Warm Pretzels Say I Love You (and I read Caroline's blog)

Will you be my valentine? 

Skip the food court pretzels and make your own at home in 30 minutes. You can roll them into any shape, top them with olive oil or butter and salt, and eat warm straight from the oven. Since it's valentines day, and I love baking for themes (much more than I love valentines day), I made love knots, hearts, and twisty rings. 

You can make them yourself, pile them into a basket and surprise a loved one, bake them with someone special, or do the prep work and let your kids roll the dough into shapes and eat their creations for a snack. Drizzle them with chocolate for a holiday touch!

You don't *need* a kitchen thermometer, but if you have one, use it. You want the water to be between 100-110 degrees Farenheit, otherwise you risk killing the yeast. If you're not using one, just make sure the water isn't too hot. Your body is 98.6 degrees, so 107 degrees isn't actually that hot. If you boiled the water, keep it in the pan and wait about 10 minutes before using it. 

Ingredients:

*1 tbsp. yeast

*1/2 cup warm water

*1 tsp honey

*1-1/3 cup flour

*1 tsp salt

*olive oil or butter to glaze before baking

*rough sea salt or maldon salt for topping the pretzels (fine grain sea salt works too, it's just less crunchy)

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a baking sheet with oil.

2. Combine the yeast with the honey and water in a small bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes until the yeast is puffy and bubbling slightly.

3. Whisk flour and salt together in a medium-sized bowl.

4. When yeast has risen, add to flour mixture and stir until dough forms- just takes a few stirs.

5. Turn dough onto a cutting board and kneed until it's a nice big ball. Tear off giant gumball sized pieces until you have 12 smaller balls.

6. Roll the smaller balls into long snakes and shape into whatever you want.

7. Place on a baking sheet and finish them with oil and salt

8. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the top is slightly golden. Don't over bake because the bottom is going to burn.

9. Let cool for 10 minutes or until you can't stand it anymore.

The USDA's New Food Atlas

This brand new interactive map gives you the inside scoop on our nation's health. Where in the country do people have ready access to a grocery store? What areas are spending a lot of money on fast food? What states have the highest food taxes? What about rates of diabetes and obesity? You can look at the nation or zoom in on each state.

The atlas has 90 indicators of the food environment across three categories. Here are some examples of what you can find:

1) Food Choices: access and proximity to a grocery store, expenditure on fast food

2) Health and Well-Being: diabetes and obesity rates, physical activity levels broken down by age

3) Community Characteristics: recreation and fitness centers, income and poverty

I'd love to know what you think about the atlas tool. Did you learn anything? Did anything surprise you?  Did you find it easy or hard to use?

Tomato White Bean Soup

School's already cancelled for tomorrow! Thank you winter blizzard - I needed a day to catch up on all my work. (So lame, I know).

Since I have a food blog, what do you think is going to be first on my list of things to do tomorrow afternoon? Walk around outside and marvel in the beauty of a snowy New England morning? Maybe. Bundle up, strap on my snow shoes, and take a long trudge through the city? Heck no. I don't even own snow shoes. (Although if I did, that would actually probably be really fun now that I think of it).

Ok, fine, I'm obviously going to cook something. The tomato soup I'm making gets its creamy taste from the white beans. It's hearty without being heavy - perfect for a snow day when you'd like a lunch that will fill you up without putting you back to sleep. 

If you're getting snowed in tomorrow too, check your cupboards or grab these basic ingredients for this warm, healthy lunch. I think it's best served with a roll hot from the oven (check the "healthy" freezer section in your grocery store) and a small side salad. You could try arugula with your favorite vinaigrette and a little shaved parmesan on top. 

Recipe (adapted from Judith Barrett's Saved by Soup)

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced (time saver: buy them frozen at your grocery store)

4 cups canned (drained and rinsed) Great Northern beans or other white beans like cannellini

2 cups canned chopped tomatoes, with juices

4 cups vegetable broth

1 fresh or dried sage leaf

salt and pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Heat the oil in a heavy 4-qt saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion softens (about 3 minutes). Stir in the beans, tomatoes, and sage leaf. Add the broth, and crank the heat to high. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the saucepan, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove and toss the sage leaf.

Using an immersion blender (or transfer and blend in a food processor or blender), puree the soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reheat if necessary and stir in parsley right before serving.