Most Difficult Thing I've Made

Earlier this week I went out on a limb. I wanted to make one of my childhood favorite snacks; the soft pretzel. Typically, they are purchased at the grocery store in the frozen section and you quickly toss them in the microwave and snack on. They're also available at amusement parks, sports stadiums, and in just about every mall. But how do you make them? It's a bit more complicated than it seems. I started out by activating some yeast in some warm water.

Once the yeast was activated, I added some brown sugar.

Some vanilla.

A touch of salt.

And then some flour. This was challenging for me as I was slowly adding more and more flour. This being my first time making a pretzel dough, I had no idea how the consistency was supposed to be. I just kept adding flour until the dough pulled away from the bowl. But it continued to be super sticky.

Then I let the dough sit and rise for a while.

Now here's the trick to getting a nice and golden brown pretzel. I brought some water to a boil and added lots of baking soda. Then brought it down to a simmer.

While the water was getting ready, I started to work with the dough. I didn't take any pictures before finishing, because the dough was so sticky and extremely hard to work with. I was almost convinced that the pretzels weren't going to come out. After cutting the dough into equal sized portions, I rolled the dough and formed the classic pretzel shape we recognize. 

Then, the pretzels took a dip in the simmering baking soda water.

Once all the pretzels received their baking soda bath they were ready for the oven.

They came out of the oven nice a golden brown.

They pretzels didn't come out perfect, but they tasted quite good. I learned some things to make these pretzels better the next time I make them. The pretzels should go into the baking soda bath on both sides and for an optimized amount of time (which I don't know exactly yet). I needed to roll out the dough a lot thinner, but the dough for some reason didn't want to give up its shape. It was a very elastic type dough. Also, I need to work on perfecting the dough recipe and figure out correct proportions. With that being said, the pretzels really did come out better than expected. Megan and I really enjoyed them and thought they tasted great. I read online that the pretzels don't keep too long after being baked. So instead of risking it, we froze them. Today I heated up one of them that I froze, and honestly I think it tasted better than the day I baked them! So what's the most difficult thing you've ever made?

A "New" Toy

Before Megan and I moved in together at the start of the fall semester, we started to make lists of things we'd need for our new apartment, way ahead of time. One of the most important things was a coffee maker. Being obsessed with KitchenAid, I wanted HAD to have one of their coffee makers. Unfortunately, when I started to research them, they were quite pricey. We're talking $100+. Luckily, I was able to find a discontinued model on KitchenAid's website, and bought it brand new for $50. 

This was a great buy. The coffee maker had a 14-cup glass carafe, an automatic brew setting, a special setting that is optimized for 1-4 cup brews, 30 minute intervals to show how long the coffee has been sitting since it's been brewed, and a filter inside the section you add water to. And not to mention, aesthetically pleasing (it's KitchenAid after all). This coffee maker was working wonderfully, we would set the coffee to start brewing at 6:15am every morning so we woke up to the smell of fresh coffee. However, last week we woke up to discover the pot was empty; the coffee did not brew. There was an error message displaying on the screen. Megan researched the error and found out it was indicating a failure in the electronics of the system. So we did a reset and the problem persisted. I contacted KitchenAid and told them about the problem, and in no time they staff member said they will send me a replacement for free. All I had to do was pack my old coffee maker into the box the new one came in and send it out with a prepaid shipping label. I was thrilled, it was so easy to get a replacement (I partially think this is because I purchased it directly from KitchenAid). After the staff member looked up my order, she delivered some good news. She said that they don't make the model coffee maker I have anymore. So instead they're shipping me their newest model, which currently retails for $130. I was even more thrilled!

Today it arrived.

I requested the same color, onyx black, so that it matches our blender. This new coffee maker has all the same great features I mentioned above, but has a few new updated tweaks. First off, the display screen is 10x better, and it much more interactive than the previous model. Also, the display has blue colored LED's and is easier to look at than the red from before. Also, this model also shows how long it has been since the coffee has brewed, but instead of telling me it's been 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes, it tells me the EXACT time. Also, instead of a flip top to put the coffee filter/coffee, the front stainless steel panel where it says KitchenAid opens and you pull out the insert to put in the filter and coffee. And finally, a BIG improvement which I'm stoked about, is a de-attachable water container (with filter as before). This makes it SO easier to add water to the system so you don't have to fill the carafe then pour it in the container spilling it all over the counter.

So here it is all unpacked.

I'm really thrilled about this. I paid $50 for an EXCELLENT coffee maker, and it worked wonders for over 3 months. Now I received a $130 coffee maker for FREE, and am very excited about it. Not to mention this coffee maker comes with a one year warranty as the other coffee maker, but the warranty starts today! How do you like your coffee prepared? 

Fresh Herbs

Megan and I have been talking about gardening for forever now. However, we keep talking about it, but never got around to actually doing it! While at Publix yesterday, we wanted to pick up some basil for our pizzas we plan to make this weekend. After realizing a small little package of basil runs $3-4 at Publix we wanted to take a stand. Rant: That's outrageous for a little package of basil, that if we don't fully consume will go bad in no time! So instead, about 5 feet from the packaged herbs at Publix was a display stand with already planted herbs! We bought a little basil plant for $2; note: this was cheaper than the packaged basil and was actually bigger.

