Super Psyched!

Check it out!  Happy pre-Birthday to me!  This great book (by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins) was a gift and will give me lots of ideas for new crafts.  It has all sorts of cute purses, home goodies,  and tote bags; each made with only one yard of material.  Very clever! I can't wait to start a new sewing project. Thanks, Jilly bean!

BTW:  My knitting needles are busy again with a second "February lady sweater".  We had a great weekend get-a-way with a long flight out to Vegas.  Plenty of time to knit and watch people in the airport.

Happy Valentine's Day

Today felt like a good day to do some random cooking.  I didn't want to make cookies or candy, but I wanted to make something for a little pre-V Day treat.  PRETZELS are heart shaped - sort of - so I searched for a copy cat recipe for Auntie Ann's soft pretzels.  Ta-da. Easy as the proverbial pie!  Delicious, too!

AUNTIE ANN'S HOMEMADE SOFT PRETZELS (Copy Cat Recipe)

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 c warm water
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
2T brown sugar
1 1/8 tsp salt
1 c bread flour (it's a protein/gluten thing, and YES, I had this in the pantry!)
3 c regular flour (all purpose)
     It will totally work with just all purpose flour, I think, but the high gluten makes it more             "pretzely"


2 c warm water
2 T baking soda

TOPPINGS:
4 T melted butter (sweet unsalted)
Kosher salt or 
Cinnamon sugar mixture for topping

PREPARATION:

Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour. 



While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope (about 1/2 inch or less thick:  the longer and thinner, the more like Aunt Annie’s will be) and shape.

After rolling out dough, place it in a U shape.  Twist right over left 2 times and loop back down to bottom of the U.  Sort of like a heart!

Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with Kosher salt (if you plan on coating with cinnamon sugar, this isn’t necessary) Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 degrees F oven for about 8 - 10 minutes or until golden. I baked mine for 5 minutes then rotated the pan to help them brown more evenly. Brush with melted butter (now’s the time for the sugar and cinnamon mixture) 


YUMMY
Also, I got to use one of my favorite baking tools (totally unnecessary, but I enjoy it)  This is my bread dough mixer.  It's from King Arthur Flour and it really helps incorporate the wet and dry ingredients.  I use this tool with some good old elbow grease until I can get the mixture a nice consistency to turn out and begin kneading by hand.  The King Arthur Flour website is very cool.  They have lots of nifty baking/cooking tools, recipes, and a wonderful educational program for schools (that's how I learned about them - again, thanks to the awesome 4th grade teachers at my school)

Bradford Brew

This is NOT my project, but I benefit from it.  Today is beer bottling day for my husband!

Comfort and Joy

Stress and strain, aches and pains:  Teaching is hard work! More heating pads to help relieve a stiff neck or a sore back for friends at work. Ahhhhh...

Welcome to Music Class

I had my camera at school today and decided to take a couple of pictures of the bulletin boards and displays in the classroom.  Not exactly a "craft, " but I think they are "crafty." Coming into the music room the children see the Do-Re-Mi Minions showing the solfege names for each scale degree.  They are made out of foam pieces and foam letters. I tried to make each of them have their own "personality." I'm not sure if you can see in the photo, but they are still correct for their place in the scale.  Mi and Fa are holding hands as are Ti and High Do (a half step apart)  Only I would care about that, but the kids really like them.   Each of their little heads used to have some sort of "hair" popping out but they have been touched and touched and patted and loved by children as they pass by.  (I'm giving up on saying "hands to yourself, please!") I think "Ti" looks like Uncle Phil. Purely coincidental.

On the opposite wall from the minions is an idea I took from a teacher bulletin board website.  All I had to do was download the pictures and put together the display that lists the National Standards.  It's what we do in music.

Then, our wonderful parents at Eisenhower put up any saying we wanted over the doors.  I chose "Sing, Learn, Play, Laugh"  That pretty much sums it up! Here's the view kids get as they enter my room.

The other side of the room has an entrance door, too.  I went "old school" for those walls - and very "punny."  I work at Eisenhower Elementary School - hence, "Ike" Tunes and the iPod made out of foam core poster board.

And, the best use EVER for those rotten BOOM WACKERS that every elementary music teacher has in the classroom.  (An "instrument" called a boom wackier is just begging for kids to bang each other up with them.)  These are attached with velcro dots.  It really is a nice demonstration of "the longer the tube, the lower the sound"

Not to be left out, I copied my ideas from Eisenhower when I got assigned to the other elementary school - Jerry Ross.  You can see the Do Re Minions are out of children's reach at this school.  They all still have their "hair"

UPDATE:  A template to make your own Minions can be found on the August 22, 2013 post 

February Lady Sweater

That's the name of this pattern on Ravelry.com.  Is it a coincidence that I'm also a "February lady?"  Idon't think so!

I've already made this pattern for myself (in off-white), but now I'm starting one for my daughter.  We went to my favorite yarn shop on Saturday (Sheep's Clothing in Valparaiso) and picked out a lovely grey super wash yarn.  They've ordered the yarn and it should be delivered just in time for knitting on a couple of long flights coming up in February and March.  We're going  Las Vegas  in February and I'm traveling to Pittsburgh (for the honor choir in West Virginia)  I love to knit on planes and the time passes so quickly in airports!

In the meantime, other than hemming pants and sewing buttons, I made a sparkly beret for Kelley (one of our fantastic 2nd grade teachers).  She'll be a "cool, hep-cat" at the Coffee House Poetry readings. It's not a very good picture of the beret, but the sparkles are awesome!

Crafting Question

Hemming a pair of pants and sewing on loose buttons doesn't count as a craft, does it?