pretzel memories

I did something last week that I've been wanting to do for a long time...
I made soft pretzels with the kids...

Yep...I'm Martha...
totally 100% Martha...
...
only that's a lie...
I'm not...
...we just have to remember the cake pop incident of '12 to know I'm not Martha!

the reason I have never made them before is because I was scared...
it's bread...which equals yeast...and that's always a little iffy...
it's rolling and shaping of the dough...with children involved...
you have to boil them in a brine...
yes...a brine...
....that's freaky!
and then the egg wash
and all with kids...

yep...no, thanks I'll pass...

but I really wanted to...

I kept pinning soft pretzel recipes...
I would read them and re-read them...
even though they look scary with the whole brine thingy...
they also looked very easy....
but then I would remember the cake pop incident of '12 and then remind myself that just because the other bloggers think it's easy doesn't mean it is easy!

Well I did it...
I took the leap and made pretzels with the kids...
I followed this recipe from Alton Brown/Food Network
(my slightly altered recipe posted below)
it was great...
the dough...super simple...

the creating pretzel shapes with the kids...fun..not super easy...but fun
AND the dough is very forgiving, and even though the boy child played created with his dough for a LONG time it wasn't any worse for the wear, I couldn't even tell which 2 were his over-loved creations when they came out of the oven.

the scary brine...easy peasy!

egg wash...no biggie...just a small simple step
and the kids...
they LOVED it...loved it so much we did it three days in a row!

yes...THREE days in a row...
day one...loved them but only had table salt and that was too much salt..
day 2...I got the right salt...but Beau made the dough and I didn't tell him the right amount of butter (Alton's recipes is in oz not tablespoons)...so it was a bit too rubbery of dough for the knots so we opted for bites instead-AMAZING...
day 3...cinnamon pretzels for breakfast-yes please!

Homemade Soft Pretzels
1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (1 package active dry yeast)
4 1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Pam (the baking spray...not the lady) for spraying
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons melted butter
Pretzel salt or Cinnamon & Sugar

Directions
Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.
Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined.
side note...I was summoned to the back yard at this point to see the snake that the boy child had found...and I left the mixer going...I have no idea how long I was gone... I came back and the dough was smooth and pulling away from the side of the bowl...so I never upped it to medium speed...
Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then spray with Pam (the spray...not the lady). Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and spray with Pam...the spray not the lady!

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface (I just sprayed the counter and let the kids go to town) and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel...or skip the knot and make pretzel bites by cutting them into 1-2 inch squares (we did bites the 2nd time we made these...just as yummy!).  Place onto the parchment-lined pan...(or spray the bee-jeezus out of the pan...DO NOT opt for wax paper...just sayin')

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 or 2 at a time (for bites I would say between 10-15), for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to cookie sheet, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture, if topping with Pretzel Salt (Course Sea Salt...not table salt, if you don't have pretzel salt skip the salt...and take my word for it that table salt was TOO much!) sprinkle it now. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at about 5 minutes.

For Cinnamon & Sugar Pretzels:  Wait 2-5 minutes for pretzels to not be too hot, brush the tops of warm pretzels with melted butter and turn upside down/butter side down into a bowl with bowls with cinnamon & sugar

Devour Eat pretzels while still warm...and enjoy with the family!

this is the pictures you get when you ask your husband nicely
 to snap a picture of the kids enjoying their pretzels!

Sorry for the lack of pictures of all the steps...I was enjoying the pretzel moment with my kids and didn't stop and take pictures along the way!

Have you ever made homemade soft pretzels?
How about bagels...I think bagels are next on my list!...

ChambersMade Public Service Announcement

PSA
Parchment paper is NOT wax paper...
I repeat....it is NOT wax paper...

You may or may-not be a cheapskate frugal like me and have stood in the aisle looking at the price difference between the parchment paper and the wax paper...
and then because you are a cheapskate frugal you opt for the wax paper...
if you by chance have opted for the low-class frugal version of parchment paper aka wax-paper you may or may-not add a wonderfully family-bonding moment to any and all baking creations...
this is the step we like to call
'did-you-get-all-the-paper-off-before-you-eat-it' step
or more commonly knows as
 'removing the non-parchment-paper paper from the bottom of your baked creation'!

If you do not have parchment paper because you are cheap frugal
AND you feel you may want to avoid the above mentioned family bonding moment
do not
I repeat do not opt for the wax paper...
just go ahead and skip the whole 'paper' step and just spray the bee-jeezus out of your pans...

so just to recap

Wax paper...not good for lining baking pans...
(however it is great for covering bowls of stuff you are heating up in the microwave!)
Let me know what else you use wax paper for...?

Parchment Paper...use this when it calls for it...not wax paper... or spray unhealthy amounts of chemical spray on your baking sheet/pan...but do not...do not use wax paper!


THE END!

