Pretzel Mania!

Lunch Time Pretzels

So I totally blame this post on my friend Debbie who had been Facebooking her beautiful pretzels.  Debbie is a good person, unlike me, and actually shares her recipes.  I decided to make some for a lunch time snack after lunch.  They were beautiful as you can see.  They were amazing.  10 mins after they were out of the oven, they were gone.

Dinner Pretzels

 They were so amazing, that when I asked my family what they wanted for dinner, they all screamed "PRETZELS!"  So we had pretzel bites and beer cheese dip for dinner.  Sounds logical, right? All I can say is mom of the night right here.  So we had an amazing night full of pretzels and Stone Age, a game our family loves to get violent at.  ;)

I used this pretzel recipe here.  I'm posting it at the bottom.  It's super easy and super amazeballs.  But the cheese dip was of my own doing.  I'll post that too.  You're welcome.  :)

Soft Baked Pretzels

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant quick rise yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)

For the Topping:

1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp baking soda
vegetable oil for greasing the sheet pan
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Combine all the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix with the paddle attachment until somewhat combined (or just mix by hand with a wooden spoon). Change to the dough hook and knead on medium low for 5 minutes. The dough should feel soft and smooth, not sticky to the touch.

Lightly dust the dough with flour, then place in a ziploc bag and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and lightly grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil. You could also do parchment paper if you can find one that's rated high enough (most parchment papers I've seen only go up to 420 degrees F).

Remove the dough from the bag and place onto a lightly oiled countertop. Divide the dough into 8 pieces (just cut it with a knife).

Whisk to combine the warm water and baking soda and cook in the microwave for 1 minute. FYI it's not going to dissolve completely, and that's okay.

Roll each of the eight pieces into a long rope, and shape each one into a pretzel (see the step-by-step photos on the blog post to see how to do this). Dip each pretzel into the soda wash and place onto the greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, then let them rest for 10 minutes.

Bake for 9 to 10 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown. Brush the pretzels with the melted butter while they are hot out of the oven. Enjoy while they are hot, and keep in mind these don't taste as amazing the next day. Enjoy! 

Cheesy Beer Dip 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp nutmeg
6oz (half a bottle; you get to drink the rest) of beer (I used an amber)
3 C sharp cheddar cheese, grated
salt and black pepper, to taste

Start by melting the butter in a saucepan, and cooking it with the flour for about a minute.  It may seem silly, but this step is crucial to get rid of the raw flour taste.  Next, whisk in a cup of milk.  Keep stirring, and cook for several minutes, until the mixture thickens.  Once the milk mixture has thickened, pour in half a beer.  Bring back up to a simmer, continuing to stir constantly.  Stir in the black pepper, nutmeg, and mustard powder.  Stir.  Then add the grated cheddar cheese, one cup at a time, stirring until the cheese is melted and incorporated in the mixture before adding the next cup

A New Adventure

So this year started off with a bang.  Homeschool.  It's something I never thought we, as a family, would do.  But one has to do what one has to do.  And this is, for the moment, what my husband and I feel is best for our family.

So I did all sorts of research.  Hours and hours of research.  I mean, we're talking migraine-
inducing- research.  But we found a program that will work until the program I really want to use is accepting new students.  So far so good; then again it's only been a week.  *eek*

Labor of Love

I'm thinking now I'll have a little more time to post our different goings-on.  The chick is a lot more self-sufficient.  She has THE cutest new kitchen that my husband and I spent working on together.  As you can see, it's pretty amazing.  And she is constantly playing in it.  I have no idea where she gets wanting to be in the kitchen all day from.

Yes, It lights up.

*Side note* I now know what my mom meant when she said, "One day you'll have one JUST LIKE YOU!"  It was not only a statement of fact, but a curse/threat/promise.  I miss you every day mom.

What a Teacher Really Wants...

As I mentioned yesterday, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week.  In keeping with my traditions of crafty shizz, I came up with something that was a combination of something I saw on the Pinterest and something I saw at Michael's. 

The list of products needed include:
Mason Jars (I used the pretty blue ones)
Burlap ribbon
twine
and these cute little chalk board clippy things

I took the burlap ribbon and tied it in a knot around the jar to form a knot in the front.  Took the twine and tied it just under the lid and clipped the chalk board clippy thing to the twine.  Too easy right?  I then filled the mason jar with two things.  One, chocolate; Dove chocolate to be precise.  Dove chocolate is just... UHMAYZING.   The other thing I filled it with is the one thing Teachers really want, but can't say.  A gift card to Specks.  They don't want Starbucks.  They don't want Target.  They want Alcohol.  And in my opinion, if you're my son's 7th grade teacher, you deserve as much as you can get. 

