#snowmygosh

it snowed a lot today.

 no joke...i saw someone cross country skiing outside -- 

so i made some bread.

and also cookies ( :

i told my mom i'd do a better job of blogging so i'm starting today!

it's supposed to be super-cold tomorrow, but (of course) work is never canceled for me so we'll see how that goes...

auntie anna's pretzels.

i went to the mall a couple weekends ago and decided i needed to make some pretzels.

so i did.

the recipe is pretty easy.

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 package yeast

4 cups flour

4 tablespoons melted butter

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

coarse salt (if you don't have it, you can use the regular kind but it's pretty cheap and worth the investment!)

directions:

pour 1 1/2 cups of warm water into a bowl. add 1 tablespoon of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt and stir it all up. then add 1 package (or 2 1/4 teaspoons) of yeast into the mix and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it gets kind of foamy. 

then add about 4 cups of flour and 4 tablespoons of melted butter (1/2 stick). mix it in little by little. if you have a dough hook, you can use that. otherwise just do it by hand (like i do). keep kneading it until it's all good and mixed together. this part should take a few minutes.

roll the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for about an hour.

now's a good time to preheat the oven: 450 degrees...or 400 if your oven is super-hot like mine. you can also get your cookie sheets ready. you'll probably need two (or just bake one batch at a time) so line them with parchment paper.

also bring 10 cups of water to a boil and add 2/3 cup of baking soda. 

while that's working, roll your pretzel dough into pretzel-like shapes. you should be able to make 8 medium sized pretzels or more smaller ones. when those are ready, put each pretzel in the boiling water for 30 seconds -- one at a time. that's what gives it the nice coating when it bakes.

after they get their baking soda bath, put the pretzels on the parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and brush them with a mixture of 1 egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water. add coarse salt on top. 

bake them for 12-14 minutes (or 10 if your oven is super-hot like mine).

and voila. homemade pretzels ( :

i am getting so old.

can you believe i'm 26?

i can't. ugh.

luckily i have cool people who made me feel extra-special

instead of just extra-old.

it started with a few of my coworkers.

one of them made me lemon raspberry cupcakes -- 

another one baked me some cookies but i already ate them and forgot to take a picture.

then i got some fruit from ruth!

(i put it in the fridge and another one of my coworkers dropped it on the floor and broke the handle -- you can see a little bit below)

but mostly it had this awesome chocolate pineapple bunny -- 

 

then a flower bouquet from m+d+d -- 

 and some awesome bday texts (and a midnight call) from surrah -- 

 i watched some 24 with sean, played some games -- 

 ...and dustin may have made this in honor of my birthday.

still not sure about that one. 

anyway i'm getting pretty old but i'm not dead yet.

crock pot creations.

m&d were kind enough to get me a crock pot for christmas.

so i started using it and it is awesome.

(thanks guys!)

my first dish was spare ribs with carrots and red potatoes -- 

i coated the ribs in flour, browned them and popped them in the slow cooker. then i added carrots, potatoes, chopped onions and some beef broth and let it cook on low for ten hours. 

it was so tender, the meat literally fell off the bones. YUM.

then today i made chili.

browned the ground turkey --

 sauteed the veggies (two green peppers and one onion) -- 

 and threw it all together in the pot with two cans of dark red kidney beans, a packet of chili mix, an extra tablespoon each of chili powder and paprika and some tomato juice. cooked on low for eight hours and it was yummy.

oh and also i got my hair cut.

deranna bars.

so i've been working at WCIA for two months now and i have a lot of catching up to do. let's start with my most recent foray into baking. it was in honor of my friend and photographer, derek. yesterday was our last day working together (he got a job doing video production stuff) so last week i told him i'd bake him something to celebrate. he said he wanted a cookie bar that was kind of like a reese's cup.
so i made deranna bars. 

for starters, "deranna" is a combination of our names. i figured it'd be a good name for a dessert i invented in his honor: a combination of what he wanted and what i could think up. also i completely made up the recipe but here's something close to what it was.

first, (preheat the oven to 375, grease a 9x13" pan and)
make the cookie bar base -- 

mix together:

1 cup butter (softened)

