Today is National Pretzel Day – what a way to celebrate pretzels of all shapes and sizes. How do you like your pretzels? Straight, twisted, hard, soft, thick or thin? Then think of all the different flavors you can get – cinnamon, raisin, salted, sesame, chocolate, jalapeno, bacon wrapped, stuffed with peanut butter, sour dough – served with mustard or cheese? AND let’s not forget about pretzel wrapped hot dogs – mmm. Do you eat them straight out of the bag or do you prepare your own and bake them in the oven?
Pretzels are believed to be the world’s oldest snack and date back as far as 610 AD in Southern France. Monks baked thin strips of dough into the shape of a child’s arms folded in prayer. Add a little salt, and Voila! …the pretzel industry was born.
Pretzels also symbolize good fortune, bringing prosperity and spiritual wholeness with every bite. Wedding couples fell into the practice of breaking a pretzel, much like one might break a wishbone on Thanksgiving. The person with the larger piece was assured domestic happiness. The pretzel, over time, came to symbolize the “tying of the marriage knot.”
Hello friends!! Wasn’t all of the sandwiches from last month mouth watering? We got so many ideas here at the Hotel Thompson. What a blast! This month we are going to throw a little twist to the Shopping Around the World.
We always concentrate on food but here’s the twist. For February’s Shopping Around the World, we want a drink and snack food that you love. Recipes, pictures are awesome and prices to be posted on:
Friday, February 23, 2018.
So mark your calendars and put on your thinking hats. Is there a nightly ritual that you partake in before bedtime? Maybe it’s something that you only do on the weekends. Share with us in February ❤
This month my cousin Teddy is hosting Shopping Around the World for me. (You might want to make a note now that cousin Teddy will also be hosting for me next month as well.) Thank you so much cousin Teddy – we really appreciate the help here during these hectic times at the Hotel Thompson.
This month the assignment was favorite snacks. Now mom has been enjoying a favorite snack that she kind of whipped up (literally) that she can’t get enough of at work. She says that sometimes she needs the extra caffeine. Rolls my piggy eyes. I guess since she has given up sodas she has to make it up somehow huh? I hope you enjoy her snack my friends. It seems mom proof which means it might be a little easy – I hope.
First you need some ingredients: Creamer. Mom loves the Almond Joy creamer – but any kind will do. This entire bottle was $2.50 and it lasts mom for almost three weeks. That averages to about $0.12 a cup for creamer. Two packs of Splenda. A box of 100 cost $3.00 therefore that is $0.03 per packet. 12 ice cubes – free YAY. 1 cup of cold coffee. Mom paid $6.00 for a container of coffee that makes something like 32 pots of coffee which calculates to $0.19 a pot.
Total cost for mom’s treat is less than $0.50 – what a steal for a cup of instant energy.
Now how does she make this wonder? Put all ingredients into a blender. Make sure blender is plugged in (mom has forgotten that important step in the past – snorts) and push blend button for smoothie. There you go bend and then pour into a cup. Add straw and enjoy your moment in the afternoon… or morning… or evening… or in the middle of the night. Mom makes this snack all of the time now.
Today is National Pretzel Day – what a way to celebrate pretzels of all shapes and sizes. How do you like your pretzels? Straight, twisted, hard, soft, thick or thin? Then think of all the different flavors you can get – cinnamon, raisin, salted, sesame, chocolate, jalapeno, bacon wrapped, stuffed with peanut butter, sour dough – served with mustard or cheese? AND let’s not forget about pretzel wrapped hot dogs – mmm. Do you eat them straight out of the bag or do you prepare your own and bake them in the oven?
Pretzels are believed to be the world’s oldest snack and date back as far as 610 AD in Southern France. Monks baked thin strips of dough into the shape of a child’s arms folded in prayer. Add a little salt, and Voila! …the pretzel industry was born.
Pretzels also symbolize good fortune, bringing prosperity and spiritual wholeness with every bite. Wedding couples fell into the practice of breaking a pretzel, much like one might break a wishbone on Thanksgiving. The person with the larger piece was assured domestic happiness. The pretzel, over time, came to symbolize the “tying of the marriage knot.”
Yawns. What was that noise? What woke me up? I lay here in my bed and stretch. Oh my – either my legs are getting longer or my bed is getting smaller. What is up with that. Surely I can’t still be growing.
Oh yeah…what woke me up? I opened one eye and looked around. It’s still dark in here. Surely it was just my imagination. That’s when something strange happened. I had this strong urge – kind of like an internal clock ticking to wake up mom for breakfast. What? When did that start happening? The urge was strong too. I opened the other eye, sat up and stretched. Okay – this has to be a dream. Where the heck am I? I let my eyes adjust to the darkness and looked around. No wonder my feet kept hitting the bottom of the bed. What is this – a toddler bed? Where am I? This is not my bedroom. I look over at a wall – what does that say? It’s a picture of a pig wearing cow house shoes and states “Moo Shoe Pork Palace”. Que diable?!
Again, the strong urge to wake up mom. I don’t wake up mom like this, especially before the birds start singing and it’s still dark outside. But for some reason the pull is strong to my bedroom door. That’s when something so weird happened. I opened my mouth to bark and it didn’t happen. Instead of a bark it was a squeal and an oink?! What in the world!
