Homemade soft pretzels: hoo-boy!

The value of homemade pretzels can not be over-emphasized. Go make them at once if you know what is good for you. And thank you Abby for paving the way and then blogging about it.

My first attempt left room for refinement in the shape department but produced possibly the best darn pretzels we've had. I also set aside some dough to wrap chicken apple sausage in, and then treated the bundles as if they were pretzels by boiling and baking them. The result: bagel dogs, of course.

I'm tempted to try this dough for bagels, hamburger buns, and pizza. Next week, for the Superbowl, I might make some more and serve them with mustard and port cheese, which, by the way, I also have Abby to thank for introducing me to.

Homemade pretzels: divine, pure and simple

More Yosemite

Full moon in Yosemite

The thing is, I can't get enough of this richly stunning and dramatic and harshly cold place. Good thing because we're going to be making many more pilgrimages there. I am truly lucky to do what I do.

Interesting side note: at dinner one night I spotted Heidi and Wayne, and then plum forgot all about it. When I returned home I happened upon her blog and found a delightful post devoted to their vacation in Yosemite, which overlapped with ours perfectly. I love celeb sightings!

Yosemite Falls

View from bridge of Half Dome

View from bridge looking the other way

View from hotel room

Trail in snow

Ice patterns

Team shot

Breakfast at the Ahwahnee

Favorite nook (the Mural Room, where one can enjoy after-dinner cocktails or early morning coffee, views, light banter, and a good book), under construction, at the Ahwahnee

Pretty fixture

The lovely Victorian Wawona

Patterns at the Wawona

Campy lights in the Wawona's dining room

S'more night at the bar near a big fire pit

One happy camper

Follow-up Note: Don't let these photos fool you. When not eating hearty meals or staring in stunned silence at the beautiful scenery, we were hard at work! Our assessments of almost 30 historic cabins kept us on our feet, mostly outdoors, for 8-10 hours a day. We just made sure to squeeze in time to stop & smell the roses :)

Photos were taken collectively by the three of us on the trip.

I am off to Yosemite again for the week, with new snow boots (thank you Mom in Maine!) and boot chains and highly unflattering gators to help keep me warm and dry.
While I'm gone I leave you with this example of my aforementioned new crafty crush. Inspired by Wisecraft's candle cozy loveliness, this little number took less than 20 minutes to whip up. Paired with a delicious-smelling candle, I think it would make a fine gift indeed.

And speaking of handmade gifts, Mom included this flash of brilliance head band (below) in my Christmas stocking and I wore it out for the first time today. Its stretchy and comfortable and reminiscent of the 20's. I LOVE it.

Crochet is my new craft

Over the holidays I got together with my PSU girls. We all went to undergrad together and have since gone in very different directions. But we try to meet up once or twice a year to catch up, play with babies, and eat food. And it's always as if no time has passed at all and we're back in studio delirious but having the time of our lives.

[I'm slowly leading up to the crocheting bit]

On this particular occasion we met at Seden's house. She just had baby #2, baby #1 was potty training, and her parents were visiting from Turkey. It just made sense to meet at her place. Seden and her husband had also just bought a new home and we were anxious to tour it. In typical style, her house was absolutely spotless, beautifully appointed, and very modern (think ginormous cream-colored leather sectional, geometric wood furniture, and thick & plush wool rugs in neutral tones on the shiny hardwood floors).

Considering just how modern her style is, I was very surprised to discover handmade washcloths in all the bathrooms. They were beautiful crocheted swatches of solid color with white lacy trim around the edges. I could easily see that her mom, her girls, and Seden were all using these handcrafted gems, which, it turns out, were made in Turkey. Well, I took one look and decided that I needed some pretty crocheted and lacy washcloths gracing the stall of my shower at home.

And since I'm not heading to Europe any time soon (that I know of, but I am open to the possibility!), I set out to make my own. And here is my first result. It's not perfect but I think I have my technique down.
And I love my new craft. Here's the next project I have up my sleeve.

Winter blues

With the holidays and a certain birthday behind us, we have been dropped in the middle of a cold and dark (albeit currently mild here in the NW) January. Is there no end in sight!? Just kidding. When all else fails, lean towards the dramatic. But hey, it is the middle of winter. The Christmas decorations have been (or will be soon, ahem) taken down, the food fest is over, and now we're charged with making those inspired New Years resolutions stick. Ick.