3/4 cup brown sugar (plus a little more)

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

(you can use an electric mixer or do it by hand)

add two eggs, one at a time.

mix in:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

once all of that is good and mixed, add the chocolate chips.

i use a regular-sized bag, which is equal to about two cups.

spoon the cookie dough into the pan and spread it around. 

bake for about 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

after that, let the cookie bar cool.
i let it sit overnight, but you don't have to.

it just needs to be cool enough so it doesn't melt the topping.

while that's cooling, make your peanut butter mixture --

1 1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

mix it until it is all the same consistency
and spread it on top of the (cooled) cookie bar.

then it's time for chocolate --

melt together (over low heat on stovetop
or in the microwave a few seconds at a time):

2 cups chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

spread that on top of the peanut butter mixture and garnish with mini reese's cups.

voila.

deranna bars.

the great thing about this is that you can cut them into reasonably small pieces and still have decent-sized chunks since the dessert has a lot of layers. i made enough for two large plate-fuls and then some...however many that is ( :

a first time for everything.

last week, i ran my first (un-official) half marathon (and then some)!

i did 15 miles in just more than two hours.

i survived...but my phone did not.

(had to replace it this week...boo) 

also last week, i went with sports boy to finalize the deal on 

his first ever major car purchase -- an audi!

lastly last week, i made gummy shapes!

it was easier than i thought.

ingredients: 1 small package jello, 7 gelatin packets, 1/2 cup water.

mix it all together until it has the consistency of play dough --

then stir over low heat until it melts to a liquid -- 

pour the liquid into molds and pop them in the freezer for 5 minutes.

voila!

gummy shapes --

i poured some of the mixture into cookie cutters to make big shapes.

(i tried to fix this one as jello was cooling so it got messed up)

i used them to top a giant "dirt cups" recipe --

ingredients: chocolate pudding, cool whip and crushed oreos.

partially gluten-free ( :

stuck in the middle with you, part 2.

remember this post??

well...in continuing my tradition of only living in the center of states, 

i'm heading to champaign, illinois -- as a reporter for WCIA.

i'm excited to be a part of the central illinois news leader's team.

...now if i can just find somewhere to live...

little(er) d.

as everyone in the krondashian clan starts to get excited about a new baby d, let's take a look at some of my favorite adorable pics of 

little d -- who will soon be big brother d!

WARRIOR DASH 2012.

last month, i did the most-fun race i have ever run.

WARRIOR DASH 2012!!

(as usual, click on pics to enlarge)

in about 3.3 miles, i --

-hurdled over barricades

-balanced across teetering planks of wood

-traversed across tangled nets

-crawled under logs through the mud 

-conquered a wooden barricade

-scrambled beneath barbed wire in the mud

-swam and climbed across a capsized catamaran

-sprinted up (and down) a giant hill

-did a military crawl under some more nets and barbed wire

-maneuvered on top of and across a series of cargo nets

-leapt over the warrior fires

-and scrambled / swam through a giant mud pit to the finish

also i completely slipped and fell about two feet 

in front of the finish line and slid through instead. 

(i'm on the right...danger phil was just sliding to make fun of me)

everyone watching thought that was pretty great.

then it was time for some post-race pics with danger phil -- 

needless to say, i donated my shoes to a good cause instead of 

trying to take them home and wash them.

we stopped at that "warrior wash" (not pictured). turns out, it was a pond where you could rinse off with all the other dirty runners.

after getting cleaned up, 

we went back to the finish to watch more racers.

danger phil tried his hand at throwing axes -- 

we showed off our game faces -- 

and i allowed him to take ONE picture of me in that ridic hat.

in all: an awesome experience and definitely one i plan to try again.

NOTE: i was nervous about not "training" for this race. along the route, there was a sign saying, "don't worry. we didn't train for this either" and that was pretty much the theme (also there were lots of people in costumes, so that may have been the other theme). i like to think i'm a decent runner, but there were people of all experience levels on the trail. some walked, some ran, and some even skipped some of the obstacles (i know...why would you want to do that?!). but anyway -- that's why i can safely say i recommend this for anyone who likes to run and is looking for a fun challenge.