonderful interview! You picked a great subject for your first interview.

Princess Eva

Ozzie the OZmonster & Zowie said...

Huffle, that was pawesome! You have really outdone yourself this time. I am so impressed that by weeksend I will convince J & K to buy some of those wonderful sounding cookies from Ms. Gerri.I will use my special Husky powers and occasionaly Gitmo torture techniques to achieve this task.

Great Interview H,

Ozzie

Mickey's Musings said...

Gee!! That was a great interview!!! How neat is it to have your Mom run a cookie business?!!!! THose are pretty lucky doggies :) They certainly are a big hit with the customers too :)
Purrs Mickey,Georgia & Tillie

Khady Lynn said...

We all absolutely ADORE Happy Hearts Cookies!! We are especially thankful to Gerri for making special allergy cookies for us, the "Holly's" line, which uses potato flour since Samuel and Kona can't have regular flour. They are the absolute best in the world, and we are always ordering bags and bags of them!! On our last order we all got specialized cookies with our names on them. We were very excited that Gerri spent so much time on our treats! I even put them up on our blog. She is totally pawsome!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Huffle! Those cookies sound yummy! Very interesting interview.

See ya!
Joey

Vicki said...

Grrreeaat interview - I agree - are they going to expand the market and creat cat cookies too? Quite a market out there! Well done with the interview.

Lorenza said...

Hi, Huffle!
Pawesome interview! I want to read the next part!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Cheyenne -Millie said...

You are a good interviewer Huffle! I found it interesting... you see sometimes I will steal a little bit of doggy food from Monty. But more often he steals a little bit of our kitty food!

D.K. Wall said...

Geraldo Huffle - Very impressive.

Honey the Great Dane said...

Hi Huffle,

I came over from Khyra's blog - I love making new cat friends! (I used to have a kitty sister but sadly, she was taken from us in Jan)

That is a really cool interview - wish I wasn't so far away so I could get Happy Heart cookies too!

Slobbers,
Honey the Great Dane

BeadedTail said...

I enjoyed your interview Huffle! I heard about Happy Hearts from Zim and Khyra!

Sadie

Pinky Ash and Boo said...

Great interview Huffle.Gerri sounds awesome,and her cookies sound yummy.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmmmm. We wonder how many , and what type of, Happy Heart cookies we'd need for 2 Landseer Newfoundlands, 1 small yellow Lab, 6 Golden Retrievers and 2 Maine Coon Cats that eat anything. Jenny probably would eat HH since she's kitty carivour.
- TBH

PETtell said...

To show love to your pet why not join and register at PETtell, it's a free social network for pet owners. You'll gonna luv it :D

Anonymous said...

Hi all. How are you?