Pretzel Buns

Pretzel breads are everywhere these days, it seems.  And, believe it or not, these crispy, salty, delicious rolls are very simple to make!

If you can make rolls, you can make pretzel rolls.  And, if you've never tried, I suggest you start now!  No time like the present ; )

We'll start with the recipe.  This is my tried and true bread recipe, makes awesome regular rolls as well, just a simple, standard yeast bread recipe, really easy to work with.

Proof your yeast with the warm water and sugar for about 5 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Mix well, turn out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth, but still a little sticky.

I let this rest for about 15 minutes, then divide into 10-12 rolls, depending on how big you want them.  

Bring your 10 cups of water just to a boil, then take off heat and stir in baking soda.  Drop the rolls in the baking soda water one at a time, for about 10 seconds each, turning to submerge both sides.  I use a slotted spatula to take them out of the water, let drip, then place on your baking sheet.

Brush each roll with the egg wash, sprinkle with sea salt.

Then, let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Bake at 450 degrees, mine usually take about 10 minutes.  And, presto!

Better than a restaurant!

This also works great for pretzel dogs, instead of separating your dough into rolls, roll it out and cut into strips with a pizza cutter.  Then wrap around hot dogs mummy-style and follow the rest of the steps, except these don't really need to rise.  My boys adore these!

Happy baking my friends, and here's to

              MAKING IT COUNT

The Giving Family Tree

As the Christmas season draws to its close, I always feel a little sad to pack away all the decorations and lights. My usually cheery home, feels unusually drab for those first weeks of January : ). The lightness and cheer I feel inside, however, will last long after the holiday trappings return to their closets.

Our traditions of Christmas have always been rooted in family and faith.  As hectic as the season gets, I always feel that inner peace approaching.  And every year as I hear the Christmas story read, as I sing the carols with my siblings in the choir, look out at my husband and children, parents, grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, the peace and love is overwhelming.  

I relish the spirit of giving that has been passed down to me and I take pride in passing it down to my children.  Each gift is chosen or crafted with love and care, and the homemade gifts are always treasured.  I have been blessed with such loving and talented family!  I'd like to share a few of my treasures from this Christmas.

These beautiful wooden utensils are waiting for the perfect place to hang in my kitchen, carved by my wonderful sister.

My amazing sister-in-law had made this for my Grandma, this was our second Christmas without her, she gifted one to me and one to my sister.  

And the grand master of all homemade Christmas gifts, a quilt from Grandma!

I got in on the fun as well and the kids and I made some melted crayon art for auntie and I made this for my little sister : )

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, and may your new year be filled with laughter and love.  Each new day is a blessing, here's to

                   MAKING IT COUNT

My take on HalloThanksMas

This morning while scrolling through Facebook, I came across the hundredth complaint I've seen so far this year about stores putting out Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving...radio stations playing Christmas music ALREADY!!...people putting up their trees and decorating their houses and yards...how disgraceful and disrespectful...why is Thanksgiving skipped over, not as important...back in my day...and on and on.

Honestly, it makes me a little sad.  This is such a wonderful time of year, from Halloween through New Years, yes, they are each their own unique and meaningful holiday, but they are strung close together, a full season of expectation, joy, food, family, and giving.  Why would you let such a small thing upset you, let it take away a piece of your joy and in turn. the joy of the people around you?

My family always starts decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  That's just how we do it.  That being said, there is very little that I love more than Christmas.   I love everything about it, enveloping the world in warmth and love, my heart sings.  And though I would love to decorate earlier or all year round ; ),  I don't, because traditions are very important to us, and honestly, prepping for Thanksgiving is enough to do!

I guess my point is, does having a Christmas tree in your living room make your Thanksgiving table less meaningful?  Do twinkle lights take away the love of family and friends around that table or far from home?  Do we forget our blessings by hanging some jingle bells?

So, if you think it's too early for carols, change the station, while you may not want to shop or decorate before Thanksgiving, there are many who do, how about we spread some joy instead of complaining, put some merry in that moping, and...


                                        Make It Count

My Big Fat Greek Dinner

I invited my brothers and sister over for a night of Greek cuisine.  Good laughs and full tummies ensued!

This is my second time attempting to make Greek food.  I have to reassure you that every recipe that I post, I have made and has been approved by my family, light, fresh and delicious, Greek food is far from our ordinary fare, but is definitely something we will be adding into the rotation.  I hope you and yours enjoy it as much as we did.

