Out in the Boonies

Sorry for the delay in updates, everyone. We're without Internet and now that I'm down to part-time it's becoming increasingly difficult to update. But I assure you that a schedule will fall into place and I will have some productive updates soon! I have some excellent oatmeal muffins to inform you of. Lick your chops while you wait....

Until then, my friends...

Tie 'em up!

A few weeks ago I found a recipe for homemade pretzels like Auntie Annie's. And my pregnant mind thought, "I MUST HAVE THEM." Last night the Other went out for Korean food (in which my pregnant mind said, "Puke!") so I thought it was the perfect time to give them a try.

The ingredients are pretty basic (except maybe bread flour...but I have that). After mixing them together, it forms a nice ball. I kneaded it for 5 minutes and let it relax for 5 more minutes. Then I cut it into 6 sections.



Then Monty helped me roll them all into "snakes" and we shaped them to look like pretzels. While I was doing this I thought it would be a really fun birthday party idea to have kids make their own special shape. Or to make them smaller, you could just roll them into small sticks.



After they are shaped, I had to boil them. I thought this was an odd step, but after baking I could tell that boiling them made the outside crispy once baked. I just simmered some water and added baking soda, set the dough in the water and Monty helped me count to 5. Once they are floating, I put them on a greased cookie sheet (next time I need to grease it more...) and I sprinkled them with some Kosher salt. The Kosher salt we have has big grains, which is exactly what you'd get from your favorite pretzel place.



I baked them for 12 minutes and they came out looking like this:





They were SOOOO good. Monty ate his plain and loved them (he ate the two "baby ones") and I had mine with some cream cheese. This will be a returning recipe. I even saved one for the Other and he loved them, too!

I have to give props to my little helper:



He was so excited to make "snakes" and count and sprinkle salt. What a good little guy...

By Request, here is the recipe:


2-3 cups bread flour
1 tsp yeast
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees, or about a minute in the micro)
1 tsp. salt

Mix all of these together until they form a ball. Start with 2 cups of flour and then add it a tablespoon at a time until it becomes workable with your hands.

Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes. Let it relax for 5 more minutes

Meanwhile, get a pot of water and 4 tbsp. baking soda to a simmer.

Cut your dough into 6 pieces. Roll them into "snakes" and make the pretzel shape. Carefully, with a spatula, dunk the pretzels into the simmering water for 5 seconds. They should begin to float.

Take them out and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and bake for 12 to 14 minutes at 425 degrees.

Rag Quilt

So my newest adventure, I believe, is to make a rag quilt. They seem rather simple and I think I can find cheap flannel shirts at second hand shops to cut the squares from. I'd like to make one for my baby and one for my sister's (she's due about 2 weeks before me!).

So....if you have any old flannel shirts to get rid of, let me know!

Puppy

I want one of these:






They are in Michigan, about 2 hours away. *squeal*

Monty has been asking for a dog for some time now...so maybe we should get a puppy. However, Monty's mommy has also been wanting a doggy...so maybe we should get a puppy.

Cream Puffs!

I have an abundance of eggs lingering in my fridge, so I decided to make a batch of cream puffs with special vanilla filling. It used up 7 of my eggs!

I've made cream puffs before, but have always been a little disappointed with the way they turned out. However, I found an amazing recipe here: http://www.frontiernet.net/~albert1/crmpffs.html.
It was very easy to follow and made some DELICIOUS results.

They are fresh out of the oven here. I love how golden-brown they are. I also have to give props to my awesome new oven wit a special "baking" feature. Love. It.



Here they are after I filled them. Basically, I cut off the tops of the puffs, cleaned out the centers and put the cream in there. The recipe called to chill the cream and then use a frosting bag to pipe it in. However, I'm not a patient person so I just spooned in the filling.



Cream Puffs really are a joy.

Living room

When Other and I bought his grandmother's house, I had several months to consider how to decorate and arrange the place. The biggest challenge is the living room. It is long and narrow, with one wall as a giant fireplace and another wall that is almost all windows. It's a very charming room, but not suitable for our current bulky furniture.

We decided to turn a larger bedroom into the "media room" that houses our TV and video games, so the living room could be a place to relax, read, play with the Kids, etc.

I had a picture in mind of old chairs, reupholstered with neat fabrics. A sofa for lounging. All placed to embrace the fireplace. Just a very relaxing area.

This great local guy, hooverar.com, has auctions locally and I found these two gems posted on his website:





I love, love, love these. Even the pink doesn't bother me too much (I haven't yet seen them in person, so it may be a different story later on). I just think they are perfect for that room and, matched with a lounge-worthy sofa, it will be a wonderful place to enjoy our family time together.

The auction is May 10. I'll let you know how it goes.

Moving Announcement

So I'm working on our cards to mail out letting our loved ones know our little family has relocated. I, of course, turned to the Internet for ideas and found these super cute little birds. However, they were on this large mural thing. So I used my maddddddddd skillz in Paint to separate them out and then I found a little blue egg. I'm happy with the results.




The actual announcement part goes at the top with a headline of, "We have a new nest!"

That's why I get paid the big bucks to be a writer.

Anyways, I ended up drawing little music notes by the birdies (and egg). I would show you the finished product, except it has our address and phone number which I believe would be a poor decision to broadcast all over the Internet.

I think I'm on a bird kick or something. Maybe it's just spring.

Maybe it's just the little things...