This morning we woke up at 5:30am (well Megan did, I didn't drag out of bed until 6:10am), and I drove Megan to her clinical's at the VA Hospital. I dropped her off around 6:45am and then while on the way home I took a detour and stopped at Lowes. The reason for going to Lowest was actually to see what time they open so that I could come back later. But, I was pleasantly surprised; they open at 6am! I went in and walked around (admiring the gorgeous KitchenAid double oven and range and refrigerator). Finally I made my way to the gardening section and found some organic garden soil, a cute little pot with a saucer, and a small hand shovel. 

I came home and got to planting!

Say hello to our new basil plant! After planting, I was about to throw the bag away that my pot and shovel were in but noticed a card stuffed in it. Normally, I throw these kinds of these away, but I decided to take a look at it. Low and behold it was an advertisement for an open house at Lowes for kickstarting your very own kitchen project.

I think it's a calling.

This is just a start to our gardening adventures. We hope to expand our horizons to various herbs, and possibly vegetables! So what are you growing in your garden? If nothing, why aren't you?!

New Toy

Recently, I snagged a brand new 5-speed KitchenAid blender with a polycarbonate container. For only $45!

Tonight, I decided to make some smoothies. I started off with some frozen strawberries.

Some vanilla ice cream.

A banana.

Some milk.

And finally a touch of orange juice.

Then the ingredients went for a ride in the blender. I am MORE than impressed with this blender. The frozen strawberries and frozen hard ice cream were blended instantly with the other ingredients, on the lowest setting! I cranked it up a bit just to make sure we didn't get surprised by a big chunk of somethin'. 

These smoothies were a great way to finish this dark, muggy, raining day. Do you have any new toys, or have a toy on your wish list?

Donut Holes

So we woke up today to very nice weather outside. We opened the patio door and enjoyed the morning with some hot coffee. As the afternoon approached I decided to verge off of the norm. As you may know, Megan is getting back into running, as is serious about it! I decided to join her today. We didn't go as far as Megan usually does, and I did slow her down as we had to stop running a few times to walk for a bit. But, in the end I finished the run and am proud of myself and I hope to continue this, especially as the weather is getting nicer and nicer! So what better way to treat ourselves than with donut holes! But, we're baking them, not frying! (that's saved for another day :)). And of course, honoring the fall season, these are pumpkin spiced donuts. I started off with the dry ingredients: some flour, baking powder, touch of salt, and of course pumpkin spice. 

Sift, sift, sift.

And megan worked on the wet ingredients: some brown sugar, eggs, oil, milk, vanilla extract and of course pumpkin puree

Then we combined the wet and dry and stirred them just until combined.

Then into the oven into cute little mini muffin pans. 

They came out nice and golden brown

But, we're not done yet. This donut needs a coating! Let's melt some butter.

And prepare some cinnamon sugar, with the perfect ratio of sugar to cinnamon. 

Roll the donuts in the melted butter. 

And into the cinnamon sugar.

Megan working hard.

So concentrated.

All done. Time to snack!

These donuts are great, and definitely scream fall being pumpkin spiced. I hope Megan will let me keep running with her and bare with me while I try to catch up. What pumpkin spiced foods are creating this fall?

Wok n' Roll

The title is a bit ambitious. This meal should be prepared with a wok, but unfortunately I don't have one, yet. After preparing this meal, I am confident that our stove gets hot enough to use a wok. That being said, I have added a new toy to my wish list: a wok. Now for the good stuff. Let's make some stir fry! Megan started by preparing the veggies, some onions and red and green peppers. 

And, some garlic and ginger.

Meanwhile, I worked on the chicken. First I chopped it up in small bite size pieces.

Now for some seasoning. Some soy sauce.

And a touch of sesame oil.

Now I let the chicken sit and soak up all that salty goodness.

Meanwhile, I prepared a syrup for the stir fry. Just soy sauce with some sugar.

Let the frying commence. I got the pan SUPER hot with some peanut oil. Seared the chicken nicely.

Cooked the chicken through with a nice sear on the outside but very tender inside.

Then I took the chicken outside and set it aside. Keeping the pan on high, I seared the veggies. First the onions.

Cooked them a bit until nice and brown.

Then I added the peppers and some water chestnuts, so pretty!

This is where we skip a bunch of pictures. The apartment got EXTREMELY smokey. Both Megan and I were very rushed trying to complete the dinner while opening every single window and door we have to vent some of the smoke out. So after the peppers, onions and water chestnuts cooked a bit, I added the ginger and garlic. After those flavors infused in the veggies, I added some chicken stock to deglaze a bit. Then I added the sugary soy syrup and cooked it down a bit. Then I added the chicken back in and a little more chicken stock to get the consistency right. 

Finally, it's time to eat! We served the stir fry on top of some brown rice, and a touch of cilantro to top it off.

Unfortunately, this meal was made at the expense of my 12" Cuisinart GreenChef skillet. After cleaning up the kitchen I noticed some discoloration on the skillet in some areas. Megan researched online and found that the skillets shouldn't be used at extremely high temperatures. However, I also read online that people have had issues with oil residues on the skillets and they are able to scrub it off with a scouring pad, but I'm not sure if I want to risk scratching the non-stick off. Others say that the oil residue goes away after more cooking, so I guess we'll see (hope for the best! I love the Cuisinart GreenChef Hard-Anodized cookware line). But one thing's for sure, I want need a wok.