I like Pretzels, Do You?

Last year just before Easter I was doing some blog browsing and learned from different places that pretzels are a traditional easter treat. I had never heard that before and I thought the stories to come up with that were quite interesting. The main one I remember was, Monks a long, long time ago would give pretzels to children to tell them the story Jesus hanging on the cross. Who knows if that is true but I enjoy trying to make things I have never made before, so I found a recipe and tried it. We like it and here it is for you to try. By coincedence the friend's house we shared our Easter dinner at last year served large chocolate covered pretzels as an afterdinner snack . So I shared my new found knowledge with her, she had, had no idea she was keeping a long held tradition :) Without further ado I give you my Pretzel recipe: 1/2 cup warm water 1 teaspoon honey 1 cup milk- warm 1Tablespoon brown suagr 1 Tablespoon yeast 3 cups whole wheat 1 cup all purpose flour 1 1/4 teaspoons salt Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and knead until dough is elastic. Add a little more flour if needed. Let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. 8 cups water 4 Tablespoons baking soda Bring water to a boil in a large pot and add baking soda. On a lightly oiled work surface, divide dough into 12 even peices. With your palms roll each piece into a long rope about 20 inches. Shape into pretzel shape by curving each end toward the center and overlapping them. Secure each end by pressing firmly. Place shaped pretzels in boiling water and let boil one or two at a time for about 30 seconds. Remove from water with a slatted spoon that drains well. Place on greased or lined baking sheets. Repeat process until all pretzels have been boiled. Brush tops of pretzels with: 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tablespoon water Sprinkle tops with salt and parmesan cheese, or cinnamon & sugar (our family favorite), or just plain old coarse salt. Bake in a 450* oven for 12 -14 minutes or until golden brown.

So whether you wish to make them as a tradition or just because you like to feed your family very yummy foods you really ought to try my pretzel recipe!

~Anna

Rice Pancakes from Kenya

If you are looking for a gluten free recipe this is a pretty good one. We weren't needing gluten free but when we study a country we try to find recipes from there and this one is from Kenya. I didn't follow the recipe perfectly but I am sure it was fairly authentic:) This recipe came from the book, Cooking the African Way. One thing I was surprised about as we found recipe's for this study they often used more than twice the amount of oil that I would for a similar dish. It wasn't just this book either, although we mainly just tried this books recipes. They turned out a very pretty pancake :) Here is the recipe: 1 Tablespoon yeast 1 cup warm water 1 cup sugar (decreased it by just over half and they were still quite sweet) 2 3/4 cups rice flour 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon 1/4 cup canned coconut milk (I used whole milk, since I didn't have this. I also increased this to make up for the decrease in oil ) 1/2 cup vegetable oil ( used 1/4 cup or less of canola) 1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast, sugar, cardamon and a dash of salt. Add warm water, oil and coconut milk and mix well. It should be the consistency of pancake batter. If you need more water add just a little at a time, until batter runs slowly from the spoon. 2. Cover bowl with a towel and set in a warm place for about an hour or until mixture nearly doubles in size. 3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high heat for 1 minute. 4. Pour 1/2 cup of batter into pan and spread with a spoon to form a pancake the size of a saucer. Cover pan and cook for about 1-2 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Flip over with spatula and cook on the other side another minute or until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter adding more oil to pan as necessary. 5. Serve hot with a bit of jam. This makes about 10 pancakes. Happy frying, ~Anna

Making Aprons

Margaret and I designed a couple of aprons this week. We have some friends getting married tomorrow. They are older and have established homes so I didn't figure they needed the things someone just beginning would need. Last week, after much contemplation by Margaret, I decided matching aprons, hot pads and a scone mix would be just what they needed, that I could do. Because Cindy's left side doesn't function I thought it might be handy to not need to tie the back of her apron. So I crisscrossed straps from bib top to waist on either side. I like the way it turned out I just hope it fits her ok. She is a little smaller than I am so I think we are good. I haven't been sewing as much as I would like to. My list is getting quite long with the items that need sewn. So I am really happy this actually got done. It was a lot of fun to work with the girls on this to.

Khufu's Tomb

Up high on the Giza strip looking down on Pharaoh Khufu's pyramid:

Actually you can't look down on his pyramid because it is the tallest structure around! In fact, it was the tallest in the world until the Eiffel Tower was built in 1887.

The original pyramid of Khufu was built about 4,550 years ago. Harrison just built this one last week.

~Anna

P.S. Isn't it kinda cute how Gregory took this picture through another magnetics? I like the effect it has.

