Messy

I've spent the day in a whirlwind. First it was a 5-mile run; next, drop off Jakey at violin lessons; take Abram and Aubrey to school; pick up Jake from lesson; take elementary school kids to school; drop off Jake at his bus stop; take Excursion to the body shop to get repaired from the Superbowl incident; wait for rental car guy; come home to meet piano tuner. That was all before 9:30.

Then I got busy cleaning. I'm taking off with the 7 kids for spring break, and Mark will be home alone. Somebody has to pay the bills, right? Anyway, I figured he could at least have a clean house to keep him company while we are gone.

I also decided that Mark will likely want to eat while we are gone, so I baked his 2 favorite treats: banana bread and zucchini muffins. They are both premium, let me tell you. I will post recipes later.

The above picture is what the baked treats looked like sitting on the wire racks cooling. The picture below is what my kitchen sink looked like after I was done with my baking.

Marie Sharps

When we went to Belize, my husband fell in love with Marie Sharp...habanero pepper sauce. One of my favorite pictures from Belize is this one of Mark pushing a shopping cart full of about 50 bottles. What else do you bring home to remind you of La Isla Bonita? Seriously, we checked a whole suitcase full of it when we flew home. Mark puts it on nearly everything. Every restaurant in Belize had it on the table, and he was hooked.

I found a Caribbean shop here that sells it and I bought Mark a case of it yesterday. He is a happy guy. I have never smelled such a horrible stench as the inside of the store, but it was all worth it to see the happy look on Mark's face when he came home and saw Marie.

Now that I know where I can buy Marie Sharp's locally, next time we go to Belize we can pack our suitcases with souvenirs rather than hot sauce. Now I just need to figure out when we are going back. Do we take the kids? Do we leave them home? I really want them to see Belize, but traveling with 7 kids is slightly more work than just going alone. But if I have to make a schedule and meals for those same kids to stay home, and find someone to stay with them, that might be just as much work as lugging them around paradise with us. We'll see what happens.

pretzels of awesomeness

Auntie Anne's

I don't go to the mall very often, but when I do, I can never resist buying a big old pretzel from Auntie Anne's. So buttery and salty delicious. They are Zachary's favorite treat as well. When I take him to the mall with me, he will endure any length of waiting for me in as many stores as I want, because he knows he will get a pretzel when we are finished. He can gobble down an entire giant pretzel by himself.

Last night I was craving said pretzels, but I did not want to drive to the mall to get one. I decided to google, and I found a recipe for them. I printed it and gave it a whirl.

I intended to post a picture of my creations, but they were devoured before I could even say, "Cheese!" So I had to steal a picture from somebody else.

They turned out just as tasty (Aubrey says even better) than the ones from the mall. Give it a try! So delicious. And Savanna is a pro at shaping the pretzels if you need any help.

Abram and Aubrey are having a party tonight, and they requested that I make these for some of the party food. Maybe I can get a real picture tonight. This recipe only makes 12, which is a problem if you have 7 kids and they each want 2 of them--and so does their mom. Next time I will double.

Auntie Anne's Pretzels
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour

2 cups Warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda

to taste coarse salt
4 tablespoons butter (melted)

Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flours and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Toppings: after you brush with butter, sprinkle with coarse salt. Or for Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!

*The longer and thinner you can make the dough rope, the more like Auntie Anne's they will be.