Homemade is Good

I got this book from the library titled, "Simple Pleasures of the Home" by Susannah Seton. The book is organized by rooms and in each section she has little things to do in or to a room to make it special. The first section is the Kitchen. There are many simple pleasures and memories about kitchens as well as quite a few recipes. I was intrigues by a simple recipes for both homemade crackers and soft pretzels. I don't know what got into me on Friday but after lunch I brought up making these things to my kids. My oldest had gone off to do something, but Anna was instantly enthused. And the wee ones? Well, they are into anything they can get their hands into and be messy so this was right up their alley!

We began with crackers. Here is the recipe we followed:

Homemade Crackers

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup water, approx.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. With two knives, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is fine. Add just enough water to make a firm dough. On a lightly floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, thinly roll out dough. Using a round cookie cutter, stamp out crackers; prick them all over with a fork, and sprinkle with salt and sesame seeds if desired. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet for 20 minutes of until crisp. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container. Makes 2 dozen.

These were pretty good. I think the key is rolling them out THIN. They are fairly dense and ours were a bit thick and took a bit longer to bake, but they are yummy. We just used salt on them, but I think the sesame seeds would be tasty. You could get creative and add herbs, garlic or onion powder and I think they would be wonderful, too.

We made homemade pretzels, too, but I am out of time and have to get the family up for church this morning so that will have have to be another post!