Snow Day(s)!

Omaha finally received its first major snowfall this past week...9 inches overall. So, Thang got to stay home for a couple of days with school cancelled. YAY! I get just about as excited for snow days with Thang as I did as a school girl. We stayed busy! While Silas and I stayed cozied up inside...

Thang and Nora enjoyed the snow...

Making snow angels...I just love the look of delight on her face.

And then warmed up inside by baking some yummy soft pretzels with Mommy...

Like a warm hug on a cold day! Here's the recipe we used to make these tasty treats.

Heavenly Homemaker's Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

1 c. water
2 T. yeast
2 t. honey
2 1/2 cups milk
1 stick butter
1/2 cup honey
4 t. salt
8 cups whole wheat flour (more if necessary)
butter
salt

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix 1 cup very warm water, 2 T. yeast and 2 t. honey. Stir together. Let this sit for a few minutes while you do the next step.

Melt a stick of butter in a large saucepan.

Add 1/2 cup honey, 4 t. salt and 2 1/2 cups of milk. Heat to 120 degrees (use your candy thermometer for this).

Pour milk mixture into yeast mixture and stir.

Stir in 8 cups of flour, 2 cups at a time. (add more if you need it)

Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes.

Plop it into a bowl, cover it and let it rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.

Pull it out of the bowl and knead it a few times to get the air out. Pull a ball of dough, about the size of your fist.

Roll it into a long snake. Twist into pretzel shape (see Laura's pics for the how-to).

After you shape each pretzel, put them on a cookie sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Melt a stick of butter in a saucepan. Right when you take the pretzels out of the oven, slather them with butter, then sprinkle salt over them. We also did brown sugar and cinnamon.

These were so tasty, we scarfed them down before getting a good pic of the finished product! These also freeze well (a good strategy to keep yourself from scarfing them all down!).

Aaaaand, because what's a blog without some gratuitous cute baby pics...

What a sweet face for someone who just poo'd all over me!