home cookin' fun friday

Today on What's Cookin':

Homemade Pretzels

Finally, things have calmed down around here (aka holiday shopping 90% done) and I had some time to myself while Lillian napped today.  I've been wanting to try out this recipe for a while now and I have to say these are the BEST thing that has come out of my kitchen in months.  They are already almost gone and I can't wait to make them again.

See recipe for exact measurements:

Here's what you're going to need.  This actually calls for 2/3 CUP of baking soda, so make sure you have enough on hand before you start.   

Chef's Note: Take your water's temperature.  It has to be warm enough to activate the yeast.  (between 105 and 115)

Place the water, sugar and salt in to the bowl of the mixer and combine.  

Then sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit for 5 minutes.  

The mixture will begin to foam. Apologies for terrible light in my kitchen

Add 2T melted butter and 4.5 cups flour to the bowl.  Mix on low until combined.

- Chef's Note:  Fluff your flour before you measure it.  Never pack flour into a measuring cup or you'll have the incorrect amount.  Fluff the flour, then spoon it into the cup and level with a knife

At this point you can go ahead and thank your lucky stars for the invention of an electric mixer.  Set to mixer on medium speed to knead the dough for 5 minutes. 

Chef's Note: Do NOT leave your electric stand mixer unattended while it kneads the dough.  Mine literally almost jumped itself right off the counter.  That would not have been good for the kitchen floor. Or the mixer.

Go ahead, have some ice cream while you wait.  I did.

Once the dough is smooth, take it out the bowl.  Clean the bowl and oil it.  I got right in there with my hand to make sure there was oil everywhere. 

Cover with saran wrap and leave somewhere warm for the next 50 minutes. 

Now run (RUN!) to the couch and watch something trashy while the dough rises and your kid(s) are still sleeping. 

Once the dough is finished rising, dump it out onto a lightly oiled surface and cut into smaller pieces. The recipe suggests only 8, but that would make for some huge pretzels. I ended up with about 20 pieces.  Preheat oven.  Also, start boiling 10 cups of water with 2/3 cup of baking soda.  Also, make your egg wash.  (One egg yolk mixed with a little water).  Also, get your salt ready ( use the big and crunchy kind ).  Also, roll up your sleeves.  The next 15 minutes are going to be intense.

Make your pretzels:

Drop pretzels, one at a time, into boiling water for 30 seconds.  This is a bet of a frenzied assembly line.  Once I got into a rhythm, it was OK, but it might have been nice to have help at this point.

Brush egg wash on pretzels and sprinkle with salt.

We like a lot of salt around here:

Place in oven for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.

If at all possible, have everyone gather 'round to eat these as soon as they come out the oven.  Ten times better than when they are cold.


Buy some fancy mustard to serve on the side.  SO GOOD.

hmm is this considered serving alcohol to a minor?

a fun friday is

yummy october afternoon light...

little wallflower

a Fun Friday is....

sharing munchkins with my munchkin

a walk down centre street at the pace of a 2 year old

 woodworking class with a friend

discovery friday

a new hill atop which to eat snack.

some mysterious google-search-when-we-get-home yellow stuff

pretty flowers

long walk in the arboretum without the stroller.  all grown up.  "I a big girl now"

pine cones bigger than your arm?!

finding fun in the simplest forms. leaf boats and rock throwing.

78 degrees and sunny on the last day in september.
time to reflect about how grateful I am for these fun fridays with my babies.

it's all about the light

I'm taking a Portrait class at NESOP this fall.  I had no idea there was so much to know about portrait photography.  The ins and outs of composition, posing, light patterns and more.  And finally, I can stop being so scared of that flash in my camera bag.

Fun Friday today was more about me than the kids for once.  A trip to the local camera store to rent a fun new lens for a big shoot tomorrow. Oh, and try to make sure two kids don't break anything in the shop. That's always a good workout.

Now the really fun part.  Practicing!

In traditional portraiture there are four basic light patterns.  Loop, Butterfly, Split and Rembrandt.   I'm sure I've taken photos with these patterns before, not having realized it.  Each pattern evokes are certain feeling or emotion.

Here, Lillian is demonstrating the split light pattern.  a la Phantom of the Opera, right?  Love it. Very dramatic. Shot with my fancy-mine-for-the-weekend-only 70-200 2.8 lens.

In the next shot Ben eats snack and demonstrates the Loop light pattern.  See that curved shadow coming off the right side of his nose? That's called a loop and is a result of side lighting. Could be from a flash, or, in this case, a kitchen window.

No light pattern here, just a super cute cat in the window. Love the really shallow depth of field that comes from a big aperature and a longer focal length!

ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/25, 200mm

On the lookout for Rembrandt and Butterfly patterns.....

the aliens have landed

Nonstop birthday prep at our planet today.

Craft of the day:  easiest pinata in the world.  I'm not even really a fan of pinatas, but this one seemed too easy to pass up.

First cut out your shape from cardboard.  Cut out a duplicate.  Then a long 2-3" strip that goes around the outside.

Apply tape ( I used painter's tape ) and attach the side.

Fill with candy/silly toys of choice

Close up the pinata by taping on the other side.

Find a helper.  Glue on fringed tissue paper in rows. Start at the bottom and work way up. No need to be very careful. It's going to be busted into pieces in the end anyway.

Voila!  One alien pinata in about an hour.

baby love

I never get tired of visiting baby "Kambiri" at the zoo.

Every time we go I think oh this time she's going to be huge. She is, after all, a gorilla.  But then we get there and at 6 months old she's still just as tiny as ever.  Apparently, gorillas grow just as slowly as we do.  She's so darn cute; I could sit there for an hour watching her alternately play with, and annoy the heck out of, her mom Kiki. Kinda like real life, eh?

Too bad I forgot my camera today. iPhone to the rescue.

playing with dad, while mom supervises

Mom Kiki is celebrating her 30th birthday this Sunday at the zoo.
A zookeeper told me she has an affinity for shiny sparkly things (and what 30 year old woman doesn't?)
She was fascinated by my wedding ring and stared at it for a while then proceeded to smash her lips up against the window for me to see.  

love squeeze

artful friday

...summer weekdays at the deCordova sculpture park & museum in Lincoln.  fun and free!

perfect weather and perfect day to have a picnic with good friends :)

The Ben & Sam Expedition

walking on the "callapitter"

three amigos

A trip to Lincoln is not complete without a stop into the Pierce House, where we got married almost 7 years ago: