Is it bad that the most elementary recipes are my favorites? And by elementary I mean recipes for the foods I used to eat in elementary school…like these cheesy soft pretzels.
One of my friends recently asked for some kid-friendly recipe suggestions and these pretzels were the first thing to cross my mind. And once this favorite childhood recipe popped into my head, it wouldn’t go away. So I just had to ask my sister for the recipe and make them this past weekend.
I made a few tweaks to the recipe. First, I used orange-colored cheddar cheese. As a native Vermonter, orange cheddar is the strangest thing to me. But for some reason I was compelled to buy and use it. I guess I thought that orange cheese would make the pretzels look a little bit more fun. I also doubled the size of each pretzel, making them big and fluffy.
I think this recipe would be the perfect substitute for a dinner roll at an informal dinner party. Or, they could be the perfect football party snack. Here’s how you can make them…
Cheesy Soft Pretzels (printable version)
makes 8 large pretzels
(original recipe)
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups flour
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
2 TBS butter, softened
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
Coarse salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix all ingredients except egg and coarse salt in medium bowl with fork until soft dough forms. Smooth dough gently into ball on floured board. Knead 10 times and divide the dough in half.
Start with one half of the dough and roll it into a rectangle that is about 10×5 inches. Cut rectangle lengthwise into four even strips. Repeat with the next half of the dough.
Fold each strip lengthwise in half; pinch edges to seal.
Twist each strip into pretzel shape. Place seam down on greased cookie sheet.
Beat egg in small bowl with fork until blended. Brush pretzels with egg.
Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden brown. (If you want thinner pretzels, roll each rectangle to 12×8 inches and cut into 8 strips of dough.)
Really, is there anything that is much better than bread and cheese? These pretzels offer the best of both and are super good when served fresh out of the oven. Enjoy!
You can get my attention pretty quickly if you use the word “dare” or “challenge.” Apparently I’m a little bit competitive. So when Living with Lindsay tempted me with her 5 Dollar Challenge, I couldn’t say no.
What is the 5 Dollar Challenge? Well, Lindsay has dared us all to go the dollar stores of our choice, pick out $5 worth of merchandise and create a spring decor item for our homes. Doesn’t that sound like fun? I’ve yet to make my trip to the dollar store for inspiration, but in the meantime, I’ve taken a stroll across the world wide internets to see if anything strikes my fancy. I’m hoping some of the following finds will fuel my search…
Like these framed coasters…
…or this tin can herb garden…
…or maybe a nice fresh wreath to replace my tired looking winter door swag (which blew off in a recent wind storm)…
I’m feeling like this will be the time for me to delve into the copy of Martha Stewart’s Encylopedia of Crafts that I scored back at Christmas!
So, are you up for the challenge, too? Anyone can participate and you don’t have to have a blog! Here are some of Lindsay’s ground rules:
- Create a new Spring decor item for your home using only $5 worth of items purchased at a dollar store – i.e. Dollar Tree, Dollar Store, Everything’s $1.00, etc. The $5 does not include sales tax.
- You may use the following supplies if you already have them on-hand – paint, glue, paper, fabric, tools.
- On or before March 25th, post a tutorial for your new craft on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, you can email your photos and written tutorial to Lindsay.
Want all the other nitty gritty details? Just head on over to Lindsay’s blog. Be sure to tell her if you are participating and feel free to tell her that I sent you!
Good luck and happy crafting!
(Photo sources here, here and here.)
I had a new brand of perfume this week: eau d’onion.
You see, I made caramelized onions on Wednesday night for this green bean dish. I might have had the heat a bit too high, because the onions did blacken a bit more than caramelize. The smoke detectors might have gone off. (But the onions still tasted good, I swear!)
I was regretting my menu choice when I got to work the next morning and all I could smell was onions. Somehow the onions seemed to permeate every fiber of my clothing, every strand of my hair and every skin cell on my hand (despite the fact that I was freshly showered and wearing clean clothes from my closet).
I emailed Chris about my issue; here’s how the conversation went:
Me: I smell like onions today.