A few minutes later, my bedroom door opened and I heard a voice say, “Thanks Bacon, time for breakfast.” Okay, something weird is going on. First, a cheerful voice telling me it’s breakfast time? But the voice called me Bacon… then again who cares because they mentioned food.
I take off down the hallway and stop in my tracks. What? Where are my stairs? There’s nothing here but a long hallway. I go into the living room and look around but my nose tells me there is food coming from the kitchen. I poke my head into the kitchen and walk through sniffing. That’s when the voice tells me, “Hey Sunshine.” I tell you, I had to look around. Who is Sunshine? I’m Easy. That’s when the voice puts down an amazing looking array of food – eggs? Oh yeah – I like this room service. Eggs with spinach and some kind of nuggets. I quickly snarfed it down and looked up. Now to think of it, the call of nature is like calling big time. I was at the point of crossing my legs by this time. Can’t this woman see the whites in my eyes floating? I need to use the facilities BIG time. I walk through the kitchen and see the back door. I brush up against it and plead to this woman. Finally she gets the drift. “Oh Bacon, you want to go out and play this early?” No woman – I need to PEE – let me out – let me out – let the weimaraner out!
I run out the back door and almost fell down the stairs of the porch. Where am I? This isn’t my backyard. Although it does look magical – what is that over in the corner? Is that a squirrel? I gotta go meet him and I take off running towards him. Can you believe the guy doesn’t move. It’s like he knows me or something. He even talked! “Hey Bacon, how’s it going this morning?” Who is this squirrel? Before I could say anything he further said, “Well have a great day pig, I gotta go work on some important holidays for your blog.” What? Who does he think is, Journalist Rocky the Squirrel – barks atcha my friend.
A talking squirrel – now I’ve seen everything. I shook myself, marked some territory and went back to the door. What the heck did I eat last night to give me these illusions? Those mushrooms had to be psychedelic mushrooms – yeah that’s it. Remind me to never eat those again – ever!
I went back inside and the woman said, “Time for snuggle time” and kept looking at me. What? You think I’m a trained pup or something? Darn this body – where are these guttural movements coming from? Before I could stop myself, I jumped up in this woman’s lap and started oinking. Shaking my head. I gotta stop eating after 8pm. It definitely had to be the mushrooms last night?
After a while, she said she had to go to work and did I want my television on in my bedroom? What a television all to myself in a room all to myself. You have got to be kidding. Now this part of the nightmare I could get used to… snorts – I mean barks. I gotta get my barky thing checked out. I’m going back to bed.
Something is definitely wrong.
But before I could go back to bed, this man appeared all magically delicious and said, “Hey Bacon, you want a snack?” What? I tell you at least my dreams have great room service. The man gives me this piggy plate full of goodies.
Okay – what is up with this? I mean there’s all kinds of bacon and piggy stuff. Sure I know my brother across the pond but why give this kind of stuff to the weimaraner?
If anyone figures out this freaky stuff, please let me know okay and thanks!
Thanks to everyone for another great edition of Shopping Around the World last month. It’s so awesome to see the various prices around the world – and the pictures with recipes!
Me and my pal Fozzie will be holding another Shopping Around the World scheduled for Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Do a posting on your blog linked back to mine. That way we can keep track of all of the different prices and recipes.
This month we are highlighting appetizers or snacks. Is there a particular appetizer that you fix that rocks your household? Or is there a nightly snack that you fix that just makes your night? Please share your recipes, prices and pictures with us this month 🙂 Have fun!
March 14 is NATIONAL POTATO CHIP DAY. National Potato Chip Day celebrates the ever popular snack food potato chips. It’s a convenient snack food or a side dish to a sandwich at lunch or dinner. They come in different flavors ranging from plain to barbeque to sour cream and onion. There’s such a wide range! They come regular, crinkled, in sticks, in a bag or in a can. You can buy them in the stores or you can make your own with fresh potatoes.
Did you know that potato chips were first made by Chef George Crum in Saratoga Springs, New York on August 24, 1953. Story goes that the Chef was agitated by a patron who repeatedly kept sending his fried potatoes back because they were too soggy and bland. The Chef decided to slice the potatoes as thin as possible, fry them until they were crisp and season them with extra salt. Contrary to the Chef’s expectation, the patron loved them! They soon became a regular item called Saratoga Chips on the menu at the restaurant. Americans have been in love with them ever since!
And, did you know that pig Bacon absolutely LOVES potato chips? Excuse Bacon’s dad for his lack of clothing – HA! and concentrate on that little deviled ham begging for more chips. I like to hear the little fellow crunching them. Enjoy – roll tape –
Last night started off like it normally does. Mom ran around the house getting everything ready for Monday – the start of another glorious week – rolls piggy eyes. She told me to get ready for bed and I did. Mom then came in and gave me a strawberry and told me a short bedtime story. You know – the normal things for this little piggy. After my story, she kissed me on the forehead, told me good night, she loved me and left my room.
