The Search for the Perfect Pretzel - Part 1

It has been a crazy couple of weeks coupled with some tech issues, so I apologize for not posting anything recently...

I'm starting my search for the perfect soft pretzel!! I have chosen three bread machine recipes that I will be making over six weeks. I will share each recipe and I will also let you know which recipe won the title of "Perfect Pretzel." 

Recipe 1 comes from the Cuisinart Recipe Booklet

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup water
• 1-1/2 tsps salt
• 2-1/2 tsps brown sugar
• 2 cups + 6 tbls bread flour
• 2 tsps yeast
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbls baking soda

Place the water, salt, brown sugar, bread flour and yeast (do not add the second amount of water or the baking soda) in the bread pan. Use the pizza dough function and select the small loft size.

When cycle is completed, remove the dough from machine and transfer to a floured surface. Divide dough into equal pieces. 

Roll each ball into a thin rope. I found the easiest way to do this was to roll the dough between your hands. Twist dough into a pretzel shape and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic and allow pretzels to rest for about 20-30 minutes. 

Place 2 inches of water in a wide 5 1/2 quart saute pan and bring to a boil. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place 2 cups of water and baking soda in a small bowl, stir and reserve.

 Once pretzels have rested and water comes to a boil, carefully slide pretzels into the boiling water one at a time, flipping each after 1 1/2 minutes. Boil for 3 minutes total. Allow pretzels to drain on a cooling rack. Dip each pretzel into the stirred baking soda solution and place back on parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with toppings. 

For toppings, I did 4 pretzels with coarse salt, 2 pretzels with garlic powder and shredded mozzarella and 2 pretzels plain that I dipped in butter then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. 

 Bake in oven until dark and golden, about 15-20 minutes. When finished cool on wire rack. 


These pretzels were really good! Not as good as the ones from the mall but pretty close. My fav was the cheese pretzel dipped in marina. 
I put the plain ones straight in the toaster to re-heat them before brushing them with and sprinkling on the cinnamon and sugar. 


The next pretzel recipe I will be trying is a "Almost-famous" recipe from the Food Network website so stay tuned!

Carnival Party

It's official Alyssa is now 7 years old and Kaylin is 5 years old!!

To celebrate, they had an awesome carnival themed party!! The party was originally planned to be a outdoor affair but do the rain the party was moved into the garage.

There were several game stations setup around the garage and each child was given a bag with their name on it to collect their tickets.

A home-made ball toss game was made by using velcro circles attached to foam core and some fabric balls.

A home-made beanbag toss was made by cutting three circles in a large plywood board. The board was painted white and the fairies from Sleeping Beauty were painted next to each hole.

There was also a home-made coin toss. The game was made by covering some boxes and coffee cans with paper and then adhering plastic plates to the top of the coffee cans. The kids were given poker chips to toss and the object was to land the chips on top of the plates. 

A prize station was one of the highlights of the party. There was tons of candy, stickers and toys sorted into bins. The kids exchanged their tickets for goodies and filled up their bags. 

Keeping with the theme buckets of popcorn were set out for snacking and for lunch they grilled up some hot dogs.

This party had one of the coolest cakes I have ever seen!!! It was made by Whimsy Cakes. I overheard one of the kids asking if it was made by Cake Boss. Too funny!!!

All the kids LOVED this party!! Even the parents that hung around had a blast!


My complements to the hostess!!

Lots of Presents Birthday Card

I love to send hand-made cards to my friends on their birthday's. I'm always on the lookout for fun cards ideas that can be sent without using extra postage. I saw this idea in Cards and it fit the bill perfectly!


Tools Needed:

• Paper cutter
• Scissors
• Adhesive
• Glue Dots
• Foam tape
• Darning thread or crafting floss
• White card stock
• Solid card stock
• 3 - pieces of coordinating patterned paper
• Sentiment
• Glitter glue

Start with an 8.5" x 11" piece of white card stock. Cut it to 5.5" x 8.5" and fold it to 5.5" x 4.25". 


Cut the remaining white card stock to 4.5" x 3.25". Cut the colored card stock to 5" x 3.75". Adhere the white card stock to the colored card stock and the colored card stock to the card base. 


