fun friday

my friday posts are going to consist of fun, imaginative, kid friendly recipes. i often have my little ones beside me in the kitchen. hence i have a need to keep their little hands busy while we are creating. i have drawers full of plastics for them to rummage through. i have crayons and an endless supply of crafting provisions for them to work on. i have a bin full of play dough with rolling pins, garlic presses and cookie cutters galore. all in the name of keeping the young ones entertained whilst i conquer the weekly menus.

for the summer i promised them that fridays would be their day to create anything epicureous. we've had lengthy discussions about what they wanted to try. some of which are:

donuts

frozen hot cocoa

popcorn balls

suckers

eclairs

cookie pizzas

frozen bananas

taffy

homemade ice cream sandwiches

today we've chosen to start with big, soft, scrumdillyumsious pretzels. they're always a hit.

pretzels

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1 1/2 c warm water

1 tlb sugar

1 tsp salt

4 cups flour

1 egg, beaten

kosher salt

mix yeast with warm water until yeast his dissolved. cover and let bloom - approx. 3 minutes. add sugar, salt and flour. mix and knead the dough until it is smooth. divide the dough into 2 balls. cut the ball into equal portions. roll and twist the dough into letters, numbers, and animal shapes. lay the pretzels on a greased cookie sheet. brush with a beaten egg, then lightly sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 425 for 12-15 minutes.