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!...

Story Time with ChambersMade

little Mrs Chambers...
wearing her apron...
stirring her Chex Mix...
when along came a spider...
who dropped.down.in.the.middle of the boiling hot batch!!!
and FRIED little spider too death...

only a little bit of Chex Mix lost...
only a little bit of a mess when
     little Mrs. Chambers scooped out the spider, Chex Mix and all...
and bludgeoned it to an even more FINAL death
     (it was dead when it hit the hot mix)
smashing Chex Mix into 1000 of tiny pieces......
but I had to be sure
and little Mrs. Chambers swallowed her scream so the girl child would have NO idea what happened and therefore still eat the non tainted Chex Mix!

and that was today's ChambersMade Nursery Rhyme Store Time

and the Chex Mix that is super yummy and spider free

Dark Chocolate Cherry Honey Nut Crunch
4 cups Honey Nut Chex
4 cups Rice/Wheat/Corn...a mixture of all three or just one type
3 cups Honey Graham Oh's Cereal*
2 cups peanuts (I prefer salted but it's up to you)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 cups dried cherries
1-2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips

In large microwavable bowl, mix cereal and peanuts.

In 2-cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter, honey and salt uncovered on High about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla. Pour over cereal mixture; stir until evenly coated.

Microwave uncovered on High 4 minutes, stirring every minute. Stir in cherries. Microwave an additional 3 minutes, stirring every minute. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool. Once cool stir in dark chocolate chips.  Store in airtight container.

This is such a yummy Chex Mix...it has the flavor of carmel corm without the pieces of chewy popcorn getting stuck in your teeth!...and Chocolate...I was very pleasantly surprised by the flavor...

*and for those that don't know what Honey Graham Oh's are

Magic Snack

I love things that are magical...who doesn't?

...isn't childhood all about magical things...

    ...Disneyland...movie magic...grandparents...the toothfairy...Santa...

...

so many times when I can't explain things to my kids I pull out the..."it's just magic" answer...it works...

or when someone asked me how I made something..."using magic"...

...don't worry, I'm not into black magic...

But I LOVE things that have a fun mystery to them...it just makes life a little more fun...

my kids new favorite snack is the "magic apple"

yep...a magic apple...

I use the magic wand...

aka...the Pampered Chef apple slicer

I cut the apple using the magic wand, but not all the way to the bottom, pull the slicer back up over the top of the apple and then put the apple back together...

so now it looks like a whole un-sliced apple...
then your kids can say some magic words...

"apple sapple...magic apple"

and the apple magically falls apart.

and because the apple is magic it taste just a little bit better!

Almost Magic

Madison was star of the week this week in her class...
So, that means on Friday (today) she gets to bring in a treat to share with the whole class,
EVERYONE brings in Rice Krispie Treats (the pre-made store ones)
...Madison wanted that but, "a little different" she said...
After some brainstorming we decided to make the Fruit Loops Rice Krispie Treats...and since I never have Rice Krispie's, Fruit Loops, or Marshmallows in my house it meant a trip to the store after school yesterday ...any mother will tell you that this is
the WORST time of the day to take a child to the store!
...so I'm dreading the trip, knowing that it's going to be filled with Madison whining asking if she can get everything she sees...
 and then asking about dinner tonight...
deciding that she doesn't want that and trying to change my mind!
The whole time I'm trying to fight the crowd of other mothers that had to bring their school aged kids to the store who are also whining like crazy...
I'm repeating my favorite little ditti to myself,
"I will not yell, 
     I will have a nice mommy voice, 
          I will not let the whining get to me."
over and over again when it happened...

Magic happened... YES, Magic!

right there in WinCo...
Madison was in a great mood after school...I was in a great mood...all the other mothers at WinCo were in a great mood...
We walked casually to the baking aisle to pick up the marshmallows, we had a few choices, regular, strawberry or chocolate marshmallows (yes, they now make chocolate marshmallows!).  Madison, of course, chose the strawberry (pink) ones, then a nice casual walk to the cereal aisle.  My plan was to go "healthy" on the treats and use the new Fruit Cheerios...healthy plan foiled when they were more than twice the price of the generic Fruit Loops (Fruity O's, or something really creative like that)...
And this is when the real honest to goodness magic happened...I saw Chocolate Cheerios (ON MAJOR SALE) right next to Chocolate Chex (ON MAJOR SALE) and remembered the Chocolate Marshmallows....so we bought the Fruity O's, some Rice Krispie's and BOTH Chocolate Cereals and went back to grab the chocolate marshmallows...
mommy's got a plan....a magic plan!

