One of my new year’s resolutions is to try a new bread recipe every Monday. I’ve been making our regular bread with our home-ground wheat for the past year, so I’m definitely ready to branch out!

On January 4th I tried the pretzel recipe in “Wildflour” by Denise M. Fidler. We use this book for many of our ground-wheat recipes. (The bread we make regularly was adapted by Momma from this book.)

Due to the hard work and copyright of the author, I won’t be posting the recipe, but I highly recommend “Wildflour” to anyone interested in grinding their own wheat.

Now for the pretzels. . .

The most delightful part was rolling out the chunks of dough into long floppy snakes and twisting them into the familiar and beloved pretzel figure.

How to twist a pretzel:

1. Using your hands, roll out the dough into a snake, about 2 feet long. (If the surface of the dough has dried a little, you can lightly rub it down with a bagel wash [1 c. warm water + 1/4 c. baking soda] while you roll it out.)

2. Take the two ends and switch them twice.

3. Then press them onto the opposite side of the pretzel.

4. Dip them in the water/baking soda mixture. Place them on the pan and sprinkle them with sea salt. (Table salt works fine. That’s what I used.)

These homemade pretzels were very tasty, especially with strawberry cream cheese. I’d also like to try making homemade strawberry cream cheese from strained low-fat yogurt and homemade strawberry jam. We’ll see how that goes.  :)

“Toast and Cream”

Toasted bread, thoroughly punctured with a fork. Oh, and a good sprinkling of sugar . . .

. . . And milk poured over the top. Mmmm!

Extra good with homemade bread!

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Toast and Cream Recipe:

- Two slices of homemade bread
- Spoonful of sugar
- Enough cold milk to soak your bread

Toast your bread till it’s golden brown. Place toast on a plate and puncture with a fork until the tops of both pieces are covered in holes. Sprinkle a spoonful of sugar over both pieces (you may use more or less as you wish). Pour the milk over your sugared toast until they’re soaked through.

Grab your fork and enjoy!

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The Studio is coming along nicely with only a few more things to finish up.  Dad has sealed the windows off with plastic to keep out the winter drafts, and I’ve added two more lamps to my collection for extra light.

I’d like to replace the lace curtains if I can find a good bargain on at least 32 yards of fabric (just kidding).  And I need a thingy to cover the light bulbs dangling from the ceiling.  I originally wanted an Italian Tole chandelier, but I can’t find anything less than hundreds of dollars, so I’ve settled on something much more simple.

In the bottom right corner you can see that one of the bookshelves was painted, where I keep more of my books.  I have yet to figure out a better way to store my knitting and sewing supplies, but they can stay under the table as long as they need to.

And here is one of my new favorite spots in the house.  On the opposite side of the room from my table is a comfy chair and stand.  The old easel stored behind the table and chair is for purely compositional and aesthetic reasons, but the little table and chair are just right for my daily quiet time.

This room has been such a blessing to work in.  A northern window, beautiful antique wood trim and floor, and a large table . . . sigh.  Thank you Lord!

Bake some cookies or other treats (my favorite is definitely chocolate chip).

Use simple crafting supplies to decorate a brown paper sack, such as ribbons…

…and some tissue paper flowers.

I then packaged the cookies in cellophane bags and placed them in the paper sack.

And voila! You have a lovely gifts of sweets for a friend.

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I remember many, many years ago we made little gingerbread houses out of graham crackers, pretzels, and chocolate icing.  Of course we were very young and didn’t have the patience for the real stuff, but one year we did end up trying to make a nativity scene which turned out quite nice.  But alas, after all these years (ancient sage that I am), I have never made a real, real gingerbread house.

Until now!

This was first year to make a gingerbread house! All by myself even!

“Will it stick?”

“All right everyone, if you would all step this way to your new home…”

…and viola! The Gingerbread House.

This is going to have to be a Christmas tradition now.  Even if it did take over 6 hours(?), I think it’s worth it.

A very rewarding experience.

I discovered I really really really like mocha.

Mommy found a delightful mix for instant mocha and I must share it with you all. I am looking forward to chilly icy days in January, curled up next to a heat radiator, studying History, sipping up my sweet little mug of frothy chocolate.

The Perfect Hot Mocha Mix (Half Gallon Mix Recipe)

1/2 cup instant coffee granules
3 cups powdered coffee creamer
2 1/2 cups dry milk powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups instant chocolate milk mix

All you have to do is stir all of these ingredients together and keep it in a sealed container. Just add 1/3 cup of dry mocha mix to one cup of hot water.

And enjoy!