Yeah

My soul..

I love you with a force like the ocean, the size of space..
~JDH

Tea

We had tea this afternoon in the greenhouse. It was sunny and warm in there. Maybe 65 or so which sure beats the 40 it was outside! I also made scones to go with it. They were delicious! I love scones and they are so easy to make. I had to beat the youngest off with a stick though..he would have eaten them all had I let him.


This is my grandmother's favorite tea set. I do not have the teapot though. I'm not sure if she ever did either. I'm on the hunt for it now! I also want Aunt Martha's silver tray that Daydreamer is holding hostage. I realized how desperately I wanted it today when the youngest and I made 47 million trips to the greenhouse with the teapot, teacups, saucers, serving plates, etc. You reading this, Sis? ;)


Later after the sun went down, we started a fire in the wood stove that resides in the greenhouse. Cozy! The youngest asked if we could eat dinner out there so we dragged all that out there too.



All in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday!

Omelette Love

Omelet or omelette? The American spelling is omelet but I tend to spell it omelette.

*love*

My parents ready for the Emmy's 1968. How totally awesome is Mom's dress!! OMG *LOVE* And my dad *swoon*! Siiiiggggghhhh! Thanks, sis, for scanning this in!

Pretzels!

We used this recipe, Homemade Soft Pretzels by Alton Brown. Recipe below.

Youngest trying to figure out how to roll out the dough.

Help from dad..

Success! Heart shaped pretzel from my sweet boy :)

Before the water bath.

Water bath.

After the water bath.. waiting for the oven.
A little pretzel mishap on that cookie sheet.. oops!

Success!!! I also made Mornay sauce with extra sharp cheddar to dip our pretzels in *drool*

Homemade Soft Pretzels Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2007
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt

Directions

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Serious stuff

I'm surprised so many people are unaware what SOPA/PIPA is. Sure, you've heard of it and you sort of maybe know. You try to google but there are 845834593857984 hits. This video is the best video I've seen on breaking it down so it's understandable for, well, people like me. Please watch. It's only 15 minutes long.