Souvlaki

4 lb pork tenderloin, cut into bite size pieces
2 medium onions, chunked
2 bell peppers, chunked
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c soy sauce
1 t oregano
3 cloves garlic, crushed (I use 3 t of the jarred minced garlic)

Marinate all ingredients covered and refrigerated for at least 2 hours.

Pour in large heated skillet and cook until done, stirring frequently.  Time will vary, depending on how big your pieces are.

Serve in warmed pitas with...

Tzatziki Sauce

2 cups plain Greek yogurt---Strain yogurt over a bowl with cheese cloth or coffee filters.
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 c chopped fresh mint
1 large cucumber-peeled, seeded, minced-squeeze out excess liquid
1 t dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

Stir all ingredients together, I like mine smooth, so I throw it in the food processor.  Squeezing out the excess water in the yogurt and the cucumbers is essential, if you do that, you will get a thick, creamy, fresh and delicious sauce. 

Herb Roasted Greek Potatoes

5 lb red potatoes, washed and cut into wedges
3 cloves minced garlic
3/4 c olive oil
1 c warm water or broth
1/4 c lemon juice
1 1/2 t oregano
1 t chopped mint
sea salt and pepper to taste
8 oz feta cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Stir all ingredients except feta together and pour into greased 9x11 baking pan.  Bake 30 minutes, stirring once, add more water by 1/4 cup if dish appears dry.  Bake 30-40 minutes more, stirring more often as water evaporates and potatoes begin to brown.  Remove from oven, top with feta.

Greek Salad

3 large tomatoes, chopped
2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
10-12 Greek olives, halved and pitted
1 cup spinach
1/4 c olive oil
1 1/2 t oregano
4 T lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup feta cheese

Combine all ingredients. 



And for dessert.....

Greek Lemon Cake

 

3 cups minus 6 T flour

1 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

6 eggs, separated

2 c sugar

1 c softened butter

2 lemons, zested and juiced

1 c Greek yogurt

 

1. Sift together dry ingredients.

2.  Beat egg whited to soft peaks, gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating to stiff peaks.

3. Cream butter and remaining sugar, add yolks and lemon juice and zest.

4.  Add flour alternately with yogurt to the yolk mixture. 

5.  Gently fold in whites.

6.  Pour into greased and floured Bundt or flute pan and bake for 40-45 minutes at 350.

 

Dust with powdered sugar.

 

Here is a wonderful tip for you!  You can make your own powdered sugar using regular white sugar and a coffee grinder!  For this recipe, I threw 2 mint leaves in with the sugar, and the mint powdered sugar topped this cake wonderfully!

 

 

 

Oompa!  And here's to...

 

 

Making It Count!

Bountiful Blunders

 I have participated in Bountiful Baskets for years, for those of you unfamiliar, please visit
www.bountifulbaskets.org and see if they are available in your area. 

Well, this week, I had my first snafu with the website.  Monday, I signed into my account, ordered my basket, went to checkout, and it said "Error: Confirmation Email could not be sent."  Uh-oh, I need my receipt to pick up my basket, so I go back, and I still have my basket in my cart.  To be on the safe side, I check my contribution history to see if it registers my basket for this week, nothing.  All righty, then, checkout again, get my receipt, good to go.  Excited for some fresh produce this weekend, and on with my life I go.

Thursday, I am balancing my accounts and realize that I have 2 charges from Bountiful Baskets.  Ah!  I only got one confirmation email, I bounce over to the site, check my contribution history again, and what do you know, there's 2, time stamped 3 minutes apart.  Palm to head.  Well, what to do now.  I mean we use a lot of fruits and vegetables, but that's ALOT!  I discuss the dilemma with my oh, so interested husband ; )  Should I sell it, keep it, what!?!?  This mostly one-sided brainstorm session ended with me deciding that I will decide later : )  I'll get the baskets, and see if I can freeze some extras, and see what happens.  So, Saturday, I'm getting 2 baskets.

Friday, I'm texting with my mom about our plans for the weekend.  She's super busy, so I offer to pick up her baskets for her, she gets 3 and distributes them around : )  She says, Great, I'll send your brother to help you.  So, Saturday, I'm picking up 5 baskets.

Saturday, basket day, nice, brisk autumn morning.  My brother arrives, we grab our receipts and head out to the pick up site.  We arrive about 10 minutes early and they are already distributing!  What luck!  We get a parking spot up nice and close, don't wanna have to go too far with 5 baskets!