I wasn’t all the way asleep yet though. I tried to go to sleep. I closed my eyes tight and dreamed about my sweet purr thing. I dreamed about chasing sheep over fences. I even tried to focus on my counting skills. But nope – nothing. Sleep just wouldn’t come.
So I did what all little piggies do. I pulled up my Egyptian cotton sheet around me and let the silk rub against my piggy skin. It was nice and cozy! Then out of the blue – BAM – it hit me. I had to tinkle. Why do you do that nature? Why when you get the most comfortable surroundedby your silk sheets do you hit us and we have to go tinkle? Explain that.
So you get up, stumble over to your wee-wee pad and take a wizzle. And yes for the first time I will show you a picture of me wizzing. Why? Because that mother of mine doesn’t know about BOUNDARIES. That’s right mom. Sometimes a pig needs PRIVACY. Hint – hint.
But do notice my techniques. Tail up in the back, legs stretched out. I think it’s a great form and I would give myself a ten – snorts. And notice the light in the picture. I didn’t turn on the light. This light is from a piggy nightlight that my cousin Sammy sent me a while back. I ❤ that nightlight. Thanks cousin!
So you take care of “When Nature Calls” and then you are in a pickle. I mean, mommy already tucked me in and now she’s asleep. I’ve done my business but I need some mommy loving. I do what I do best. I pitter patter over to my bedroom door and call for her by snorting and stomping. This concerns her so she rushes to me. I think I have her trained… you think?
So mommy came back in my room to tuck me back into bed. But now I’m thirsty – go figure. I am a kid at heart – snorts. I convince her that I need a drink and just a little snack before bed… again. We walk to that heavenly place that I like to call a kitchen and get some water and Animal Crackers. See, mommy *thinks* she has me trained. Don’t tell her it’s the other way around okay.
Then when go back to my bedroom where she tucks me back in to bed and wraps my Egyptian cotton sheet all around me like the original piggy in a blanket. Aaaww – that feels good.
But not only does mom wrap me up and tuck me in, she talks to me and pets me until I go back to sleep – for good this time. Can you say contented little man? Yep, that would be me friends. Contentment shows in this picture. And believe it or not, this time Mother Nature didn’t interfere.
Mommy waited until I was fast asleep and could feel my tummy going up and down in a pattern before she left my room. In fact, I don’t remember her leaving because I was asleep dreaming. Dreaming about my magical backyard… my friends out in the yard – Rocky the Squirrel, my Unicorn and my Bigfoot. We were all playing and chasing each other. Nice dream.
So have you ever had difficulties like this in getting to sleep?
I know! I’m as shocked as you are. She called daddy yesterday while I was on the couch with him. I could hear every word. She said she was in love with another miniature, she didn’t know where he had been all of her life and she wanted it to last with him forever! OMP (oh my pig!) That conversation just threw me into shock. Daddy just laughed and said he couldn’t wait to meet the new miniature in her life. Daddy – you too? CRY!
I was upset all afternoon. I had been replaced! What to do – what to do? Should I pack my little hobo pack and runaway from the Hotel Thompson? All of these thoughts kept crossing my mind.
Mom finally came home and it was weird. She greeted me at the door like she normally does. All loving and sweet words with a scratch behind my ear. What was up with this? I didn’t see my miniature replacement. I kept inquiring and daddy asked mommy did she bring it home? Bring what home mom – do tell.
Then she pulled this little package out of her coat pocket and said, “Yes, I did.” Daddy took the package and ate something out if it saying he loved the new miniatures too. Someone, anyone, throw me a bone here. What in the world is going on?!
Then mom leaned over and told me I could have ONE new miniature. Oh thank the Heavens above – *that* kind of miniature. Yep, I agree. I like the new miniature too – winks.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been totally into marshmallows. I’m not sure why. It might be because they are all gooey and yummy? Because they are just sweet enough for that craving? I’m not sure.
So when mom/dad went to the grocery store, I pleaded asked for more marshmallows as my bedtime treat. Was I ever so surprised when mommy said I could only have *one* for a snack before bed. What I didn’t realize until I went in my room and saw it was that it was the size of an apple! Look at the delicious bit of yum in dad’s hand?
This sucker was huge! I chewed and chewed and chewed and chewed. Have you ever seen anything so glorious – so wonderful – so huge?
Miniature pot bellied pig and friends - Bacon, Houdini, Hemi and all of the Rock Clan with Journalist Rocky the Squirrel all out looking for adventures from the Hotel Thompson.
I take off down the hallway and stop in my tracks. What? Where are my stairs? There’s nothing here but a long hallway. I go into the living room and look around but my nose tells me there is food coming from the kitchen. I poke my head into the kitchen and walk through sniffing. That’s when the voice tells me, “Hey Sunshine.” I tell you, I had to look around. Who is Sunshine? I’m 
After a while, she said she had to go to work and did I want my television on in my bedroom? What a television all to myself in a room all to myself. You have got to be kidding. Now this part of the nightmare I could get used to… snorts – I mean barks. I gotta get my barky thing checked out. I’m going back to bed.
osting on your blog linked back to mine. That way we can keep track of all of the different prices and recipes.
Piglove 