my favorite treat in the whole world

Soft Pretzels! these can make any day better and put a smile on any face. they are delicious and if you put them out at a party, they go like hotcakes (although i feel like hotcakes wouldn't go very quickly)

1 package of yeast (1/4 ounce)

1 cup warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees, it has to be within this range, any colder and it won't activate the yeast, any warmer and you'll kill it)

2 tablespoons of soft butter

1 tablespoon of sugar (it's for the yeast, it doesn't make the pretzels sweet)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2-3/4 cups flour

4 cups water

2 tablespoons baking soda

coarse salt

1. dissolve yeast in the water in a large mixing bowl. add butter sugar salt and 2 cups flour, beat until smooth. stir in the rest of the flour to form a soft dough.

2. Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes

3. my favorite part, punch dough down. somehow it's just really entertaining to punch dough.

4. Put the 4 cups of water in a nonaluminum sauce pan and bring it to boil.

5. divide dough into 12 equal pieces, roll into a long strip and twist into a pretzel shape

6. add the baking soda to the water, drop two pretzels into the water and boil for a minute. remove with a slotted spoon, drain, plase on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. repeat with the rest of the pretzels

7. Bake at 475 degrees for 10-12 minutes

8. Wait a few minutes before removing the pretzels from the pan to let them cool, that way the whole of the pretzels will come off.

they will be delicious and you will enjoy!

Honey Brown Sugar Blondies

Which when i perfect the recipe, will get a better name. (ooooooh, honey blondies with peanuts and chocolate chips with a banana frosting. the elvis surprise, i don't know what the surprise will be? maybe the smile on your face after you eat it)

blondies recipe for now

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup honey (this might be too much, the flavor is a little overwhelming)

3 eggs (i'm of the firm belief that brownies and blondies (which are their chocolateless counterparts, which are still delicious despite their lack of chocolate) should be gooey, which means eggs. and maybe oil, so this might be something i work on)

teaspoon of vanilla (vanilla is in EVERYTHING, no matter what)

1 1/2 cups flour (this recipe had almost that, but is more like cake, so it's going to need more eggs (or oil) and that's going to mean more flour.

like most recipes, combine butter and sugar, but this time, add honey to this mixture. then add eggs, one at a time, then flour. pour batter (its always brownie batter, not dough, dough you should be able to handle with your hands, batter should be more like liquid. brownie/blondie batter should be thicker than cake batter) into a large pan (i'm not sure how large mine is, 9 by 11 maybe?) bake at 350 for 35 minutes (always use the toothpick test (toothpick should come out of the blondie clean)

while this recipe is not quite perfect, it is still delicious, which is why i'm posting it, even with its faults

so this is my blog which no one reads because no one knows about it as i haven't told anyone and i don't believe they would bother to google it. therefore i can write about whatever the hell i want (even if the main purpose is to write recipes that i've used to come back to). in the depths of the internet, almost every recipe is out there, so there's no reason to keep things secret.

it's 3:14 (that number looks funny in whatever font this is(note, which ever font this is is not the same font as when it gets published. its kinda lame)). i'm still awake and have done nothing with my life , which isn't entirely true. i've discovered that rootbeer truffles cannot be made with white chocolate. but i still have cleaning and unpacking to do that i have no desire to do, i really need to get on that but i just don't have the motivation to do it, i don't know why. i just don't have much to do and when i don't have much to do i choose to do nothing. i have so many things i want to do. and i will do them tomorrow. i'm going to do them tomorrow. and that's a promise i'm making to myself. i'm going to go wander around with zach and kristina for some extra hours and then come back, play bowie, do a unit or two on rosetta stone and do a little unpacking. laundry this weekend, definitely. at somepoint i need to go get quarters so that i can do laundry. motivation, it's important.

also pretzels. which will be ridiculous, and i'll share the recipe. and if i feel like it, pictures.

Rootbeer Truffles

a great idea in theory - White Chocolate, with Rootbeer concentrate for flavor, with a vanilla creme coating.

of course, i couldn't find vanilla candy to melt to save my life. the only time giant eagle has ever failed me. so i decided, what the hell, let's just make the ganache center to see if it'll work. no dice. the rootbeer concentrate is not strong enough to mask the white chocolate unfortunately.

So here's to the hunt to find something that'll be mild either that, or crafting some form of gooey inside with carmelized sugar flavored with rootbeer.

the quest continues!

Of course the first thing I would make would be something with Lemon

I might get around to posting the recipes for the things that I make eventually, but i'm not sure. I might be selfish.

also, eventually there will be pictures.

this is mostly just a reminder to me of the things I have made and which recipes worked and did not (so i should probably post the recipes).

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Creme Frosting

i need to work on cupcakes, they're always too dense. i know i never cream the butter and sugar enough, and i'm sure cake flour would be better. unfortunately, i'm a poor college student and cannot afford cake flour. it's something i'm working on.

the end.