I'm feeling great, smile on my face, "Good morning!'"  Smile is returned, just like always, awesome volunteers, as usual!  Turn in my receipt and they bring me my 2 baskets, boxed up and ready to go.  I stack them, one on top of the other, and am asked, as always, "Do you need some help with that?"  Of course I should take it!  These are lidless, drastically different sized boxes precariously perched on my not so awe-inspiring arms.  "Oh, no, I'm fine.  He has 3." I say, pointing toward my brother.  I smile, thank the helpful volunteer, and head toward the van.  Every step tells me that this is going to end badly.  The boxes get heavier and less stable, as I slowly inch forward, trying to maintain my produce and my dignity.  5 more steps, I'm starting to lose the corner, 4 more steps, I try to readjust my grip...and down goes the corner!  Behind me, I hear a collective gasp, and exclamations of "OH, no!"

I recover quite quickly, side stepping my overturned blackberries in the parking lot as my apples go bouncing away.  I holler over my shoulder, "It's okay!", though it is probably pretty clear that it is not.  I swing the boxes up onto the hood, quickly find a semi-secure hand hold, and finally get them in the van, whew.  I turn around and dash after my apples, as I return to my toppled blackberries, the helpful volunteer and my brother arrive with the other three boxes.  He laughs, she smiles, I say, "IT all came from the dirt, anyway.", and she laughs. 

We make our exit with some good joshing from my brother and a good amount of embarrassment on my part.  These are the days, you just have to laugh. 

 

It was all worth it as I unloaded my boxes at home.  Just as good as Christmas, all of the wonderful healthy ways to use this bounty!  Needless to say, we'll be keeping it all.  I see Borscht in the very near future.  Here's to your health, and...

                                                      Making It Count

Not Your Grandma's Fruitcake

Don't judge a cake by it's name.  This is not your ordinary fruitcake.  Sweet, tart, moist and delicious.  And putting fruit in it makes it healthy...at least that's what I tell myself when I have a slice for breakfast : )

I have a wonderful basic white cake recipe that I use as a base for a lot of experimentation : )  

White Cake


1 1/4 c sugar
1/2 c shortening, butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 c flour
1 t salt
3 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 c milk
1/2 c sour cream

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla.  Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk, then gently fold in sour cream.  Pour in two 9 inch greased and floured cake pans, bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

For the fruitcake, I added orange infused craisens, diced apple and baked in a bundt pan with a cranberry citrus glaze.  You will need:

1 apple:  peeled, cored and diced. 
1 cup dried cranberries
1 orange
powdered sugar

Zest and juice your orange into a small saucepan.  Add dried cranberries and simmer until cranberries regain some of their moisture.  Should only take a few minutes.  Depending on how much juice you get from your orange, you may need to add a couple tablespoons of water.  Take off heat and drain all liquid into a bowl, it should be a gorgeous magenta color, we will use this later for our glaze.

Add cooled cranberries and diced apple to basic white cake mix.  Pour in greased and floured bundt pan, bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Once cooled, add powdered sugar to your orange cranberry juice until it reaches a thick creamy consistency.  Drizzle over cooled cake and enjoy!  Tickle your family's tastebuds with this gorgeous fall cake, and don't forget to...

                                                    Make It Count

Making Minecraft

When my 10 year old told me he wanted to be Steve from Minecraft for Halloween, I figured, how hard could it be!?!?!?  It's just boxes, right..

As many kids his age, my son is obsessed with Minecraft!  When he's not playing it, he's reading books about it, or watching videos of other people playing it.  While it is definitely not my thing, I love his enthusiasm : )

So, with promises of help, I was given pictures and blueprints (because we must be accurate) a pile of cardboard, and a mission!

We started with a head sized box, that I then sewed a baseball cap into so it would sit right.  We cut the other pieces of cardboard to fit his height, so that he would be able to move.  We did one chest piece, two pieces for each arm and two pieces for each leg. 

I measured and marked squares on all of the pieces and then color coded them, so the kids could help me paint.  Keep in mind, that to make it look pixelated, each color you need, you actually need two shades that are close together.  We ended up using 2 browns, 2 flesh tones, 2 light blues, 2 dark blues, black and white.  We just used your basic acrylic paint, and it covered well.

For the sword, I cut out a 1 inch square template, then used that to sketch out the sword.  Then we cut out 2 of the sword shape and glued them back to back and painted them so the sword was 2 sided.

To attach, I secured string to each piece so they could be tied on over his clothes.  The chest piece had a loop that went around his neck, and a belt to tie around his back.

It took much more work than I had anticipated, but I will never forget the look on his face when he finally got to put it all on and look in the mirror!

He told me that this was his favorite costume of all time because it made everyone smile.

These are the moments...

                                                            Making It Count