I was recently browsing through the comments left on Wise Craft's Winter Mode post, where a bunch of friendly folks shared thoughts on how they cheer themselves and their homes up during the January-February marathon stretch, and figured they bear some elaboration and repeating. This is good stuff. So if you, like me, are feeling abandoned by the holidays and are feeling a little idle with no-end-in-sight-before-spring, this is for you:

Create light: Brighten up the house with candles, leave up a string of twinkly white lights, pull back the curtains and let the sun pour in

Cook or bake something delicious and nutritious: Make a pot of stew or chili, put a pot roast in the crock pot, bake some bread or corn bread, and make a sweet treat

Take your drinks hot: Tea, hot chocolate, apple cider...

Get out there and be active: If you can't change it, embrace it and occupy it fully. Run, walk, sled, ski, snow shoe, swim if you're in Arizona or the Nordic regions.

Freshen up the house: Crack windows, purge the clutter, put some fresh flowers in a vase or plants in colorful pots

Pamper: Take hot baths, moisturize, paint your finger nails, snuggle up with a good book, sleep more, carve out time to be creative

Write: Journal, mail your thank you letters, or send good old fashioned and friendly letters to the unsuspecting. My brother-in-law is very good at this. When we're least expecting it he will wrap up a seasonally apropos CD mix with a beautiful and witty card and send it our way.

Plan a getaway! Enough said. Let your imagination go wild. (I want to go here next)

How do you beat the winter blues?

Rythm & poetry in ice cream: a recipe by Ryan

So this morning I was telling Ryan about a recipe I came across over at Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen site for banana split ice cream cake. In a flash moment of brilliance and inspiration, out tumbled this recipe from Ryan, who was quoted saying there needs to be rhythm and poetry in ice cream desserts. He is so right. As a bonus, this one qualifies as a five! ingredient! recipe!, which we all love.

Bananas Foster Ice Cream Cake
- 1 graham cracker pie crust
- enough fresh banana slices to evenly layer the bottom of the pie crust
- ice cream of your choice, softened, in keeping with the bananas foster theme (we're thinking classic vanilla or praline or caramel swirl)
- 1 jar Mrs. Richardson's butterscotch sauce or Hershey's caramel sauce at room temperature
- whipped cream for garnish

Assembly:
Layer the sliced banana as the bottom layer on the pie crust. Spoon out enough softened ice cream to fill the crust almost to the rim (leave about 1/4 - 1/2 an inch); it may be worth covering the concoction at this point and freezing until the ice cream is frozen again before moving on to the next step). Pour enough butterscotch or caramel sauce over the ice cream to cover completely. Garnish with whipped cream and freeze until ready to serve.

Note: this recipe hasn't actually been tested, but you KNOW it has to be good!

Holiday highlights

Ryan and I stayed in Portland this year instead of traveling to one of the other three corners of the country where we have family outposts. I took remarkably few pictures documenting the holidays and my week off, but just imagine a bunch of eating and napping, some craft project brewing, and no less than four (it will be five today) visits to Powell's. Because, well, you know.

Recap:
We spent Christmas Eve with some of our oldest friends in Portland. Parents were there, a toddler was there. Dogs were there. Great food was served (love the cioppino and the truffle cheese, the figs and the pickled onions). It was merry and delicious and familiar and festive. And after sitting around the table for hours, we retired into the living room to assemble Christmas goodies for the baby from Santa . I loved it.

One of the friendly faces at the table is sick. You'd never know it looking at him but he is terminally ill, too young. I felt grateful to share the holiday with him and his family, and overwhelmed by their love and cheer and celebratory spirit.

Christmas day brought with it more excellent food, goodies under the tree, and spirited phone conversations with family from the previously mentioned corners of the country. I love that my grandma, Oma, always answers the phone with an ubber cheerful "Merry Christmas?!" greeting.

We ate grapefruit, cinnamon rolls, bacon, mushroom tarts, and quiche for breakfast. Dinner consisted of several appetizers (remembering fondly the artichoke dip, mac & cheese balls, and wasabi almonds), a marinated tri-tip worth its weight in gold served with a horseradish sauce and roasted mushrooms, mashed potatoes, roasted squash with apples, pears, and rum (yum), and fresh rolls. Not surprisingly, there was no room for the chocolate coffee cake and pumpkin pie for dessert; fortunately those make for good breakfasts, too.

After dinner there was a slide show projected on our living room curtains. It started with photos from Tera's recent travels through Europe and ended with a frenzy of You Tube gems.

For New Years Eve, we settled in at Christian's with the old gang, eating and talking and playing games. The boys pulled together an impromptu and very charming concert. I'd use the word serenade but it wasn't that romantic (notice Adam is rocking two instruments at once). Then all of a sudden it was 2011.

And here we are. Let's make it count!