Soft Pretzel Recipe

I made these today and they are so good I thought I'd repost and share again....

 Find the recipe HERE...
Without a doubt the best soft pretzel recipe I've ever tried.  
They taste like Auntie Anne's pretzels....so don't say I didn't warn you!!!

They are good with Kosher salt too.   
I usually do some salty and some sweet...a great treat on a snowy March day...

Reeses Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies

 A friend of mine was talking about these cookies when we were together the other day...

she found the recipe HERE....

And they are soooooo tasty...

I made  them(without the banana chips) to take to our church group meeting the other night....

Here's the recipe below because these need to be shared people....

3/4 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbsp. honey

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 small box instant vanilla pudding

1 c. chocolate chips

1 c. reeses pieces

1 c. dried banana chips, broken

Instructions

1. In a bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and pudding mix and set aside. In a large mixing bowl cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and honey and beat again. Slowly add the dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips, reeses, and banana chips by hand. (you can leave out the banana chips if you don't like those, or substitute pretzels or chips)
2. Drop by tablespoon onto a baking sheet, leaving 2 inches in between each cookie. Bake at 350* for 10 minutes. Cool on pan for 3-4 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. Store in a tightly covered container.

Homemade Caramel Candies

The end of last week I got to spend the day with some of the best girls in the world!  
My Mom and nieces and two sweet girls that are like sisters to me...we spent the whole day baking and making and it was such a great day.

We tried this for the first time...

Caramel Candy recipe from Martha Stewart
They are amazing!

These white and chocolate covered cherries from one of my mom's recipes...

These chocolate and toffee covered pretzels....
So much yummy stuff!!!

Make Your Own Barn Wood Stain

This is a great example of all things being connected in some way...

  My husband came across this on a message board for hot rods (he reads frequently) where people share all kinds of info with each other.

 The guy who shared it used this to stain some wood for the bed of his truck because he wanted the wood to look like old barn wood. 

And it's SIMPLE--

Vinegar (I used white but I've seen in on pinterest with apple cider vinegar)

Steel wool torn up into pieces

 I don't think the amounts of either really matter but I used about 1/2 of the piece of steel wool and  probably about 1 cup of vinegar.

 He said to let it sit overnight --which is what I did.  The longer you let it sit the darker it gets...

 This was after 2 nights of soaking...the top of the wood is the vinegar stain the bottom half is our walnut stain we used on our dinning room table.

 This is in natural light (vinegar on the right, walnut stain on the left) and that's our treated lumber side steps it's sitting on....just for comparison....

 This is a piece of hard maple and it's pretty smooth...

 I think if you used this on some rough lumber or pallet wood you could get a really nice look....

 I also was expecting the liquid itself to turn dark, but that didn't really happen until a couple of days later.  And the steel wool didn't really disintegrate either, but it darkens the wood as soon as you put it on..

A very cool little trick for getting an aged look on wood that's brand new...

Funnel Cake Recipe

This recipe for homemade funnel cakes is AWESOME!!!!  We made some the other night so I thought I would share.  It's pretty simple although not very "healthy" :)

Ingredients:
1 egg
2/3 cup of milk
2 Tbls of sugar
1 &1/4 cup of flour
1/4 tsp of salt
1tsp baking powder
2 cups of Crisco

1. In a deep skillet heat oil until hot (I use medium high heat on my electric stove)
2. Mix egg and milk in a bowl
3.  In a separate bowl mix all other ingredients
4.  Slowly add dry ingredients to egg mixture beating until smooth
5.  Using a funnel (I use a gallon freezer bag and snip a corner off) drizzle batter starting in the center working outwards in a web pattern
6.  Cook for 2-3 minutes (flipping half way through) or until golden brown and crispy then sprinkle with powdered sugar

Strawberry Freezer Jam

 Oh they taste just as good as they look!!!!

One of my husband's most favorite things in the whole world....

strawberry freezer jam

Which he usually bums off of his sisters.

We had a showing Friday and needed to be out of the house for a few hours anyways....

AND the strawberries were ready to pick this week!!!!

My beautiful son...he had such a great time picking strawberries and hunting for "the BIGGEST strawberry EVER!"

Of which there were many :)

We had a lot of fun...the weather was warm and it was beautiful out...a great place to be on a Friday in May with my family.

We went with the intention of picking a few quarts and ended up with about 13lbs...some of us get a little carried away....

So needless to say my husband had to make a run to the store to buy more sugar, sure jell and canning jars.

We made 23 pints of freezer jam and I have to say it's a pretty easy process...

we followed the instructions in the Sure Jell box

2 cups of hulled, crushed strawberries

4 cups of sugar

1 package of sure jell 

So very worth it!

We've already eaten half of one of our small jars and the rest are stowed away in the freezer....

23 pints should last till next summer but I have this feeling we'll be out much sooner....

Caramel thumbprint cookie recipe

These little goodies are SOOO tasty...recipe below!

