Let's Do The Twist - Homemade Soft Pretzels

I have always loved the inviting scent of pretzels baking as we strolled through the mall. Of course strolling through the mall is not quite the same anymore. Am I right? So the kids and I thought it would be great fun to try our hand at twisting our own pretzels at home. I hope you try it too!!
Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

Video on how to shape a pretzel at   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIhioueIzQI

As well as the traditional pretzel shape we shaped ours as hearts and even letters to spell our names!!

Converstation starter: In each project we do, I try to find a teachable moment. As we were making and twisting pretzels, the converstation turned to how things get all twisted around through gossip. We looked up a verse:

Ephesians 4:29

English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁹ Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
As well others such as Proverbs 11:13, 20:19, and 20:23

I hope you find lots of teachable moments with your children this week!

Mold me and make me - Homemade Playdough!!

Who doesn't love playdough? Soft and squishy in your hands...you know your kids will love it even more if they make it with you! There are many playdough recipes out there. First I will shared the one we have had luck with:
Homemade (nonedible) Playdough

Basic ingredient ratios:
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar (optional for improved elasticity)

food coloring (liquid, powder, or unsweetened drink mix)
scented oils

Mix all of the ingredients together, and stir over low heat. The dough will begin to thicken until it resembles mashed potatoes.

When the dough pulls away from the sides and clumps in the center, as shown below, remove the pan from heat and allow the dough to cool enough to handle.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if your playdough is still sticky, you simply need to cook it longer!
Keep stirring and cooking until the dough is dry and feels like playdough.

Turn the dough out onto a clean counter or silicone mat, and knead vigorously until it becomes silky-smooth. Divide the dough into balls for coloring.

Make a divot in the center of the ball, and drop some food coloring1 in. Fold the dough over, working the food color through the body of the playdough, trying to keep the raw dye away from your hands and the counter. You could use gloves or plastic wrap at this stage to keep your hands clean- only the concentrated dye will color your skin, so as soon as it's worked in bare hands are fine.

Work the dye through, adding more as necessary to achieve your chosen color.

1 If you use unsweetened drink mix for color, test on a small ball first- it won't go as far as the "real" food coloring.

Play with your playdough- I really don't need to help you there. It's entirely edible, if a bit salty, so it's kid-safe.

When you're done, store your playdough in an air-tight container.
- If it begins to dry out, you can knead a bit of water in again to soften the dough back to useability. Once it's dried past a certain point, however, you'll just have to start over; thankfully it's not terribly difficult.
- If it gets soggy, you can re-heat it to drive off the extra water the dough absorbed overnight. This is usually the result of high humidity, but is fixable!

You can also bake it in the oven to make hard dough figures and ornaments, then paint or otherwise decorate the surface.

I should add that we tried baking it in the oven with not such good results. However it was a rather large sculpture and I think smaller ones might be fine.

Here are some other recipes to try including eatable playdough!!

Uncooked Playdough
Materials -
Bowl
1 cup cold water
1 cup salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Tempera paint or food coloring
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Directions -
In bowl, mix water, salt, oil, and enough tempera paint or food coloring to make a bright color.
Gradually add flour and cornstarch until the mixture reaches the consistency of bread dough.
Store covered.

Colored Playdough
Materials-
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
Food coloring
Saucepan
1 cup flour
Directions-
Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a saucepan and heat until warm.
Remove from heat and add flour.
Stir, then knead until smooth. The cream of tartar makes this dough last 6 months or longer, so resist the temptation to omit this ingredient if you don't have it on hand.
Store this dough in an airtight container or a Ziploc freezer bag.

Salt Playdough
Materials-
1 cup salt
1 cup water
1/2 cup flour plus additional flour
Saucepan
Directions-
Mix salt, water, and flour in saucepan and cook over medium heat.
Remove from heat when mixture is thick and rubbery.
As the mixture cools, knead in enough flour to make the dough workable.

Oatmeal Playdough
Materials-
1 part flour
1 part water
2 parts oatmeal
Bowl
Directions-
Combine all ingredients in a bowl; mix well and knead until smooth.
This playdough is not intended to be eaten, but it will not hurt a child who decides to taste it.
Store covered in refrigerator.
Your child can make this playdough without help; however, it doesn't last as long as cooked playdough.

Peanut Butter Playdough
Materials-
2 cups peanut butter
6 tablespoons honey
Nonfat dry milk or milk plus flour
Cocoa or carob for chocolate flavor (optional)
Edible treats for decoration
Directions-
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix, adding enough dry milk or milk plus flour to reach the consistency of bread dough.
Add cocoa or carob, if desired.
Shape, decorate with edible treats, and eat!

Kool-Aid Playdough
Materials-
1/2 cup salt
2 cups water
Saucepan
Food coloring, tempera powder, or Kool-Aid powder for color
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups sifted flour
2 tablespoons alum
Directions-
Combine salt and water in saucepan and boil until salt dissolves.
Remove from heat and tint with food coloring, tempera powder, or Kool-Aid.
Add oil, flour, and alum.
Knead until smooth.
This dough will last 2 months or longer.


Read more on FamilyEducation: http://fun.familyeducation.com/sculpting/recipes/37040.html#ixzz1vAW49NDc

It's coming!! Are you ready?

It's coming whether you are ready or not!!! What am I talking about? Summer of course and get ready to hear "Mom, I'm bored!!" I hope that together we can share some ideas of ways to keep our kids entertained and happy this summer and beyond. And it would not hurt to sneak in a few educational projects as well! So who's with me?? Ok, here we go...
The first thing I plan to do this summer is create a craft box. Many of you may have already done this but it never hurts to clean it out ( you never know what you find) and add some new things. Here are a few things we keep on hand:
*construction paper
*safe scissors
*glue in sticks and bottles ( hot glue can be for older kids)
*pipe cleaners
*brown paper lunch sacks
*glue on details such as googly eyes and rhinestones (keep away from little ones)
*popcicle sticks
*crayons, markers, pencils, and chalk
*stamps and stamp pads
*paint - I keep it but hide it for obvious reasons
*stickers
*tape
*stapler and staples
*glitter
*string and yarn
**plastic or wipe off table cloth (very important!!)

You may be able to think of a few more but this a good starter kit. A good thing to throw in is either children's apron for each child or some of dad's old T-shirts. They can decorate them and then wear them when they do thier projects!
I plan to do a special project with my children atleast once a week during the summer. It's a great memory maker. It gives them something to look forward to on the other days and I also use it as bribery material for room cleaning.
There of course are days when there is just no time to get a project going. I make a "Mom, I'm bored!" list and post on the wall or fridge for the kids to get thier own ideas. Here are a few I've listed.
*read a book
*coloring and make your own book (this is my 7yo favorite!)
*make paper bag puppets and plan a show
*play with sidewalk chalk
*play with the dog
*eat a fruit or vegetable
*look at our photo albums
*listen to your favorite music
*play a board (or bored) game
*play dress up
*write a letter or in a journal

There are many more and lots of projects I will be sharing. I hope this will help give you ideas for a great and memorable summer  - and every day!
Susan