Musical Interlude

Most real musicians like to create music in the underwear. Oliver is no different. In case you don't recognize the tune, this is his version of Day Old Blues by Kings of Leon. He LOVES this song.

Homemade pretzels

Today Oliver and I made our own soft pretzels. I found a recipe for 100% whole wheat pretzels online and thought we'd give them a try. Anthony moaned something about making them out of grass clippings from the yard when I told him what we were going to do. He usually mocks my adventures in whole wheat flour and mumbles something about lack of taste, but then usually gobbles them up. Oliver was eager to help in the kitchen with this project. Which means he wanted to get his hands dirty and make a mess. Cooking with a two year old is a test of my patience. I'm getting better, but I still have to stifle my screams sometimes when I look at the floor.













Pretzel recipe
I can't vouch for this blog site at all, especially with a title like 'Heavenly Homemakers'. But Google doesn't discern for taste or sarcasm.
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

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

Melt a stick of butter in a saucepan on the stove. Add 1/2 cup honey, 2 1/2 cups milk and 4 t. salt. Heat until 120 degrees. Add to the yeast mixture and stir.

Add the flour 2 cups at a time and stir. Knead for 5 - 10 minutes, then cover and let sit for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove from bowl and knead a few times. Take a fist sized ball of dough and roll into a snake. Then form into pretzel shapes or circles, snakes, Celtic knots, whatever you desire. We tried it all and they basically taste the same. We got about 12 large pretzels and things from this recipe.

Bake on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes at 350.

Melt another stick of butter to rub onto the pretzels as soon as they come out of the oven. Lather it on good and sprinkle with salt. Enjoy!

Oliver likes his with jam and I prefer mustard. I bet they would be good with cheese dip and marinara too!

Life outside

We have had some pretty impressive weather lately, which means we are outside all the time. We planted the rest of our garden last weekend and we have been biking almost every day. We sometimes go for long rides along the river or just quick ones to daycare or the park. Once we got the park the other morning after pulling Oliver in the trailer behind my bike, he said to me "good work Mom". He also insists that we eat dinner outside. Life is pretty good right now.

Telling Baker the bear about what we're growing in the garden.

Refreshing beverages for both of us after a particularly long and hot bike ride.

On our way to daycare
Baker the bear is a constant companion these days.

2 by 2

A simple night time reading turned rap session with Charlotte and Kelly.

Gardening

We've started a garden this year in our backyard. Anthony built 3 beds that we plan to fill with yummy vegetables for us to eat this summer. Oliver loves to eat fruit, but like most kids has a brick wall resistance to vegetables. He will try them if we beg. Here is how it usually goes down; he takes a bite, makes a face and spits it out. At least he tries them, right? My hope is that if he is involved with planting, watering and harvesting the vegetables he'll take some ownership and want to eat them. I'm sure I'm being overzealous and naive about how a 2 year old thinks, but I'm going to try anyway. That is what I'm asking him to do. Try.

Our friends Kelly and Stefan gave us some lettuce starts from their garden in Portland. Oliver loved getting his hands dirty and digging holes for the lettuce. Hopefully the plants will stay in the dirt long enough to produce something. We have plans to do some more planting this weekend.