 3 Sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 cup sugar

1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs lightly beaten

12 oz sweetened flaked coconut

12 oz caramel candies 

6 Tbls heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Beat together butter & sugar with mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy then beat in vanilla

3. Gradually add flour with mixer on low and 1/2 tsp of table salt, beat to combine

4.  Press dough together in plastic wrap then roll into 1 & 1/4" balls

5.  Dip each in egg and roll in coconut

6.  Place on parchment paper or silicone baking mats and press your thumb into the center

7.  Bake for 20 min. and repress indentions, cool on baking racks

8.  Cook caramels and heavy cream in saucepan over low heat until caramels are melted and mixture is smooth

9.  Spoon mixture into centers of cookies

Auntie Ann's Style soft pretzels

My family loves this recipe....

 They're great with cream cheese or melted cheddar cheese.....

 Sometimes we do cinnamon and sugar which is really yummy....and if we do that I make cream cheese icing with some cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla....

Soft Pretzel Recipe

1. Mix a package of yeast + 1 tsp of sugar with 1 &1/4 cups of warm water and let stand for 10 min.

2. In a large mixing bowl mix: 

~4 cups of flour (5th cup of flour if needed) 

~1/4 cup of sugar

~1 &1/2 tsp of kosher salt

3. Make a well in the center of the ingredients above and add:

~1 melted Tbs of butter

~Yeast mixture from the first step

4. Knead dough until smooth, spray a bowl with cooking spray and flip dough to coat, cover and let rise 1 hour.

5. Dissolve 1/2 cup of baking soda in 4 cups of hot water.

6. Punch down dough then shape dough into desired shape (I usually do bread stick style because they're quick and easy and they bake quicker)

7.  Once you've shaped all your dough dip each one into the baking soda bath then sprinkle with kosher salt OR cinnamon and sugar...

8.  Bake at 420 deg. for 8 min. after removing from the oven brush bread with melted butter

Hot Vanilla recipe

I'm totally addicted to this warm drink.  Hot Chocolate is great but this is a nice change!  Especially if you're a vanilla lover....

1 cup of milk

1tsp. vanilla

sprinkle of nutmeg (to taste)

2Tblsp of sugar

Cut sugar cookie recipe

 Doodlebug and I were eating popsicles on the hammock Sunday and he started talking about "those yummy cookies we cut with those silver things...."

 Mighty has no idea what she's missing yet!  She was entertained by emptying out the cabinets....

 And he actually did a really great job helping...we haven't done this for awhile...funny to see how he's growing up by the difference in how he "helps"

 Of course you have to make powdered sugar icing to go on them...and in COLORS!

 So intent....but he did say "Mom--I'm having a great time!"

This recipe is SOOO good.  Usually sugar cookies that are cut are a little bland...not these!  They are soo tasty!

Sugar Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 cup butter

2 eggs

6 Tblsp. milk

2 tsp vanilla

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Cream together butter and sugars; add eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Beat well.  Sift dry ingredients; add to butter mixture beating well until blended.  CHILL in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.  Roll then cut with cookie cutters.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12minutes.  Yields approx 5 doz. cookies

Buttermilk biscuits

Love this recipe for buttermilk biscuits...

1/2 cup of butter cut into cubes (freeze for 15 min)

2 1/2 cups flour (sifted 2x's)

1 Tbls Baking Powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup + 2 Tbls of buttermilk

OR

1 cup +1 Tbls of milk + 1 Tbls of vinegar

1 Tbls melted butter to brush on top

1. Stir dry ingredients

2.  Cut in butter with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal--you want little bits of butter this is what makes the steam pockets in the dough and makes the biscuits nice and flaky!

3. Stir in buttermilk just until dough forms

4. Knead 3-4 turns on lightly floured suface

5.  Press into a rectangle and cut biscuits with a circle cutter
6.  Brush with melted butter and bake at 475 for 10 min or until golden brown on top

 I think there are two tricks to good biscuits.  The first is to freeze the butter for 15 minutes before mixing it, and the second is to only mix the dough enough to get it mixed.  

Don't overwork it.  I've used buttermilk and I've also used milk with vinegar.  I think both work great.  And I've also found that if you cut them and get them right in oven they turn out better.  If I let them sit too long they end up flat and hard...

Mighty cried through this baking lesson too....bless her heart....

Homemade Cinnamon Bread

One of my favorite childhood memories is my mom's homemade cinnamon bread...

  I was telling Doodlebug the other day that I can remember coming in from playing in the snow to drink hot chocolate and eat fresh baked bread -----

My sister in law over at Red Barn Revival gives us fresh eggs...if you've never used them to bake or cook with before you need to find somewhere to buy fresh eggs!!!!

So of course at the mention of the homemade bread my husband says "uuuuummmmm that sure sounds good...." *translated* "why don't you make us some!"  

Today I decided to try making it....I don't think I've ever made it  before.  I've done cinnamon rolls and we even did some sticky buns at Christmas time.....

 So here we are making bread....Mighty cried through the whole first part of this...maybe if she could EAT the bread she would've enjoyed the making part a little more.....

 Here's Doodlebug "helping"

and then letting it raise

 Soooo worth the wait and work!!!  The kitchen smells wonderful and it actually turned out really tasty! 

I think next time I'll divide the recipe and make two smaller loaves.  And definitely MORE cinnamon and sugar than it called for!!!