Can you believe it's the very last day of 2013? Wow! This year was so packed with huge changes for us that it just seemed to fly by! Well, I'm not much of a night-owl, but if I am going to try to stay up to bring in the New Year, then I might as well have munchies. Since I have a bread machine now, I might as well use it! I'm just using the basic dough recipes from my booklet that came with the machine. Maybe at some point I'll get brave and try to adapt them, but I figure I might as well stick with the basics right now. I've been dying to try the pretzel dough recipe, which is basically the same as the pizza dough recipe only it adds beer. Well, the hubs and I don't drink or buy alcohol, so this is really just pizza dough. I rolled out the dough into strips and cut it into cute little bite-sized pieces. You know, like the pretzel bites you pay an arm and a leg for at the movie theater. Then I brushed them with an egg, sprinkled them with salt, and baked 'em. They turned out a lot like I hoped they would! I just need to make some cheese sauce for dipping. I could see a honey mustard sauce tasting good as well. I don't have the ingredients to make either of those in my house right now, so it will just be a trip to the store to grab a jar of nacho cheese sauce for us. Happy New Year! Pretzel Bites in the Bread Machine1 1/4 cups Water
1 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil 3 3/4 cups Bread Flour 1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar 1 1/2 tsp Salt 1 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast Layer ingredients in your loaf pan. Liquids first, then make an even layer on top with your flour. I always put the sugar and salt in the corners, and then make a little crater in the middle of the flour for my yeast. Run it through your dough cycle. When dough is ready, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into equal portions. I divided mine into about 6 portions, and then rolled each portion out into a long roll. Cut roll into bite sized pieces, arrange on baking sheet. I used my silicone mats so I did not grease my sheet, but if you are not using a mat I'd highly recommend cooking spray. Beat an egg and brush onto dough pieces, then sprinkle salt on top. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 10-20 minutes. I cooked mine for 15, but if you want yours darker you can cook it longer. Dip in your favorite sauces and enjoy! *Adapted from the Zojirushi Breadmaker recipe booklet
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I've had a lot of questions about my camera lately, and honestly, it's something I really don't mind telling you about!
Last year Kaiwi asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I said I have always wanted a nice camera so I can take family pictures of us and our kids someday. I was thinking this would be a purchase we would plan for sometime down the road... and then Kaiwi took me out after Christmas to hit up the sales in the camera section. I kinda had a mini mental freak-out for two reasons- I had no idea what any of the products were AND the sticker shock was getting to me... even being on sale. My creative side was telling me, "You really want this... you NEED this!". My frugal side was telling me, "Stick with your iPhone camera, even though it's terrible! Those Instagram filters makes it look good, anyway". Hahaha... silly me. Kaiwi reassured me that this purchase was fine by telling me that by learning to use a quality camera would be something that would pay off. It would be a tool that we could use to capture moments and memories to look back on years from now. How awesome will it be someday to get out our photos and see the places we have lived and moved to. The trips and vacations we have taken. The friends and families that we have built relationships with. Look at me getting all sentimental. He was right though, and I don't regret splurging on it one bit. Fortunately my husband is Mr. Smarty Pants and he always does his research before a big purchase. He had already looked at the products out there and narrowed down the options to one camera... the Canon Rebel T3i. As a DSLR camera it is more expensive than a point and shoot, but not nearly as much as some of the higher quality models. It's very user friendly even to a camera idiot such as myself. I had absolutely no idea about things like aperture, ISO, bokeh... but the good thing is there are so many books and websites available with helpful information. Not to mention that the learning part of using my camera is most of the fun. Sure, I've got a ton of terrible photos. I'll probably take a ton more... but I also have a ton of photos from this past year that I can look at and remember exactly what we were going through that day. The hard days and the good days. I have pictures of my sister's wedding. My brother's wedding. Our anniversary trip. Our first child. Are they technically correct? Nope. Are they priceless? You betcha. I'm sure my husband regrets buying my camera for me sometimes. He's now husband to that crazy lady laying on the ground squinting through the viewfinder to get a picture of that bug... or being