Bavarian Pretzels

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 Tbs active dry yeast
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 2 Tbs butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 Tbs baking soda
• 3 cups water
• 2 Tbs butter melted
• Coarse sea salt to taste

Directions (READ INSTRUCTIONS all the way through first!)

1. In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup of flour, yeast, sugar, 2 Tbs of butter, and 1 1/3 cup water.  Let this mixture stand until bubbles begin to form, about 15 minutes.  Stir in the salt and gradually stir in the remaining flour until dough can be picked up and kneaded on the counter.  Knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes, adding more flour if needed.
2. Divide the dough into 6 pieces (more if you like smaller pretzels) and let them rest for a few minutes.  Roll out one piece at a time into a rope about 15 inches long.  Loop and twist into that cool pretzel shape, or any shape you like!  Set on a baking sheet while you roll out the remaining portions. 
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Bring the remaining 3 cups of water to a boil and add the baking soda.  Remove from heat.  Dip pretzels into the water bath for about 45 seconds, flipping over about halfway through.  Place the soaked pretzels on a greased baking sheet.  Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 8-10 minutes.

When I first tried this recipe I got a head of myself and botched step 3 of the directions!  So please remember to read all the way through!  If done right these taste so awesome!  The water bath really gives them that unique pretzel taste!

If you don't like salt on your pretzels feel free to get creative with toppings!  I've also used a cinnamon sugar topping that turns out really yummy!

I'm sorry it has been so long since my last post!  I feel like I've disappointed you 3 faithful readers of mine!  All this pregnancy and baby stuff has kind of consumed my life these past months.  I've got a few yummy dishes I need to share with you all!  I'll try and get them updated before baby girl comes!

Stuffed Jalapenos

Ingredients

• 12 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
• 12 slices bacon, cut in half
• Franks RedHot Original sauce to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Whip together cream cheese and Franks hot sauce. You may leave out the hot sauce if you want, but it give it such a yummy flavor :)
3. Stuff each jalapeno half with whipped cream cheese mixture.
4. Wrap a half slice of bacon around each stuffed jalapeno half and secure with a tooth pick. Arrange wrapped jalapeno halves in a single layer on a baking sheet.
5. Bake in the preheated oven 45 minutes, or until bacon is evenly browned and crisp.

These little babies turned out so good for our Super Bowl party!! I made some with the hot sauce and some with plain cream cheese. Both turned out good, but I personally liked the ones with a bit of Franks in them the most. I wish I had a picture of them, but I forgot to bring my camera.

I ended up using more cream cheese then expected because the jalapenos I bought were huge!!! So if you have large peppers make sure to have extra cream cheese on hand.

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

• 1 pound large shrimp, shelled and de-veined (you can use any size shrimp, I used medium this time, adjust for size)
• 2-4 garlic cloves, slivered, or 1 Tbs minced garlic
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2-3 Tbs real butter
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parley (use less if using dried)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (use less for less of a kick)
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tbs lemon juice

Directions

1. Heat a saute pan on high heat. reduce the heat to medium-high and add the olive oil and butter. Once the butter melts, foams up and subsides, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute for a minute, or until you see the edges of some of the garlic just beginning to brown.
2. As soon as the garlic begins to brown, add the shrimp to the pan. Then add the white wine and stir to combine and coat the shrimp with the butter, oil, and wine. Spread the shrimp out in an even layer in the pan. Increase the heat to the highest setting and let the wine boil vigorously for 2-3 minutes.
3. Turn the shrimp over, or toss them so the cooked sides are mostly facing up, and boil the wine for another minute. Remove from the heat, add the parsley and toss to combine. Add the lemon juice and black pepper.

You can serve this over pasta, bread, rice, or just eat plain :) We had this with a whole wheat thin spaghetti.

I found this recipe here (http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/shrimp_scampi/) on a lovely site called Simply Recipes :) It turned out fantastic and so simple to make! I'll definatly be making this again.

1 year blog :)

So I guess I've had this blog for a whole year now! 19 posts, not to bad for me since i'm a terrible blogger! I'll try and do better this year! I've tried some really good recipes lately!
My most recent I need to blog about is the delectible Baked Avocado Fries!! So so good!

So here is to a better food and blogging year! :) It has been fun to share some of my passions with other people through this blog, even though only like 5 people actually read it. haha :) My hubby sure likes it.