Supper time Jokes

Last night at the dinner table we had quite the comedians. Beatrice started because there was salad dressing on the table with

What made the tomato red?

~because he saw the salad dressing!

Knock, knock,

Who is there?

~lettuce

Lettuce who?

~lettuce in it's cold out here!

Nahum, Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?

~He didn't have enough guts!

Harrison, Why did the headless Horseman cross the road?

~to get to the cemetery!

Travis, Why is there a fence around a graveyard?

~because people are dieing to get in!

One last one,

What time is it when the clock strikes 13?

~time to get the clock fixed!

Oh, there was a plethora of lovely ones that have slipped my memory but you get the picture. It was an entertaining meal!

May all your dining experiences be as fun,

~Anna

Sunny Days

This week we have been blessed with some amazingly beautiful sunshiny days. It just calls you to come out and enjoy the lovely warm rays. So we did.

Tuesday we went over to Cottage Grove and went sledding with some dear friends of ours on a hill near their place. It is a little longer than our hill and kids had made jumps in different places along it. Travis enjoyed the jumps. He and Beatrice went over them many, many times. I avoided them. Gregory and I were a sledding team, we didn't ever use the same sled but we tried to go at the same time always. Margaret hit a jump just wrong and ended up with a sore back and bum for the rest of the evening. I was worried she might not sit well for awhile but it seemed to be better by morning. Today we went out on our hill. There was a slick surface from back when it rained on the snow at the top of the hill so the kids called it their luge. It went pretty fast and they rode their sleds in the appropriate manner of course.

Harrison tends to be a pretty cautious snowboarder. Wanting the conditions to be just right, nice fluffy snow. He decided to give it a try anyhow on the luge since we have been watching some Olympic events in the evenings. He made it to the bottom of the hill and beyond standing tall! I can only make it half way down standing on the snowboards. It is very disappointing, and I only try on the softer, slower snow.

We watched the women's skeleton this evening. It brought a lot of wonderful memories back to me of runner sledding down the road. I wish my kids could have that sort of fun. For hours at night going up and down that hill. I never let my kids play out that long by themselves, I worry to much and that road isn't usable for sledding now either, they keep it far to sanded. Better to drive on I know but it ruins the fun. Oh well. Tubing and basic plastic sleds are great fun too.

Unfortunately I took no pictures this week so these are from earlier times this winter.

Corndogs, My way!

I have always loved corndogs, I think. I certainly have for the last 12 years or so. Back when I was a working out of the home woman and I bought more fast food type things I would buy corndogs individually packaged at Sam's and take them to work for my lunch. People would comment on my funny lunch, but that is what I liked. Now once in awhile I see them in the store and think about buying them but my practical side always says, No! so I don't but then a couple weeks ago I had an epiphany. I will make my own. Here is how I do it and we all like them a lot except for Beatrice who told me the other day "when I have kids I won't make them eat corndog muffins". So I guess she doesn't like them. So the recipe is: 6 Hot dogs cut in half ( the type of hotdogs you use really makes a difference to how many you need) If they are the longer type you probably can cut them into thirds) The breading: 1cup whole wheat flour 1cup corn meal 4 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoons salt 1-2 eggs (beaten) 1 cup milk 3tablespoons oil 3 tablespoons butter The method: Turn on the oven to 425*. Slice the butter evenly into 12 muffin tins. Melt the butter in the oven.

Mix dry ingredients altogether in a large bowl. Add egg, milk, and oil and mix it all up. Pour batter into prepared muffin tins about 1/3 full. Place 1/2 hotdog into each tin. Cover each hotdog with more batter.

Bake for 12- 15 minutes until golden brown and firm in the center.

Serve them with ketchup, potato wedges and spinach. A wonderful meal for sure :) You can use your favorite cornbread recipe and it will be just grand I am sure. For our family I double this recipe.

Happy baking,

~Anna

Happy Valentines Day!

~♥Anna♥

African Music and the way things are around here

There was a fog watch for around here last night and when we woke up this morning it was still rather foggy. When the fog left it was a white world from all that moisture in the air. The trees as we were driving were really beautiful! We are studying Africa for a few weeks in our schoolwork, the kids and I. So I was excited to find out that the Rice St. Library was hosting a guy from Ghana who was a master drummer. He teaches African music at Macalaster College, I guess. Three of his past students were there to help him out with the music. It is neat music, but a little is all I need. The beat is hard on my sensitive head. I liked it when he sang. The songs he sang too were more mellow than sometimes when I hear this type of music. When the guys joined him they had a very nice harmony. The kids were asked to come up to do a game. It seemed like it was basically the song Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes. That is the action that they did with some words that we repeated over and over, quicker and quicker. It is hard to say what we were saying as I am not in tune with any of the 50 languages they speak in Ghana. Well one of them I am which is English but that isn't what he used for this game. Something I found interesting is they purposely make the xylophones have a buzzy sound by drilling holes in the gourds that hang under each wooden slat of the xylophone. After they drill the hole they put spider sac material over the hole to seal it. They are really pretty instruments, the drums to. Henry got shorn today. His hair was past due for a trim, and getting very matted around where his collar belongs. Travis and he are getting better and better at the job, don't you think?

