Mall Pretzels

"Thumbs Up" on this pretzel recipe! You won't have to go to the mall for yummy, soft pretzels, you can make them yourself!

Ingredients:
1 pkg dry yeast (about 2.25 tsp)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 c warm water
3 c all purpose flour
1 c bread flour
2 c warm water
2 Tbsp baking soda
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp Coarse Kosher salt
(other toppings= sugar/cinnamon, honey/butter)

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast, brown sugar and salt in 1 1/2 c. warm water. Stir in flour, and knead dough on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 min. Place in a greased bowl, turn to coat the surface. cover and let rise for one hour.
Combine 2 c. warm water & baking soda in an 8" square pan.


After dough has risen, cut into 12 pieces.


Roll each piece into a 3 foot rope, pencil thin or thinner.

Twist into a pretzel shape, and dip into the baking soda solution. Place on greased cookie sheet. Let rise 15-20 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. (Mine were golden brown at 8 min)

Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with coarse salt or cinnamon sugar.

Enjoy!

Calli Overstreet graciously took our family pictures while Graham and Jessica were in town. Here is a sneak preview of some pictures.










Thanks Calli!!!

GONE!

Wisdom (teeth) removed from another 18 year old!



Jen's wisdom teeth were removed last Friday. She has been living on Ramen noodles, yogurt and pudding. She was excited today because she finally was able to eat some "Stuffing" for dinner.

I'm a Little Bit Country!
We're digging Country Rock Band.
If you listen to country music, you'll love it.

(Jen & Jake)

(Lexi and Clayton)

Our whole family has been playing it,(even though it's not ours- thanks for storing it at our house, wink wink). I wished I had taken pictures of everyone. Oh well!

My Weekly Bread Making
is coming to a halt!


Back to work on Friday.

IT WAS A GREAT DAY - BECAUSE♥♥♥♥♥♥

Jennifer and Tyler woke me up for this!


What little chefs they were - I didn't know they had it in them. That's why it was double special. Wonderful pancakes from scratch, homemade syrup, fresh strawberries, eggs and toast and orange juice. Wow! It was so yummy. Needless to say, I didn't feel like working out after that meal. It was also special because♥♥♥ it is summer time and my kids are in bad habits of staying up too late (they're teenagers) - they had to get up early to make this wonderful breakfast for me because Jen had to leave early to go babysit. What a sacrifice. Thanks!


Courtney and Jen made this wonderful Picture Frame. Isn't it cute. We'll be taking a family picture when Graham and Jessica come in 2 weeks, then we'll fill the frame with our updated picture. I love it. Thanks girls. (Another total surprise).





My present from Tyler. A can of tennis balls with a Mesa Frozen Yogurt Gift Certificate taped to it. He knows me too well. I can't wait until it cools off a little more at nights so that we can play more tennis. It's still a little too hot for me. I don't recover as well as I used too. He also knows that every time we have played tennis this summer, we go to Mesa Fro Yo afterwards for some COOL stuff.



Thanks to friends and family for your thoughtfulness. I ♥ and appreciate all of you!!!!! It was a great day.

PS. Another surprise, while I was at our ward party, Kenny handed me his cell phone and said it was for me. I took the phone and said "Hello" and then I heard a group singing me Happy Birthday on the other end. When they were done, I said "Who is This?" They said it is everyone around the campfire. I thought it was a joke, I didn't understand who was around a campfire - I was dripping with sweat from being outside at our ward water slide party. Then Gene (Kenny's dad) said the family (who are up at the cabin for a family reunion) wanted to sing Happy Birthday to me.
How Sweet! We'll join them tomorrow for the fun festivities at the Alma Reeves Taylor Family Reunion.

THANKS!!!!

Two Empty, Clean Freezers = Storm July 3rd - Blew a Breaker - Gone for the weekend - Found defrosted food in freezers upon return home!





Time to Replenish! (Great picture in the background!)