April 26 is National Pretzel Day—who knew there was such a holiday?!

So in honor of National Pretzel Day here is a blast from the past (May 2008!)

Homemade Soft Pretzels

We followed a recipe that promised Aunt Annie’s Pretzels-like from the mall.  They weren’t exactly Aunt Annie’s but not too bad either.  I used white whole wheat flour for ours-white flour definitely would have been better.  Ours were really heavy.  And as far s the amount this recipe makes-unless you are feeding an army cut this recipe in half as this makes at least a dozen pretzels and they don’t save well.

Aunt Annie’s Soft Pretzel Recipe

In a large bowl combine 1 1/2 tsp live active yeast with 1 1/2 cups 110 degree water, 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar and dash of salt.  Let sit 5 minutes

Add 4 cups flour mix well and knead for 5 minutes

Put in greased bowl and cover with damp towel and let sit 1 hour in a warm place.

Divide into 8 to 12 pieces -we divided into 16 pieces-and they were still pretty thick.

Roll into rope and shape , dip into 1/4 cup warm water that has 1 tablespoon baking soda mixed in.

Bake at 500 degrees for 8 minutes

Brush liberally with melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt or 2 tablespoons mixed with melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar or parmesan cheese and garlic salt and serve with marinara sauce.

Mmmmmmmm!

I love Indian food. Like really love it!! And I love chai tea. I have tried several kinds at several different places. My favorite at home is celestial seasonings decaf chai and my favorite out at a coffee shop is at Global Gallery where they grind their own spices. Mmm it’s really spicy.

Today has been a rainy chilly day here in Columbus — a perfect day for tea.

I have two Indian cookbooks checked out of the library right now that are fantastic!

INDIAN HOME COOKING by Suvir Saran and  Stephanie Lyness and INDIA WITH PASSION by Manju Malhi  The chai recipe came from the latter.

chai ka masala     spiced tea

3-4   1 1/8 inch cinnamon sticks or cassia bark

6 cloves

4 black peppercorns

6 green carmamoms  seeds only

1 black cardamom, seeds only (optional)

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp ground ginger

Dry roast all but ginger for 2 minutes

Cool  Add ginger and grind to a fine powder

cool completely and store in airtight container in dark place up to 6 months

add a pinch when brewing tea  1/4 tsp flavors 2 cups of tea

add to boiling water pot of tea and milk

I found my frother–it made all the difference

OOps I see it’s been a week since I last posted. We have been busy skiing, cooking and eating and trying out some new homeschool classes. I have been spending way too much time in front of the computer changing email addresses and joining a new blog group (more on that soon).  I hope to post more projects in the coming weeks.

We have been eating this for breakfast and dessert this week. It tastes like a home baked treat but really it is healthy enough to enjoy any time of the day. Or even multiple times!

Apple Crumble

You will need a 9×13 pan and about 10 apples

In a food processor puree 1/2 cup of raisins (I used 1/2 dates and 1/2 raisins), 2 lbs apples (about 10 small apples) with skin on, 1 tsp cinnamon

Line the pan with this mixture

For the crumble process 4 oz almonds, 5 oz pecans, 4oz oat groats soaked 8 to 12 hrs and 2-3 oz honey or agave. Add more dry oats if this is too wet.

Crumble over top of apples.

For the banana ice cream break up 4 frozen bananas into the food processor and blend until they reach a creamy consistency. This will take a while so be patient.

We added 1/2 a scraped pod of vanilla beans and a few squares of dark chocolate for chocoalte chip ice cream. Even my picky, junk food loving, husband like this ice cream!

I have seen many different additions to this ice cream–chia seeds, nuts, fruit–frozen or dried, carob powder or almond butter. I think next time I will add some mint leaves to make a mint chocolate chip.

This ice cream is really smooth and creamy and the banana flavor is not overwhelming at all.

I swear to heaven above that these really do taste like Sour Patch Kids. Only they are a little more healthy!

I saw this recipe on local, Columbus blogger Rachel’s,  Hounds in the Kitchen. I knew right away that I would love this sweet and Oh, so sour concoction!! And boy was I right! I barely have any enamel left on my teeth after eating almost a whole bag of these sugary, sour goodies.

You will need to mix :

2 T of honey with 2 T of hot water in a bowl. To that add grated orange peel, 1/2 t cinnamon (more or less)  and 1 teaspoon (more or less)  vanilla extract.

Rinse a bag of cranberries and add to the bowl, mixing to coat.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment and pour a mix of 1 to 2 cups of powder sugar and granulated sugar.