Chris: Me too!!! Yuck! [you know it is serious when he uses exclamation points]
Me: Do you??? Do you think our whole house smells? [you know I'm worried when I use lots of question marks]
Chris: Totally. My co-workers even said so. I can smell it. No more onions. Caramelized or otherwise.
Me: That is so bizarre.
Chris: Not really when you think about the fact that we had an onion inferno in our kitchen…
Onion inferno? Really? Maybe he was right because I returned home from work and class 12 hours later to a house that still smelled a lot like caramelized/blackened onions.
A little Google research resulted in an all-natural home-freshening method that goes something like this:
Add a tablespoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of nutmeg to a pot of water
Add oranges, lemons, or any citrus you have on hand.
Boil until your house smells good.
And your house will smell good. In fact, it will smell amazing…kind of like orange spice tea. I might try this on a regular basis, even when I don’t burn onions.
Do you have any home freshening solutions? Do share, as we all know this won’t be the last time I burn something smelly.
In addition to painting this past weekend, our budget bathroom makeover made some serious steps forward.
You might remember that our initial design plan featured some pretty, modern curtains a focus point. Let’s be honest, with that linoleum and eye-sore of a vanity, we needed to draw the attention elsewhere…like up to the ceiling and over to the window AND the shower curtain!
I was initially just planning to use a plain white shower curtain, but I loved the idea of extending the look of the curtains over to the shower. So, surprise, surprise…I added a DIY shower curtain to the mix!
After painting the walls the nice grey-blue shade of Behr’s Pensive Sky, I pulled out the sewing machine and got to work. You’ll have to forgive the fact that I haven’t gotten very good at photographing while sewing. Truth be told, I get going so focused when I’m sewing that I forget about all of you. Maybe when I get better at sewing you can have some pictures. Deal?
I tackled the window panels first. Knowing that I would simply use the curtain clips (I love that look) I used the same process as I did with my white guest room panels, which goes something like this:
- Determine the desired finished width of each panel and cut the fabric at least 1.5 inches wider (for seam allowances). Make sure your fabric is about a foot longer than what you want your finished panel to be.
- One long edge at a time, fold over the raw edge (about 1/4 inch) and press well. Then, fold this edge over one more time, so that it looks nice and finished. (Be sure to use the steam setting on your iron and the edge will pretty much stay in place.)
- Then, focus on the top edge. Fold this one over about 1 inch the first time, then 2 inches the second time. Sew straight across the top and everything will stay in place for the moment.
- Next, hang your curtain on the clips. Fold the bottom of the fabric to your desired length and mark accordingly. Go back to your iron and press as needed, following the same steps as the top. Sew across the bottom and call it good!
- (If you have flimsy fabric, you will probably need to sew along all four edges.)
When you’re all done, admire how nice the fabric looks against the freshly-painted wall and new bamboo shade.
I was pretty tired at this point on Sunday evening, but I decided to forge forward.
I knew that I wanted to use my remaining 18 inches of fabric on either side of the shower curtain to mimic the window treatments, but I wasn’t sure what to use for the white fabric. Well, as luck would have it, I found a beautiful high-thread-count flat white sheet (twin sized) at Goodwill while I was trolling for other finds. It was perfect (after laundering, of course)!
I cut the fabric into two panels and, with right sides together, sewed one on each side of the sheet. I folded/pressed the fabric at the top and bottom and sewed across so that the seams matched up with those on the sheet. Some hemming was required, so I used the same technique as the curtains (hanging, folding, marking sewing.)
I had searched throughout our little rural Maine town for some ceiling mounted hardware for the curtains (like these), but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I contemplated ordering them online, but for $5.00 I got two brushed nickel rods at Lowe’s and mounted them as close to the ceiling as possible. The finished result isn’t as sleek as I imagined, but pretty close!
Of course, when you peek inside, the regular fabric liner is hung at a normal height.
In case you need help deciding how much of an improvement this is, let’s compare the before and after pics.
Here we have the before:
And after:
I’m dying to know what you think, so let’s hear it! Are you like my husband and think that maybe the floor-to-ceiling fabric is a little overwhelming? Do you think I should split the shower curtain so that it opens in the middle? Or, do you like it just the way it is?
Psst…I’ve you’ve missed any part of this on-going makeover, be sure to check out the previous posts! And stay tuned, because there is much more to come!