To go along with the study of Africa we are trying to eat the proper ethnic foods. Today for supper we had Kuku. A delicious tangy chicken stew from Kenya (that is what is says in the cookbook).

Blessings to YOU,

~Anna

Bowling

Thursdays for the month of February Harrison, Margaret, Beatrice and Gregory are learning the fine art of bowling. One of the moms in our home school group set it up. This week the manager of the bowling alley we are using did give them a few tips before they got started throwing that ball. Last week was the first time Gregory bowled in real life and I think he was a little surprised at how it went. He can get quite a number of strikes on the Wii, but not so in the real game. Margaret felt pretty happy with how that one went down :)

Because He Lives!

~Anna

Happy Birthday Wilson Bentley

We had a Birthday Party for Snowflake Bentley today.

He would have been 145 today. His life's passion was snowflakes.

Their many intricacies were very fascinating to him. So in honor of him we,

made snowflakes ourselves! Naturally, we read a book together about Willie. It is a fun book that you might like to read also called Snowflake Bentley. We also made indoor snowmen! Working hard building just the right man. This one is a soldier.

A close up of the soldier.

You have to work fast or you have a puddle instead of a snowman.

Also to honor him we scooped our driveway, again.

Wilson Bentley took amazing pictures of snowflakes. He was the one who discovered that there are not two snowflakes alike. He spent all his winters trying to capture as many flakes as he could.

A pretty interesting guy.

Tomorrow has several more amazing people's birthday's on it. I don't think we will have time for a celebration of them though. To bad.

Blessings to you,

~Anna

Rumpledoodles

Have you ever had a Rumpledoodle?

Well, neither had I until a few years ago.

When this young lady watched a Pooh movie and decided we really needed to

try the recipe at the end which they said was Pooh's most favorite food other than Honey.

It turns out that it is one of our favorite cookies, too.

So here, is our recipe for Rumpledoodles!

1 cup rolled oats (I didn't have rolled oats yesterday when I made them and used just plain old oatmeal and they turned out just fine)

1 cup sugar

1 cup flour (I use whole wheat)

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup raisins (I used craisins this time and you couldn't tell any difference from when I use raisins, at least Margaret told people they were raisins and I didn't tell them otherwise because they don't like Craisins in their food very well)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix all of this together well in a large bowl. Then add

3 tablespoons molasses

1/2 cup oil

3 tablespoons boiling water

1 egg

beaten all together.

Mix all of the ingredients together. The mix will be dry and crumbly but that is the way it is. Don't worry.

Heat your oven to 350*. Place tablespoonfuls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. You might have to kind of squish the mix together to get it to stay in cookie shapes on the pan.

I did anyways.

Bake them for approximately 10 minutes. Once they are set and getting a little crunchy on the edges is just about a perfect time to remove them from the oven.

Let the cookies cool on the pan for a minute and them remove.

They make an excellent accompaniment to a cup of coffee!

Let me know if your family likes them as much as mine does.

~Anna

Beanie Babies

It all started when Beatrice checked out 10 or so Berenstain Bear books from the library. When I was reading this one to the kids I realized they were talking about Beany Babies and I reminisced to them how people really were quite crazy about these silly little toys while I was pregnant with Harrison. It was fun remembering.

Now for two days these creatures have been attending church faithfully. They are learning to bow their heads when the preacher prays and learning many songs. See the guy at the hockey puck is the minister on his stage. The crew all lined up on the carpet is the congregation.

Peace,

~Anna

the Proper Way to scoop a Drive

First, you find a large scoop. Then, you find your sister. Offer to give her a ride and give her a smaller shovel.

Tell, her to push down hard to pry up any bits of packed down snow and gently, slowly, gradually push your shovel along the way. Work diligently for twice as long as it might take otherwise, but know that you will have twice the fun.

Smile from the pleasure of a job well done :)

Happy thoughts to you,

~Anna

Princess

I present to you,

Bea in her princess room.

It has kept her very busy planning and decorating

that is for sure!