Things They Are a Changing

Pandemic. Before the schools closed in March, the teachers told the kids "you're living in history right now." The kids kind of rolled their eyes and moved on. The schools closed and we attempted to home school for three months. No one was prepared for that, no one. Finally, three months after closing, the schools have figured out how to give our kids' belongings back to them, drive-through style.

The fireworks started in April. Almost every night, someone's lighting off fireworks in the neighborhood. At first we ran outside to try to catch a glimpse of the show. Now, in June, it's just another sound of everyday life. Traffic, airplanes, sirens, fireworks.

Everything is cancelled, further and further out. Easter was celebrated in parking lots at churches because no one's allowed to go inside in big crowds. Graduations, proms, sports.  All the sports. 2020 Olympics. Scout camp in June, fireworks in July, all the Roller Derby stuff. One by one, deeper and deeper into the year, we cancel it all. State Fair. Family gatherings, tea parties, birthday gatherings. School? What about school in the fall? I'm seeing notifications on FB pages that things like the local theater guild are cancelling everything through the rest of this year. International Tea Festival in November. Christmas parade and tree lighting ceremony. 

I wonder what the New Normal will be.

Shelly Rolls

Yesterday Shelly said she felt like baking something, I suggested dinner rolls, today we see the fruits of her labor.

She found this recipe and decided to make them today. She has no experience with bread and I'm not any help because my bread attempts mostly fail. I DID help her when there wasn't enough flour on the counter and her hands were covered in sticky dough, I sprinkled more flour everywhere. But that was the extent of my advise to her. Here we go!

Shelly Rolls

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour, more as needed
1 envelopes rapid/quick rise yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Mix together 3/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Heat milk, water and butter until very warm (120-130 F). Add to flour mixture and beat with mixer on medium for about 2 minutes.
3. Add 1/4 cup flour and beat for 2 more minutes. Continue slowly adding more flour and beating until you have soft dough.
4. Generously flour your counter top. Also flour your hands. Also set aside a measuring cup with more flour cause you'll probably need it.
5. Knead the dough 8-10 minutes until it's smooth and not sticky anymore, adding flour as needed to combat the stickiness.
6. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. While the dough is resting, catch up on  your dishes or something. Drink some lemonade.
7. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces using Dad's fancy dough cutter. I feel like a putty knife would work just as well, but I'm not sure how it would fare in the dishwasher. Maybe stick to the dough cutter.
8. Shape the dough into balls and put into a greased round pan, aluminum cake pan works best for this. Quit getting distracted by shopping on amazon and cover the whole thing with plastic wrap, use small binder clips if it seems like the plastic is going to fall off.
9. Put outside where it's 98 in the shade and let it rise for half an hour. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375.
10. Once they're doubled in size, take off the plastic and bake for about 20 minutes, when the tops should be nicely browned.
11. Brush with melted butter (about 1 Tbsp) if you want. Tell everyone how many they're each allowed to have and watch your fingers as everyone dives in to snatch theirs. Guard your rationed portion closely, they go fast!

Why we love it

Perfectly soft and fluffy little rolls, maybe we should have made a double batch?
I'm so impressed with Shelly's resourcefulness and willingness to try new things, she really hit this one out of the park!

   

Back to the Real World

After being home for more than two months, working on a little card table with a view out the window, I'll be going back to work in the office next week. This has been stressful and wonderful and so very strange. Everyone wears face masks at the grocery store now and when I don't have one on, I feel like I'm doing something wrong. Everyone stands in the checkout line at a distance and when someone stands only two feet away from me I feel like they're crowding me and doing something wrong. When Shelly and I dropped off groceries for Grandma Sue we chatted but kept our distance. No hugs anymore. And I'm so very grateful that I live in this home with four other people who can never get enough hugs and high fives and cuddles. And sad for those who don't have that.

We're all done with school for the school year - I declared that we'd be done because the endless worksheets and writing assignments just don't seem worth the anxiety they're causing. We wrapped it up a week early and Eli and Shelly played made-up games outside to pretend it was Field Day and came back in sweaty and exhausted and smiling. Archer took his final exam for his last math class at 2:00 this morning and now we're officially done. And as the kids wrap up school and I go back to the office, it seems things are finally starting to get back to normal, a little bit.

I'm going to miss the bird, squirrel, bunny watching out my window. I'm going to miss the stream of non-stop hugs all day long. I'm going to miss wearing slippers while I work. But I'm really looking forward to the kids getting their summer adventures started, and getting back to the office with my colleagues so I can chat with them throughout the day, instead of working alone and seeing their faces only once a week on a video call. Somehow I feel like a vacation is ending, even though I've been working this whole time. At the same time, vacation is just beginning for the kids. And the grandparents are already making plans for some fun!

Here's to recognizing what we have, hoping things get closer to "normal" soon, and looking forward to what's to come!

Peach Cobbler Delight

Ok. I made this ONCE. But it was SOOO good, I'm keeping track of the recipe in case I ever decide to make it again. It's kind of intense - lots of steps and sort of time consuming but perhaps someday, when I have all the time in the world and I've run out of laundry and dishes and books to read... A girl can dream, right?

Original recipe is from a Martha Stewart show, watched many years ago and the recipe scribbled down on a scrap of paper.