told by military security to delete those photos... yeah... don't ask. Anyway, I think my point was yes, it is worth it to buy a quality camera. I love my Canon, but that doesn't automatically make me a Nikon hater. Ultimately, your camera is a tool, not just a brand name. Get one that works for you. Also put some thought into the lenses you buy, these are expensive as well. My T3i came with the "kit lens", the 18-55mm lens. It takes good photos, but I am so glad we bought another lens when we got the camera. I didn't know what to get, and the salesman recommended the 55-250mm lens. This is the lens I ended up using for almost everything. It just seems to produce better pictures. It's heavier though, so I learned to raise my shutter speed in order to get pictures that weren't blurry because I couldn't hold my camera still enough. Just a few months ago we bought a 50mm lens. After almost a year of using two zoom lenses switching to a prime (no zoom) was weird, but I love it. It's been on my camera almost constantly since I got it. It really take practice and learning though, both of which I am still doing. I'd also highly encourage you to get out of the automatic mode. Sure it takes nice pictures, but you have so much more control over the look of your photos when you go manual. I guarantee you will get a lot of bad pictures. However, as you play with your settings and see what happens to your pictures when you do, you will gain so much more understanding about how your camera works. Most importantly, just have fun with it! I've been dying to write something about my new bread machine. It was a Christmas gift from my parents, and my husband and I were rebels and opened it early. {I know, I know... terrible. We have a good excuse though} Anyway, since all my siblings got the same thing I promised I wouldn't spoil the surprise. I absolutely LOVE this machine. The bread it makes is so delicious, but I love the dough option about it even better. It will mix up a batch of dough for you and then the options are endless. Breadsticks, croissants, pizza, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, pretzels, oh my! Not to mention you can bake cakes and meatloaf in it. AND jelly. Whew. Take a gander at a few of these pics from when I made cinnamon rolls for Christmas. The recipe mentioned throwing raisins into your rolls, but seriously... who would do a thing like that? I'll eat raisins occasionally, but they are not my favorite. Definitely not appreciated in my baked goods. They are just chocolate chip posers. Anyhow, I'll shut my trap and let you drool over the non-raisin cinnamon roll goodness below. Enjoy! "An angel of the Lord appeared…and…said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.'" Luke 2:8-11 O Holy Night
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior's birth! Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Refrain Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born! O night, O holy night, O night divine! Led by the light of faith serenely beaming, With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand. So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming, Here came the wise men from Orient land. The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger, In all our trials born to be our friend! Refrain Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His Gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother And in His Name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy Name! Refrain One of my favorite Christmas hymns! How humbling it is to know that Christ gave up His heavenly glory to live among us and to die for our sins. Celebrating Christmas and Jesus's birth is ultimately celebrating the salvation He offers to all of us! The sacrificial love that Christ showed to us when He died for us should be the same love the we all need to share with each other. Take the time this Christmas to be with friends and family and even strangers and show them that love. What better gift could there be than that? Merry Christmas! Ok, so when I say "the best ever", I'll admit that I am a little biased. These are not just cookies for me, these are memories. These are the cookies my mom would make every year for Christmas. EVERY year. I don't think I remember a year we didn't have these cookies. If Christmas had a taste, for me, it would be these cookies. We had a system to making these cookies. Mom would whip up the dough, sometimes a few days ahead of time, and refrigerate them. When it was time to make the cookies, we four kids would all gather around the table, fight over who gets what cookie cutter, and wait. We would wait for mom to roll out the dough. We would wait like vultures watching that cowboy trying to cross the desert, and hoping he would die of thirst so we could attack. When mom had the dough rolled out to the perfect thickness {because she's just awesome like that}, attack we would. It was a race to see who could cut the most cookies. Sometimes, this would erupt into an all-out flour war. It was the greatest thing ever to be able to smear flour all over your sibling's face. There is just an undeniable satisfaction