Stroopwafels

My husbands family is Dutch, so when my son decided which language to take in high school, he chose Dutch. As part of his learning Dutch he had to make a food that was also Dutch. So of course my son doesn't pick something to make that I have all the ingredients/materials to make in the house. He picks something that I have to buy an iron to make. So we purchased a pizzelle iron to make our stroopwafels. The first batch was meh. The other batches have proceeded to get better and now I think we are near perfection! (At least according to our tastes)

So here they are

They are a delicious crisp cookie filled with a honey caramel. You can place them on your warm coffee or tea and it warms the caramel and makes them gooey and delicious! You can make them in a waffle cone iron or a pizzelle iron like we did.

Stroopwafels
dough
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 c sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 c warm water (slightly above body temp)
2 large eggs
dash of salt

In a mixer bowl; add flour, yeast, cinnamon, & sugar, cut in flour with your hands until it resembles small pellets. Place mixer bowl on mixer and on low slowly pour in the warm water and allow the dough to start coming together. Add eggs one at a time. Add in the dash of salt and knead dough until it's a firm and cohesive dough.

Cover with a damp towel or cling wrap and rest for 30 minutes.

caramel
1 stick of butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 T Karo syrup (I used light)
1 T honey
1 T maple syrup
1 T vanilla

Melt butter and sugar stirring slowly over low heat. Add cinnamon, honey and syrups and continue to stir until the caramel comes together and slowly bubbles. Keep stirring because at this stage it's easy to burn. Keep stirring until sugar is all dissolved and caramel is creamy. It will be HOT! Keep caramel warm.

Divide the dough into 40 equal pieces. Roll them into small marbles and cover with a damp cloth so they don't dry out while baking other pieces.

Heat your pizzelle iron or waffle cone machine according to instructions. Place dough ball in the iron, press down and bake each cookie/waffle for approximately 40 seconds. Check to see if browned and puffed up a little. Remove from machine and place it on a flat surface.

*Working quickly while the cookie is hot and pliable (when it cools it will break on you.)

Place your hand on top of the cookie and slice it horizontally in two with a sharp non-serrated knife. (I had to use a towel/clean pot holder because it was too hot.) Because of the yeast it puffs up a bit to make a spot to cut.

Immediately smear a bit of caramel on top of the bottom cookie. Replace the top and gently push down so the caramel spreads. Let cool on a rack. Then do the next dough ball.*

NOTE: * This is the traditional way to do it. But this is not how I did i;. my pizzelle iron has 3 cookie spots. I cooked 2 at a time [3 I couldn't quite do quick enough] set on 3.5. After 40 seconds I took them out and using a towel to protect my hand I cut them horizontally. I then set them aside (I pressed them gently to encourage them to stay flat. After I cooked all of my cookies. I then made my caramel. When my caramel was hot I reopened my cookies and spread the caramel on the bottom cookie half, then smooshed them together. They held up just as well as the traditional way, but was easier for me to do by myself.

There, there Wolf

Again some crafting fun for Craftster.org Nerd battle... This challenge was vampire vs werewolf. I chose werewolf. I went cute as opposed to my normal leaning, but I think he turned out nice. He's just a little standing pillow. Lots and lots of french knots, all of his fur is french knots!

Sauced Applesauce

I've been participating in Nerd Battle on craftster.org. Such a great group and it is so fun to see what everyone creates to fit into the prompts. One of October's battles are "Bottoms Up"- create something inspired by your favorite drink.

Well, my favorite fall drink is apple cider or apple beer with a shot of Fireball whisky. So I decided to make and can some applesauce with some yummy whisky in it. It turned out delicious and I'm having a hard time keeping the family away from it. I am hoping to still have some this winter.

Super Mario Cookies

I'm not very good at baking. Never have been, way too much measuring for me to enjoy myself. I'd rather be decorating them! I did however make a few cookies to try to make the boys happy. They love cookies and they love all things Mario Bros, so brick and coin cookies seemed to be the way to go!

Here are the coin and brick 2D style

And here is a 3D brick. They turned out fun and tasted great!

I purchased the cookie cutters (and some other really fun ones) at http://www.etsy.com/shop/WarpZone 

Dalek Snowman

A little early winter decoration being made at my house. I am participating in the Craftster Fall Nerd battles and one of the challenges is to make a monster, so I went with a snow Dalek. He's made out of fimo and meant to be a snowman style Dalek.

Doll Bed & Quilt

We are having a silent auction at our church, so my husband and I decided to make a doll bed with a quilt and matching bedding. I think it turned out cute. The pillows are my favorite, they have blue ticking pillows and then cute pillow cases. We were having fun with mini pillow fights! Hopefully it will raise a nice chunk of change!

Grey Crocheted Cable Work Purse

I finally finished a project worthy of posting! I am really proud of this.
I am a new member of the Governance Council for our school district's new charter high school. So lots of notes, papers, etc... to lug around. I also have lots of notes to take for my church meetings, so I wanted a tote/purse that could carry my note-taker and my folders. Along with obvious purse "stuff."

We drove to Florida over Christmas and I thought what better time to crochet. So I crocheted this in the car over about 2 days. I lined it yesterday. I used it today!!

I based the crochet part on this pattern. I used the stitches as a loose guide, but I  honestly didn't use the pattern at all, however I want to make sure credit for the idea goes where it belongs.

This is what the inside looks like. I only have my note-taker in there during the picture, so it's sort of hard to see. There is a large pocket on one side for my note-taker. The other side has a large pocket with a snap closure for my folders. I have rings & clips for my keys, lip chap, phone, etc.. I have elastic loops for pens/pencils. It looks floppier than it is. It totally stands on its own. There are also small silver feet on the bottom. 

If I were to make it again, I would have made the top black band slightly higher. I would have made the bag just a touch taller. But I love it oh so much!!