Cut 6 - 3/4" x 3/4" squares from patterned paper. Place a piece of foam tape on the back of each square. Adhere squares to card with about a 1/2" between each square.


Tie 9 bows with darning thread or crafting floss. Adhere a bow to the top of each package with a glue dot. 


Use a rub-on or sentiment sticker on the top of the card. I added some Stickles (glitter glue) on either side of the sentiment.  


Enjoy!

Elmo Birthday Party

Happy 2nd Birthday Rex!!

I recently had the pleasure of attending a Elmo birthday party held in Rex's honor. His mom, Andrea, used her craftiness to personalize his party and to bring the theme to life. 

Using some poster-board, a black marker and some die cuts, Andrea made this adorable sign to incorporate the Sesame Street theme.

Pin the Nose on Elmo!!

To create this spin on a classic children's game, Andrea used a over-head projector to enlarge an image of Elmo that she found online. She traced his face onto red butcher paper and cut it out. She used white paper for the eyes and made several noses from orange butcher paper. To finish, she laminated all the pieces. 

Each guest was given the opportunity to pin a nose on Elmo. 

Since the guests were pretty young, Andrea didn't bother with a blindfold. As you can see it really didn't make a difference none of them got to close. But it was a lot of fun watching them try.  

Andrea ordered a Elmo shirt from WackyPlanet.com and it arrived within a week. She had a local friend screen print his name and age on the back of the shirt. 

For dessert she ordered cupcakes with vibrant frosting and added Elmo sticks to them. 

The party was a lot of fun and everyone had a wonderful time celebrating with Rex!!

Snickerdoodles

I've made snickerdoodles using a few different recipes but my favorite is this recipe that I found in a Paula Deen magazine. The cookies are always soft and moist. I've been asked to make these repeatedly so I wanted to share one of my fan favorites with you.


Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coarse sugar (I use Sugar in the Raw)
• 1 1/2 tsps ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at a medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating to combine. Stir in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Stir in vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 2 hours up to 3 days. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or grease cookie sheet). In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon.

Using your hands, roll dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in cinnamon mixture. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake 10-11 minutes or until golden brown. 

Let cool on pans for 2 minutes then transfer to wire racks. 

Pasta with Chicken, Spinach and Bacon

This pasta is perfect when you need a fast and satisfying weeknight meal. I also like to omit the chicken and serve this as a hearty side dish during the holidays. 


Pasta with Chicken, Spinach and Bacon
Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1 (12 ounce) package pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 6 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 lb. of chicken tenders, chopped into bite size pieces
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until tender about 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place bacon in the large pan over a medium-high heat. Cook bacon until browned and crisp. Remove bacon and wipe out the pan with paper towels. Return the pan back to the heat and add 1 tbls of olive oil. Add chicken and cook completely for about 6 minutes. Return the bacon back to the pan and add garlic, cook for about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and cook until heated through.
3. Place the spinach into a colander and drain the hot pasta over it so it is wilted. Transfer to a large serving bowl and toss with the remaining olive oil and the bacon and tomato mixture.

Roberta's Tuna Patties

In honor of Lent, I made a recipe that was given to me by my Mother-in-law years ago and has been a favorite ever since. 

If you've never had tuna patties, imagine crab cakes but with tuna.

Special Tools:

Food processor

Ingredients:

2 cans of tuna (drained & flaked)
3 cups bread crumbs (6 slices fresh)
2 eggs
4 tsp finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Juice from 1/2 lemon

2 tbsp green onion

2/3 cups of celery, diced

1/2 cup of Panko bread crumbs

3 tbsp of olive oil

In a food processor, finely chop green onion. Tear bread into large pieces and add it to the food processor. Pulse until bread is completely crumbled. Transfer bread crumb mixture into a large mixing bowl. 

Dice celery very fine, add to bread crumb mixture. Add tuna, eggs, salt, pepper and lemon juice to the mixture and combine. With hands shape into patties. I usually get about 7-8 patties that are the about the same circumference as a tuna can. 

Heat oil over a medium heat. Dip each side of the tuna patty in panko bread crumbs before placing them in skillet. Cook on each side for about 4 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate. 

Keeping up with tradition, we serve ours with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Enjoy!