So here's a quick shot of the "after". 
 I thought it was pretty cute.  Something different.  And they could totally use it to hold pens or pencils or something like that.  The thing I really liked about this was I didn't need hot glue or anything messy.  I just needed scissors.  That's it!  Anyways, as always, have a fantastic day.  I'll get on here later and post the absolutely delicious cherry dessert I'm making in between typing this.  L8er.

I Promise...

I totally promise to not wait six months for a new post.  Life gets away from us sometimes and I had to step away.  I will not bore with with details of how much it sucks to lose both of your parents within five months of each other.  I will, however, share with you that they gave me the greatest example of REAL love.  And I will share two beautiful pictures with you.  In the words of the wise Forrest Gump,  "That's all I have to say about that."

SO!  This week has been a busy one in this house hold.  Teacher Appreciation week!!!  I have tons of crafty shit and recipes to share.  So this will be an updated mo-fo tomorrow!  For now, I will share with you the breakfast treat that I took into my son's school for the teachers.  I'm pretty sure you can figure out what went into this from the picture.  No recipe needed.  Totally simple.  And absolutely a hit!  You could use it for a sleep over, breakfast, brunch... whateva!  Tomorrow, or Friday, which ever one the OG will let me have a moment to update, I will share the awesomely simple craft my son and I did for his junior high teachers.  Then, I'll actually post a recipe.  One for the dessert I'm taking in to lunch on Friday for Eric's teachers.  With that, I will bid you adieu for today.  Stay thirsty my friends. 

Your Funny of the Day

Yes, it's eight in the morning and I already have your funny for the day. 

So this morning Bruce was holding the chick while I was getting stuff together for the youngest boy, Eric.  So Bruce has OG turned outward facing everyone (she likes that so she can see everything; she's quite the nosy girl). This is around the time Eric walks up and looks OG right in the eyes.  Of course she's smiling at her brother.  She loves both of them and gets way excited when she sees them.  She then proceeds to start kicking and getting super excited. That is when Eric says the following:

Eric:  Olive is thinking to herself, "Who is the handsome beast staring into my eyes? He is a stunning individual."

Yes, he said handsome beast and stunning individual.  Bruce and I just cracked up.  I don't know where he gets this stuff.  I couldn't make it up. 

Do Yourself a Favor...

Get an Amazon Prime account.  Also, make sure you sign up for Amazon Mom.  Then, check out how easy it is to subscribe and save.  You can order bulk items and have then delivered as frequently as you want.  Free shipping.  I have saved so much money by doing this.  It's cheaper than Sam's or Costco, and less stress since I don't have to deal with the gaggle of people that inevitably annoy this sh*t outta me when I go to said stores. So, when you have signed up for both Prime (yearly fee) and Mom (free) accounts, you save an extra 20%.  It's pretty amazing.  I get my TP, paper towels, baby junk and etc from there.  At the very least, look into it.  Just a little FYI for everyone. Here's some more information on Subscribe and Save: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=sr_1_1_acs_h_1?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200121950&qid=1383099108&sr=8-1-acs

Some Other Benefits of Prime (JUST SAYING)

Chocolatey Pumpkin Goodness...

This evening I got a hankerin'.  And I figured since it's autumn, it needed to have pumpkin.  So I came up with a little something something. I used a recipe I had for chocolate cupcakes and altered it from there.  Now, I usually do not share recipes.  It's actually a rule I have.  But my dear friend Regina has convinced me that I need to quit being greedy biotch and share my wonderfulness with the world.    So here you are! Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

YUM-O!

For the cupcakes 
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt 
• 1 3/4 cup canned pumpkin (15 oz. can)
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

          For the frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda & salt together; set aside. In a separate bowl, stir together the yogurt, pumpkin, vinegar, & vanilla extract, set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Alternately beat in the flour & pumpkin mixtures in thirds. Fold in the mini chocolate chips. Spoon batter into cupcake cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Place cupcake pans in the center of the preheated 350 degree oven & bake approximately 25 minutes. 

While cupcakes are cooling, prepare cream cheese frosting. In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, & nutmeg. If the frosting is too soft, chill in fridge for 15-20 minutes before frosting the cupcakes. When cupcakes are completely cool, spread with frosting.