Peach Cobbler Delight

Ingredients

Filling:
   10 ripe peaches, pitted and sliced
   1/3 cup sugar
   1 Tbsp lemon juice
   3 Tbsp cornstarch
   2 Tbsp brown sugar
   Pinch Salt
   1 tsp fresh ginger (optional)

Biscuits:
   2 cups flour, plus more for topping
   1/3 cup sugar
   1/2 tsp salt
   2 tsp baking powder
   1/2 cup butter, chilled and sliced
   1 cup + 2 Tbsp heavy cream, plus more for topping
   scrapings from 1 vanilla bean

Instructions

1. Filling - Mix peaches, sugar, lemon juice. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Add cornstarch, brown sugar, salt, ginger, mix together. Put peach mixture into glass pie pan.
3. Biscuits - Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, butter until all combined and mushed together.
4. Add heavy cream and vanilla to biscuit mixture, mix together, work fast, should be crumbly
5. Flour your counter, roll out dough into 1/2" thickness. Cut with cookie cutter to make rounds, lay onto peach mixture in pie pan.
6. Spread biscuits with heavy cream, sprinkle with sugar.
7. Bake on the middle rack until top is golden brown and juices are bubbling (55-70 minutes).

Why we love it

Warm and sweet. I don't actually remember who liked it and who didn't, but when I make this someday, I'll update the post with some stars.

The Best Pretzels You've Ever Had - Savory & Sweet

A savory treat from my mom, original recipe from Bampa's brother Kim. These never sit around for long when they arrive from Grandma's treats stash.

No Bake Savory Pretzels

Ingredients

30 oz pretzels
12 oz butter flavored oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 oz packet powdered Ranch salad dressing mix

Instructions

1. Spread the pretzels evenly on a cookie sheet
2. Whisk together the oil, ranch dressing, garlic powder & cajun seasoning
3. Pour the mixture over the pretzels in the pan and stir to coat
4. Sprinkle w/ grated parmesan cheese and stir
5. Bake for approximately 3 hours, stirring every 15 minutes

Why we love it

I can't EXACTLY explain it, other than to say - once you start, you just can't stop. These leave us grabbing for just one more, and licking our fingers and sad when they're suddenly gone. How did they all disappear QUITE that fast???

   

Next Up...

I've only made this a couple of times but we all loved it. I've vowed to only make this for group events because I don't want us to eat the whole delicious batch ourselves, it's just so rich!

Original recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Irresistible Chocolate Toffee Pretzels

Ingredients

Half a 1 lb bag of mini pretzels, broken into pieces
2 Sticks butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
18 oz semisweet chocolate chips (1 and a half 12 oz bags)
Sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, cover with a layer of the broken pretzel pieces.
2. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, add the butter and brown sugar. Once the mixture starts to bubble, set a timer for 3 minutes and allow to simmer without stirring. After 3 minutes, pour the hot caramel mixture over the pretzels in back and forth motion to cover the pretzels. A few bare spots are ok, it'll all bake together in the end.
3. Bake for 5 minutes, then spread the chocolate chips evenly over the pretzels. Put the pan back in the oven to help the chocolate melt. Once it's all melted, remove from oven, sprinkle with sea salt.
4. Refrigerate until set. Once it's all cooled, break into bite size pieces. (After it's set, you don't have to refrigerate any further.)

Why we love it

Buttery, crunchy, salty, sweet. Of COURSE we love it!

   

Baked Pasta

This one was something I wanted to make on Saturday but trips to Hardware Store, home, the Other Hardware Store, home again, sidetracked plans for dinner. The Deck Project is keeping me running!

Sunday I planned ahead and made this at 9:30 in the morning, tucked it in the fridge and then warmed it up in the oven at 5 when we were ready to eat. Yay for planning ahead, even if I was a day late. :)

Original recipe is here

Baked Pasta

Ingredients

1 lb pasta (recipe says ziti, I didn't have it, I used some other tube shaped stuff)
1 lb ground beef (or sausage)
1 large onion chopped
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
a bunch of diced garlic
1 large jar marinara sauce (about 32 ounces - I tried to use a regular 24 oz jar but this wasn't enough - you definitely need the 32 oz jar)
a bunch of shredded cheese (recipe says mozzarella, we used parmesan)
1 cup ricotta cheese (I used 1 pkg cream cheese)

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta
2. While you're waiting for the pasta to cook, cook the ground beef & drain off the fat.
3. Add the chopped onion and saute for a little bit, letting the onion get soft
4. Dump in a bunch of Italian seasoning, the garlic and the marinara sauce to the meat. Bring it all to a simmer.
5. Put about half or 2/3 the sauce into a casserole dish and add the cooked pasta. Stir it all together. Add dollops (ricotta) or little pieces (cream cheese) to the casserole dish.
6. Pour the rest of the sauce into the casserole dish, sprinkle shredded cheese over everything, and cover with foil.
7. Put in the fridge and save for later, or put it into the oven at 350 and bake until the cheese is melted and the top is slightly browned.
8. If warming up after it's been in the fridge, it takes about 40 minutes at 350. Take the foil off halfway through.

Note for next time - make this 1 large batch, then split it in half into 2 square pans, freeze one, make the other for today.

Why we love it

Easy to make, easy to make AHEAD, warm and gooey and LOTS of leftovers for the next day