Pretzels

Yep, pretzels. Something Bella and I haven't been able to have in a long time. And something I've been meaning to attempt baking from scratch for a long time. Adam and I have been very good lately about making a menu weekly and shopping as a family, making cutting our expenses and keeping to a budget much easier. However, this means that he and the boys are buying certain things, like pretzels and bagels, that Bella and I cannot have. We have our substitutes for dairy that we're all happy with, as most of us have showed issues with it and we are all off of dairy for now. But with Bella and me the only two who can definitely not have wheat, those are the things that are most divided for us.

With this last trip to the store, a big bag of pretzels came home with us. That really bummed Bella out. Just the motivation I needed to finally try that pretzel recipe from the wonderful Bob's Red Mill gluten-free recipe section. Bella did most of the mixing, but wasn't 03.

up for taking on the shaping. That was just fine by me, because I enjoyed it. Here is the pretzel shaping from Bella's perspective.

Not perfect by any mechanical comparison, but homemade inconsistency is perfection to my senses.

Bella did all of the egg-white brushing.

Or should I say Astrid the Viking... She also did all of the salting.

While all of this was going on, the boys were watching and helping with what they could, while Helena was finding her belly button.

A very important and apparently surprising skill to develop.

And when all was said and done, the most important critic loved them.

 Aren't they lovely?

We are definitely going to be making our homemade pretzels again!

Cold Winter Morning

I don't know about where you are, but where I am Saturday morning was a frigid one. Our handy new digital indoor/outdoor thermometer (Christmas present from my parents - perfect for my weather obsession) read 1 degree when we woke from our snuggly beds. Our ancient furnace was putting along constantly all morning, yet the thermostat held firm at 57 degrees. So we bundled the kids under blankets in the living room with the space heater for a bit, and Max and I got working on breakfast to heat up the kitchen.

Max is my constant kitchen companion. He has a hand in just about everything that I make. He loves to measure, to dump, to stir, and of course to lick all that is left when we are baking something yummy. Who doesn't love that part, right? In fact, all of my kids are welcome in the kitchen, to help with whatever they can. Kane is our egg-cracker, Bella is our cake-master, and Max will make anything, from breakfast to dinner to desert. They all have their own sets of measuring cups, spoons, and scrapers and I rarely make anything on my own. Saturday Max and I decided on scones loaded up with organic raisins. Seriously yummy. We had always used an old standard recipe before, converted to gluten and dairy free just by my substitutions. This time we decided to use the recipe in our now-standard Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts. I personally believe this is a must for anyone facing life gluten-free. We are now making all of our bread from this book, as well as perfectly wonderful cakes and cookies that even our pickiest wheat-eating family and friends love.

When Max decides he's going to make something, he is an all or nothing sort of person. So with cooking, he really is doing it on his own. Honestly, I'm just there for quality control at this point. I make sure that there are no egg shells, that the sides are scraped down well, and that there are no pockets of un-mixed flour left on the bottom of the mixing bowl. The rest is all him in his three-year-old glory. He can beat eggs until they are very light and fluffy. Bed head does not interfere.

He's a whiz with the pastry cutter. Push and twist, push and twist. He has that down.

Scraping is no problem at all, although the positioning of the tongue is imperative for proper clearing.

And I believe I've already mentioned the scraper-licking...

And the finished product, a beautiful pie plate full of raisin-filled scones, doesn't last long.

Within about 20 minutes it was empty, bellies were full of warm baked goodness, and the kitchen was toasty warm. Just what we ordered on a frigid January morning.