happy at home

KITCHEN ADVENTURESI am a foody wannabe. I think. I am not sure what the qualifications are for being an authentic foody, but at any rate, I do love cooking, and I do love to eat and to feed people. I went through a spell a few months ago when my cooking lost its heart. But, I am happy that my months of soul-less cooking have passed and I am back in the kitchen, trying something new, almost daily.
Today (and the last 10 days), I have sick little boys. The whole family has been moping around, feeling yucky with congestion and fevers and such. What is a sure fire cure for the blues? Why, cooking, of course! This evening, we made pretzels, from this recipe. The kids had lots of fun rolling out the "snakes" and twisting them into different shapes. We topped them with melted butter and kosher salt on some, cinnamon and sugar on the rest. They were sooooo good. You should seriously try them. They were delish right out of the oven, and fun to make, too!
A week or so ago, Mom and I made our first ever batch of fresh Mozzarella out of fresh, raw milk and OH.MY.GOODNESS. I will never look at store-bought mozzarella the same again. It was so easy to make, and absolutely delicious. This was another food that the kids loved helping with. They had a great time kneading the cheese to remove the whey, then stretching it until it was the right texture. It seems that my children are more willing to try a food if they have had a hand in the preparation. I am hoping this will translate into them eating their veggies when they help grow them this summer.
That night, with my fresh mozzarella in hand, we made homemade pizza, using this recipe for the crust. I have used this recipe twice and so far haven't loved it, but am going to give it another chance b/c it received such high ratings, and I have not followed the recipe exactly.
I have been in post-holiday food detox the last few days, turning to simple comfort foods, such as vegetable soup and yeast bread. Pretty soon, I want to make these sweet looking cookies. Don't these just scream Valentine's Day?