that one acquires from it. If there were any bits of dough left that was too little to make a cookie from, and yet too much to waste, it became playdoh. Mostly we would spell our names or make snails, and then cook and eat our creations. On to the next step! Decorating the cookies. This we had down to a system as well. We each got our own plate to frost our cookies on. We then proceeded to dump all of the different colors of sugar and sprinkles onto the cookies until it looked like Sand Art gone wrong. If the cookies were for a specific event like a Christmas party Mom would limit us to one color per cookie, so people would actually want to eat them. I don't understand who wouldn't want to eat them, though, because they are the best Christmas cookies... EVER. Basic Christmas Cookies Ingredients 1 Cup Butter (softened) 1 1/2 Cup White Sugar 3 Eggs 1 tsp Vanilla 3 1/2 Cup Sifted Flour 1 tsp Baking Soda 1/2 tsp Salt 2 tsp Cream of Tartar 1 tsp Nutmeg (optional) Directions In a medium size mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cream of tartar, and nutmeg. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Slowly add flour mixture, blending thoroughly, scraping the sides if needed. Chill in refrigerator 3-4 hours. Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut into shapes. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit on ungreased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes, or until desired doneness. Cool on rack before decorating. The number of cookies you can make from this recipe varies depending on how big your cutters are. I got 4 1/2 dozen from it. Ornamental Icing
Ingredients 2 Tbsp. Butter 2 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar 1 Egg white, unbeaten 1/8 tsp Vanilla 1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar Directions Cut butter into sugar until resembles cornmeal. Add egg white, vanilla, cream of tartar. Beat until stiff. Note: At first it seems like your frosting will never come together, but just keep beating it! The frosting is quite thick, so I usually end up adding about a Tablespoon of milk to the frosting after I have whipped it up. It thins it out and makes it easier to spread. I love the combination of white chocolate and peppermint. I also love chocolate covered pretzels, so it just makes sense to put them together.
These are so, so easy to make. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, dip your pretzels, and sprinkle with crushed peppermint. Voila! You are done. We are finally getting some snow here today so it's the perfect afternoon to start making some Christmas goodies. I love crossing things off my list so I started with the easiest first. Makes me feel somewhat accomplished. I'm sure we will have to use some self-control to make these last till Christmas! Everyone has their own special traditions for holidays, especially Christmas. In my family growing up we would open gifts on Christmas Eve, and my mom would make a buffet of a variety of foods that we could munch on all evening. Christmas Day we would spend with relatives, eating even more good food. Since being married, my husband and I have developed some of our own little traditions. We always put up the tree that Kaiwi's parents gave to us, and we decorate it with ornaments that we both have had growing up. The last several years we have had a train under the tree. I usually make my mom's recipe for Christmas cookies. We have been fortunate to be able to fly home and see family during the holidays since we have moved out here to the northwest, but this year we get to have Christmas at our house with Kaiwi's parents. It's so much fun planning and getting ready. I have been thinking about what foods we should have, and I realized that we haven't really developed our own "traditional Christmas meal". Is it necessary to have one? Probably not, but it's always nice to have those special things that you look forward to every year. So, this year, we are thinking of trying a Prime Rib. I've never cooked one before. If it turns out, maybe we will have it every year. If not, maybe we should make frozen pizza our tradition. What are your special Christmas traditions that you look forward to every year? I'm the kind of person that likes to have details figured out before I begin anything. It's good sometimes, and sometimes it hinders me from actually doing ANYTHING! I've been thinking a lot about starting a blog, and here I am finally doing it. Do I have it figured out? Absolutely not! So bear with me as I learn...
I hope to share with you some of my adventures in life. Some of them may be exciting and some not so much. It could be anything from a trip we have taken to how I get the armpit stains out of my laundry. (WOW! Riveting stuff, right?) |
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About Us...Welcome! My name is Marie, and I have been married for 5 years now. We have one beautiful son, Isaac, waiting for us in Heaven and another son, Hayden, here with us! I hope to share with you more about our journey- where we have been and where we are going. Archives
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