This post is linked up to:
Want to see how I went from this…
…to this?
I can’t say I blame you.
Just head on over to the Goodwill of Northern New England site where I am guest blogging from time to time about my Goodwill finds!
I’m back with another review of one of The Pioneer Woman’s world famous recipes. I happened to catch P-Dub on TV last week where she was making her cinnamon rolls. I decided then and there that they would finally be on our weekend menu. The question is, could I succeed at making them as well as she does?
It would include another battle with yeast, after all.
Based on these two pictures, you would think that I did okay.
Not too bad considering I totally forgot to add the baking soda, baking powder and salt to the dough. Oops.
I also clearly rolled my dough out way too thin. Here you can compare my pre-baked rolls to P-Dub’s:
Erin's just-rolled cinnamon buns
The Pioneer Woman's picture perfect cinnamon rolls (photo courtesy of P-Dub)
The Pioneer Woman is clearly a superior photographer and cinnamon roll roller.
Despite my follies, my rolls cooked up nicely.
…and improved ten-fold when I added the to-die-for-easy-to-make maple icing.
Do you know what my favorite thing about this recipe is? It’s not the gooey frosting, the cinnamon goodness, or even the insane amount of butter…
Nope, it’s the dough…yeast and all…which tastes super delicious. While eating the rolls (yes, I had more than one), I couldn’t help focus on how the dough was the perfect balance to the gooey goodness. I think I would have been happy eating the dough on its own.
And, for the record, can I just say that I think that bread yeast might be warming up to me. We actually might be friends soon. Okay, maybe just acquaintances, but we’re making progress!
Have you tried The Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon roll recipe? If so, were you as bad of a roller as me? If not, you should probably hop over to P-Dub’s blog to print the recipe and head straight to your kitchen!
Psst…want to check out my other Pioneer Woman recipe reviews? How about my battle with bread yeast? Enjoy!
I spent all day yesterday in the bathroom. Painting, of course. And while the weather was grey outside, I didn’t mind spreading some of Behr’s Pensive Sky all over the formerly sunshiney walls.
I’m putting the after picture first, because I can.
Much better than before, right?
Once I get the cabinets/mirror painted I will really be feeling better!
Because I heard such rave reviews about Behr’s Ultra Premium Plus from Kim at NewlyWoodwards (her kitchen looks amazing), I decided the bathroom was a perfect place to give it a try. This product is a paint and primer all in one, which boasts a nearly full coverage after only one coat. So, I was ready to zip through my room.
Unfortunately the sunshiney yellow gave the Ultra Premium Plus for its money. The paint definitely did not want to stick to the previous homeowners’ choice of satin finish. If I wasn’t careful when cutting in around the doors and vanity, my brush would wipe off the paint that I had just put on!
After a few trials and error (I even tried sanding the yellow paint), I found that I needed to put on a super thin coat first, let it dry completely, and then use a nice thick coat. Two coats on all the required cutting-in meant that my quick project took a good portion of the day…
All of that being said, I do think this brand of paint would be my first choice if I were painting on new drywall, or even on a flat paint. I know this because when I got lazy and paint ended up on the ceiling, it did not come right off. In fact, it did not come off at all!
On the plus side, this paint is so thick that if it drips on the floor or trim, it chips right off. We DIY, we learn, right? And either way, we have much better looking walls in our first floor bathroom!
Have you tried the new Behr paint? What do you think of the new color? We are getting much closer to the complete budget bathroom makeover reveal!
Psst…I’ve you’ve missed any part of this on-going makeover, be sure to check out the other posts! And stay tuned, because there is much more to come!
Those of you who entered the Stonewall Kitchen giveaway had me laughing. Forty-six of you were super creative about your JAM ON responses, and I couldn’t be more pleased. What was clear as day is that all of you are passionate about your jam, and most of you are passionate about Stonewall Kitchen. I can’t say I blame you.
So, who won? Well, random.org surprised me yet again by picking the very last commenter (you might remember that last time commenter #1 won!). Lucky #46 is Steff who is a huge Stonewall fan. She even admits to visiting the Portland, Maine, store as a high school kid and sampling every item she could! The folks at Stonewall didn’t seem to mind.
