Hi there!
It’s been so long since I’ve been on here! I had a lot to do after spending two days in bed- lots of odds and ends to finish before I left for school on Thursday evening. This winter break fleeeew by. I spent a lot of days with Russ, or experimenting in the kitchen, or doing other random things that I can’t do when I’m at school.
The night before I left, I threw myself a “going away dinner“. Really, I wanted to make pizza and it was a good excuse. So pizza it was!
I’m a big fan of Trader Joe’s fresh pizza dough– it’s easy and inexpensive. I made one white dough pizza with cheese and sauce and one wheat pizza with peppers and onions. Peppers and onions are my favorite, but I might be the only one. Making your own pizza is great because you can control the toppings– add as many as you want! You can determine just how much cheese is used and what type, and you can make it healthier (or not).
Russ “helped”…basically he stood in the kitchen and kept asking when it would be ready.
We didn’t finish either pie, but there were a lot of leftovers for the next day.
Plus-We needed to save room for dessert! I had a few minutes and the oven was already on, so I made Carmelitas– aka the most decadent, sweet dessert ever.
Dough, caramel and lots and lots of chocolate.
After dinner, Dad and I had plans to knock out that last Winter Break Bucket List item- make pretzels together! Russ was with us, so the more, the merrier! I had so much fun that night! It would have been even more perfect if Leland and my mom could have joined us, but I had a lot of fun nonetheless. Since we used a mix to make the pretzels, it wasn’t too complicated. Well…making the dough wasn’t bad. While we waited for the dough to proof, we played a game of Scrabble!
They gave me a 20 point lead, but I held my own. I came in second without the lead! That isn’t too bad if you ask me. We had to take a break to SHAPE the pretzels. Easier said than done! I was cracking up at our awful pretzel twisting skills.
They were weird shaped mounds, and Russ took it upon himself to make a very inappropriately shaped pretzel ;).
It was a really great last night at home and I am looking forward to seeing my family again. I’m glad I go to school so close to home 🙂
And if you’re wondering- the pretzels were GREAT that night– soft and perfect. But the next day they were a little tough. Nothing a microwave can’t fix!
I plan to get back to normal programming tomorrow- healthy food, workouts, life.