Madison and I came home and made the Strawberry-Fruit Loops-Rice Krispie Treats.  Okay this is were the magic gets a little sticky.  Everyone always says how EASY Rice Krispie Treats are to make...I have a problem with this statement.  Okay, yes there might be just a few ingredients and yes the steps might be few...but the whole process is VERY sticky...
I HATE sticky!
I think this is why I never make these sticky treats, they're sticky to make, they're sticky to eat, and then you have sticky kids to clean up afterwards, not to mention the sticky that has now found itself onto every surface of your kitchen!
Anyways, I powered thru, braved the sticky and conquered these "easy" treats...

Strawberry-Fruit Loops-Rice Krispie Treats
1 bag Strawberry Marshmallows
1/4 bag of regular Large Marshmallows (this was a very rough est)
1 stick (8 Tbl) butter
1 tsp vanilla
5 1/2 cups Fruit Loops (or Fruity O's, or Fruit Cheerios, or any other Fruit type cereal)
5 1/2 cups Rice Krispies

In VERY large microwave safe bowl melt the marshmallows and butter together (high for 1 minute, stir, high for 1 min stir, continue until melted), stir in vanilla and then slowly add cereals...(you will now have sticky up to your elbows, some in your hair, and just a little behind your left knee) .  Spread onto a grease cookie sheet and let cool.

Time for mommy's Chocolate Magic!

Chocolate Cereal Marshmallow Treats

1 bag Chocolate Marshmallows (think they may be Chocolate/Vanilla swirl)

1/4 bag of regular Large Marshmallows (this was a very rough est)

1 stick (8 Tbl) butter

1 tsp vanilla

5 1/2 cups Chocolate Cheerios (or another Chocolate cereal)

5 1/2 cups Chocolate Chex (or another Chocolate cereal)

2 cups Chocolate Chips, or M&M's or other chocolate treat (optional)

In VERY large microwave safe bowl melt the marshmallows and butter together (high for 1 minute, stir, high for 1 min stir, continue until melted), stir in vanilla and then slowly add cereals...gently fold in optional Chocolate Chips or M&M's.  Spread onto a grease cookie sheet and let cool.

So, I overcame my fear of sticky (by the way, this is genetic, passed down from my father who has a fear of sticky, I have a fear of sticky and my daughter has a fear of sticky!), and now have some wonderfully magic treats on my kitchen table...

Chex Mate

Chex Mix and Christmas just go together...
Well, Chex Mix and any holiday go together...

Sure you can purchase a premade Chex Mix...
and, sure, it's good...

or you can raid your cupboards and panty
and create your own...

I made a wonderful discovery about a year ago...
Chex...they have a website...crazy concept....
www.chex.com and they have a TON of recipes on there...

So, yes, I spent about a week last year making all sorts of different Chex Mix combinations...so YUMMY...
this year, I waited just a bit too long in visiting the website...
didn't have time to go to the grocery store...
and didn't have the desire to get out of my jammies on a Saturday morning...

So I did visit the website...looked at a few mixes that I would like to make...

and then the ChambersMade version...I added up all the cups of cereal involved in one of the recipes...
(around 4 1/2 cups)...
and than raiding my pantry, found some cereals that would work well in a Chex Mix...
Chex (any "flavor")...
Cherrios (any "flavor")...
Honey Nut Shredded Wheat (or any Shredded Wheat)...
Oh's...
Cracklin' Oat Bran...
Granola's...
Puffed Wheat ...
Golden Grahams...

well, you get the idea...
and measured out different amounts to equal the amount needed for the "recipe" I was going to make
Melted some butter and sugar in the microwave (using the amount from the recipe that I was "following" off the website)...tossed it over the cereal mix...microwaved the whole thing for 2 minutes (stirring at the 1 minute mark)...
and threw in a few other odds and ends...
dried cranberries...
mini M&M's (leftover from cookie decorating)...
some chocolate chips...

melted some chocolate chips in the microwave, and poured it over the top...waited for it to cool...and tossed it around, breaking up the melted chocolate...
bag it up (or jar it up) and hand out as a gift to friends or neighbors!