Steff will be receiving the grand prize of the Down East Breakfast package. I’ll be sad to part with it, but you deserve it, Steff.
Commenter #22 is the next lucky winner. Heather would like to JAM ON over to Maine to take the bread making class with me at the Stonewall Cooking School. She happens to love peach and blackberry jam, so I’ll send her a fancy-pants jar of peach.
Kristen Paige, who was commenter #43, is our other lucky jam winner. She is a follows Stonewall Kitchen closely on Facebook and Twitter from afar in California. She loves the Stonewall’s Wild Maine Blueberry Jam, so that’s what she’ll get. I’m thrilled to be sending a taste of Maine your way, Kristen!
I couldn’t be more grateful to the nice and fun folks over at Stonewall Kitchen who made this giveaway possible. If you weren’t among the lucky winners, be sure to stop by the Stonewall Kitchen website and pick out your favorite items!
I know that it’s been a while since I updated you about the budget bathroom makeover that I am starting. No, I haven’t covered up that sunshine-yellow yet. But I did eliminate one of the other items that makes me cringe…
Yes, the shutters that make me shudder. Actually, they make me say “je le deteste.” (We speak broken French around our house; I can’t explain why. Frankie is particularly good at it.)
Anyway, since the window treatments were going to be a focus of the bathroom, a new matchstick bamboo shade and the curtain fabric were the first items on my list to purchase.
I so wanted to buy this Amy Butler fabric locally, but my favorite fabric haunt wouldn’t match the half-price sale I found online. And half price is half price when this stuff goes for $15 per yard. I was so happy when it arrived via mail last week…
The shudder-worthy shutters looked like they would come down pretty easily, so I started there. A quick review of the set-up made me think that they were just glued into place. So I pried…
And pried…
Seriously. Je le deteste. What are these things, super-glued?
No, they are screwed in, behind these little white things beneath the hinge.
Right. First of all, I need to be smarter than the shutters.
Thankfully no one was in the bathroom with me to see my embarrassment. I recovered quickly, revealed the screws and down came the shutters (no prying necessary).
And all was right with the window sans shutters. Especially after I quickly hung the bamboo matchstick shade. (These go up so quickly and easily, there wasn’t time to snap a picture.)
And yes, I know, a shade should technically be mounted on the inside when there will be curtains, but I think the outside overlap adds a little bit of extra privacy. We entertain on our deck a lot, which is right outside this window.
I could barely wait to drape the fabric on one side to get a feel for how the curtains would look…
Don’t worry, that towel bar behind the shade will be MIA before you know it. I have other big plans for towels. And, we’ll move the curtain rod up towards the ceiling after we re-paint.
Doesn’t the fabric look so nice?
And because I can pretend to know how to use Photoshop, I simulated what the curtains will look like next to the wall color. Nice, huh?
And so, that is how I became smarter than the shutters and got started on our big budget bathroom makeover. What do you think of the fabric now that I have it? Have you started any projects yet? I know that Jen at Home in the Country recently gutted hers (complete with carpet and a lighthouse toilet seat)!
Psst…I’ve you’ve missed any part of this on-going makeover, be sure to check out the other posts! And stay tuned, because there is much more to come!
I know that I’ve been all show-offy about our kitchen cabinets and how I’ve painted them a nice shade of white…especially since this project was featured on Better After last week.
But I decided it’s time to share the dirty truth with you.
Having fresh white cabinets is great, but I can’t hide the obvious extra cleaning they need. The bottom cabinets are particularly bad because they catch dog hair from Frankie as he scourers the floor for fallen treats, as well as any drops of batter, dough or dishwater that splash over the edge of the counter. See…
…I’m messy in the kitchen; what can I say?
So, it’s true. Our white cabinets do require extra cleaning and attention. Don’t let anyone with white cabinets tell you otherwise. But on the plus side, I can now actually see the gross stuff that accumulates on kitchen cabinets and clean it! Before, our ugly orangey-oak cabinets hid the mess, which is really just plain gross…
Have you cleaned your cabinet doors lately? Anyone else out there with light-colored cabinets that wants to fess up to the dirty truth? Spill it.
