So Much Love

Back from their honeymoon–at last, at last, the kids (oooh…can I call them kids?) came home and invited us to their wedding-gift-opening night.

What may have looked like chaos to some, was in fact, a huge downpour of love, for these two sweethearts. And oh, my goodness–so much love from so many…

dear, sweet, beloved friends and family.

It was sincerely incredible to watch them be so showered on and see them be absolutely delighted. Such thoughtfulness from so many. In the end, I’ll admit, I was nearly speechless…

nearly.  :}

I do have one question though.

Who gave these guys permission to grow up…so fast?

Hmmmm?

Sheesh.

Soft Pretzel Bites

When our girl, Lyndi decided that she was having a huge craving for–of all things–pretzel bites, well…what could we do? Some requests simple must be respected, especially when they are this incredible. And to top it off–aren’t they just the cutest things? Almost makes you sorry to eat them. Ok, no it doesn’t. What it really means is that you can wolf them down even faster. Hee hee….

Soft, Adorable Pretzel Bites

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbsps brown sugar
1 Tbsp or package active dry yeast
6 Tbsps butter, melted
2-1/2 tsps salt
4-1/2 to 5 cups flour
Olive oil
3 quarts water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp cold water
Coarse sea salt

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm water, sugar, yeast, and melted butter. Mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add salt and flour then mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl–about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, and knead into a ball with your hands.

Grease a bowl–I used butter. Add the dough and turn to coat on both sides. Cover with a clean damp towel and let rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size–about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Oil or grease 4 baking sheets. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot over high heat and add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces…

and roll each piece into a rope.

Cut the dough into one inch pieces.

In small batches–15 to 20-ish, boil the pretzel pieces in the water solution for about 30 seconds.

Remove with a large slotted spoon and…

place them on baking sheets. They’ll be kinda slippery but make sure they are not touching each other.

Brush the tops with the egg wash…

and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to a baking rack and allow to cool for a few minutes. Serve with mustard, cream cheese, cinnamon honey butter, or nacho cheese dip. :}

5.0 from 1 reviews
Soft, Adorable Pretzel Bites
 
Ingredients
  • 1-1/2 cups warm water
  • 2 Tbsps brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp or package active dry yeast
  • 6 Tbsps butter, melted
  • 2-1/2 tsps salt
  • 4-1/2 to 5 cups flour
  • Olive oil
  • 3 quarts water
  • ⅔ cup baking soda
  • 1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp cold water
  • Coarse sea salt
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm water, sugar, yeast, and melted butter. Mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Add salt and flour then mix on low speed until combined.
  3. Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl--about 3 to 4 minutes.
  4. Remove the dough from the bowl, and knead into a ball with your hands.
  5. Grease a bowl with butter.
  6. Add the dough and turn to coat on both sides.
  7. Cover with a clean damp towel and let rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size--about 1 hour.
  8. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  9. Oil or grease 4 baking sheets. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot over high heat and add the baking soda.
  10. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface.
  11. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each piece into a rope. Cut the dough into one inch pieces.
  12. In small batches--15 to 20-ish, boil the pretzel pieces in the water solution for about 30 seconds.
  13. Remove with a large slotted spoon and place them on baking sheets. Make sure they are not touching.
  14. Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
  15. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, or until golden brown.
  16. Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating.
  17. Serve with mustard, cream cheese, cinnamon honey butter, or nacho cheese dip. :}

Original recipe–un-tweaked–from Two Peas and Their Pod

{ The Key }

“Obedience – That which God will never take by force – He will accept freely given. And He will then return to you freedom that you can hardly dream of – the freedom To feel and to know, the freedom to do, and the freedom to be at least a thousandfold more than we offer Him. Strangely enough the key to freedom is obedience.”

Boyd K. Packer

364 Days~ Left

Today–we are celebrating the beginning of the official count DOWN for my sweet boy in Siberia. Yes, yes–hard to believe for some people–not his mother–but this cute fellow left us exactly one year ago yesterday.

He is working hard and loving every second of his experience, but ooooh–we miss him so much! So, in celebration–we nibbled on bananas–one of his favorite fruits and looked at his pictures and told stories about him. A lovely way to spend and evening, I must say.

I’ve put a count down on the left side of the blog so that I can keep an eye on the days and time and even the temperature in his country. Last week it was a whopping -47 degrees. Yes, I said 47 below zero. That should make us all grateful for what ever winter weather we have–don’t you think? Me…I’m just thrilled out of my mind happy to finally be on the down side of this adventure…

because…I miss this handsome face, and because

crybabies make dreadful missionary moms.

There. I said it.

366…365…364…

:}