Menu Monday

I did the horror's of all horror's on Saturday and went grocery shopping with a menu list of 2...
2 things I knew I'd make for dinner...
and about 20 items on the overall shopping list...and forgot milk...of course

I survived and managed to make a menu while shopping...
and shopping with the girl child...
she helped brainstorm menu ideas
I think this is an amazing thing to do with the kids,
     although much easier to do with only one...
shopping by myself is by far way easier...
but bringing along a child helps them develop important life skills

• they learn how to grocery shop
• menu planning (or lack thereof) being as important as the shopping
• how to pick out fresh/ripe fruit & veggies
• price comparisons
• patience 
• self control
• packing a grocery bag (lots of adults can't do this)

here is the menu that girl child and I put together on the fly while shopping...
not too bad (helps to have a smart phone while shopping!)

Saturday
Citrus Butt Chicken (Beer Butt chicken...but a Citrus Soda rather than a beer)

watch for a BITNF for this recipe

Sunday
Popcorn for dinner

Monday
Sweet-n-Sour-Beans

Tuesday
Tomato Basil Cream Pasta

Wednesday
Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Thursday
Grilled Island Chicken

Friday
Spring Penne Pasta with Light butter Sauce

Saturday
Grilled Balsamic-Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin

Sunday
Popcorn

Monday
Orange Chicken (won this dinner via Dream Dinners!)

Tuesday
Grilled Chicken Fajita Fettuccine 

Wednesday
Chicken Tacos

Thursday
Brinner-Huevoes Rancheros 

Friday
Yogurt Marinated Chicken

what's on your menu this next 2 weeks?

if only

I had a friend share this picture with me this week after I posted something about certain store employees  on my facebook and their lack of math skills...

(the store shall remain nameless, lets just say...if your prices are falling, maybe you should teach your employees the math that goes along with those falling prices!)

just wanted to share the picture with you...
I think it'd be even better if they had a picture of 2 hands and a foot...

& then when a person does have more than 15 items the cashier also has some life size rubber hands and a foot that she/he breaks out and helps the person count using actual fingers & toes...

AND then makes them pack back up their stuff
& get into a regular...
non-express...lane...
if this happened once to them then they would never ever again go to the express lane with 42 items!

does it REALLY do that

we all love ideas that take not so simple tasks & makes them simple

come on that's why we're all drawn to infomercials...
and the junk products they sell

not only something that simplifies something,
but also does it for little or no cost!

so I'm starting a new series of posts called

...does it REALLY do that....

I know, I know such an original title!

anyways...now with pintrest fever hitting the world lots of new cooking/cleaning/gardening tips have gone viral without many people actually trying them...just pinning them...

so I'm going to start testing them...

my first test...

the shredded chicken test.

have you seen this on pintrest...or even just heard rumor that it's true?

that you can shred your cooked chicken with your kitchen aid (or other stand mixer)?

this is the thing...
they (not sure who they are) say that you can put cooked chicken breast into your kitchen aid...
turn it on...
and then within minutes had shredded chicken...
not chopped chicken like you get with a food processor...
not the claw-hand you get after hand shredding with 2 forks and your hands...
but like honest-to-goodness shredded chicken...

I heard it...
thought, "that's crazy amazing...it can't work!"
I pinned it...
thought, "that'd be crazy amazing IF it worked!"
...
and then YES, I tested it...

 one cook chicken breast in my kitchen aid with regular blade/paddle thingy

 dumped in a package of taco seasoning and onion soup mix
(side note...best seasoning combo E.V.E.R!)

 after 30 seconds...sorta chunky looking

 and at 1 minute...seriously 1 minute!!!  shredded chicken

BLOG Edit...this was on medium speed

it is CRAZY AMAZING!  

By Golly...YES it does!

have you heard any crazy time saving cooking/cleaning/gardening tip 

or pinned any

and you've said to yourself

let me know I may test it out for you!

{W*I*P Wednesday}

Work In Progress...

I've been working on some Amigurumi...
Ami-WHAT?

Amigurumi (編みぐるみ?, lit. crocheted or knitted stuffed toy) is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll.[1] Amigurumi are typically animals, but can include artistic renderings or inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features,[2] as is typical in Japanese culture...


can you guess what I'm making for my children?

boy child's...just parts at this point

girl child's almost done....just missing eyes

if you guessed Perry aka Agent P...then you are correct...

I have looked everywhere for the 'saftey eyes' that the patterns call for...and can't find them...

so I'm going to crochet some eyes for these little perry's

I also have some hooker crochet friends that are asking for a pattern so I need to write down the pattern for this guy...I roughly followed this pattern  from over at Craftster, {courtesy of Beavisfreak}...but made quiet a few changes to it and need to write it down...

My goal is to have both Perry's done by Monday...including eyes...

they may or may not be sporting fedoras.

And also have the pattern written out.

I'm sharing over at Ambassador Crochet for WIP

& Tami's Amis

Where am I today?

I am over at my husband's blog again today starting a new series Family Dinner Friday

Sharing about the importance of family dinner, sharing an easy family dinner that is custom-izable and everyone in our family ends up eating more than their share of veggies...and some Q&A about dinner time for our family

I was also featured today over at my friend Ashley Brendle's blog.

Ashley's blog Tips4Mom; helping mothers thrive, a place with healthy mothering tips for today's Christian moms.  Ashley describes herself as a mother of 6 {boys} and a lover of Jesus.  She's also a wonderfully supportive wife to her husband.

So go check out both blogs and let me know if you have any favorite blogs I should know about!
Happy Friday!