With a slotted spoon, add cranberries to the sugar mix and coat well.  Let sit about 30 minutes or until sugar hardens. Store in a jar for 3 to 4 days. I didn’t use a slotted spoon so  mine are still drying since this morning. But that didn’t stop me from eating them all day!!!

Looking for a healthy breakfast cereal? Looking for a handmade gift? Homemade granola fits both bills! Store bought granola can be expensive and often unhealthy, but making a large batch at home can save you some money as well as allowing you to customize the ingredients.

We made two different granola recipes in the past few weeks. Both are really good and when put in a pretty jar make a great holiday gift.

The first recipe is taken from a new favorite cook book of mine, FEEDING THE WHOLE FAMILY

MAPLE BUTTER NUT GRANOLA

Makes 8 cups

Pre-heat 325

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 Tablespoon nut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients

In a small pan melt buter, add maple syrup, and nut butter and stir to blend. Remove from heat and add extracts

Slowly pour wet over dry ingredients.  Fold and evenly coat dry ingredients

Spread on cookie sheet or shallow pan and bake until dry and golden-45 to 60 minutes, turning every 15 to 20 minutes so that it toasts evenly.

I added some of this to a bowl of pomegranate seeds and literally thought I had died and gone to heaven!!! No milk necessary.

The next day I added dry coconut and a banana to my bowl of granola/pomegranate. Equally delicious!

The kids had theirs parfait style. (In a tall glass, layered with frozen fruit and almond or coconut milk)

The second recipe is from the files of Abby, who swears she doesn’t know where she got this recipe.

MIX AND MATCH APPLESAUCE GRANOLA

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

2 cups puffed rice cereal

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

pinch ground cardamom (don’t skip this!!)

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup plain applesauce

1/4 cup maple syrup or honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

up to 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds…..)

up to 1 cup chopped dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, apricots, cherries, blueberries, raspberries…….)

Pre-heat 325 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (or two smaller ones)

In a large bowl combine oats, cereal and spices. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla.

Pour wet over dry, adding nuts and stir to combine.

Spread on baking sheet in an even layer

Bake 30 minutes, turning over and baking 15 more minutes or until golden brown

This recipe was great for snacking. It was more clumpy than the first recipe. The cardamom really gives this one a warm taste.

You can find some cute glass containers at the grocery or the thrift store. Add a pretty label with the recipe and you have a wonderful handmade inexpensive gift that anyone would love to receive!

This was a fun and fairly simple recipe to make and because it uses rapid rise yeast, they don’t take hours to prepare. And the results were delicious!!!

I suppose these aren’t “real” bagels because we didn’ t boil them-but the recipe (on tattered piece of paper from unknown origin) calls these bagels. So……….

Pumpkin Bagels

4 1/4 to 4 3/8 cups all purpose flour, divided

1 package quick rise all natural active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (120-130 degrees)

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast. Add the warm water, pumpkin, sugar and salt.

Beat with a mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes.

Using a spoon stir in as of the remaining flour as you can.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.

Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic-about 5 minutes.

Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside ( or use parchment paper)

Divide the dough into 10 portions.

Real life math!

Shape each portion into a smooth ball.

Poke a hole into the center of each ball and pull to make a 2 inch hole.

Place on prepared cookie sheet. Cover and let rise 20 minutes. Pre heat oven to 375

Bake for 25 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

While you are waiting for your bagels to cook you can make your maple butter and honey butter.

For the maple butter just combine maple syrup to taste with softened butter in your mixer using whisk attachment. Whip it up  and store in the fridge so that it doesn’t separate-if it does just stir it up again. (maybe 3/4 stick of butter to 1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup) again more or less to taste.

For the honey butter we mixed about 3/4 stick of butter with 1/4 to 1/2 cup honey, a few drops of vanilla, and a shake of cinnamon in the mixer. More or less to taste.

When your bagels are finished baking-smear lots of these sweet, creamy butters on your warm bagels and enjoy!!!

The recipe made 10 bagels…enough for us to have homemade pumpkin bagels and maple and honey butter again this morning!!

After dinner we made  quick batch of Pumpkin Pie Playdough. This is not only a super easy recipe but it turns out great every time. Not too sticky and not too dry! And smells great too. The color and spice combo could be switched up as needed. Store in a plastic bag or covered container.

Mix together in  pan:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 teaspoons cream of tarter

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Then add:

1 Tablespoon oil

1 cup water with 6 drops red food coloring and 15 drops of yellow food coloring added

cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until playdough forms into a ball and pulls away from the sides.

Dump out on to table and let cool a bit before playing with it.

Yes-this is the same recipe we made last year!