BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #02662 At the PRetzel Factory they are getting ready for Mother's Day! There are a couple of things that they are doing for this. One item they are making are heart shaped pretzels and the other are these giant flower shaped pretzels. Today Tim and I were experimenting with how to bake them properly without over cooking them and also not burning the outsides.The other challenge is keeping them together. We were able to solve the problem of baking them but the next was getting them off the parchment paper and keeping them intact. I had a bunch of pretzels tonight after work and so I messaged my friend Aaron. We had gone out for dinner last week and I had mentioned the pretzels. I said I had a bunch and I'd stop by on the way home so I did and gave him some of the cinnamon sugar rivets and regular rivets and a 5 of pretzels. I still had the whole flower and another 5 of pretzels and a giant bag of rivets to bring home. I'm going to bring them in to work tomorrow n...

Photo-A-Day #02655 Today was the opening day of Snappy Dogs. We decided to run there on our way home from The Cape. We had another errand to run and then headed to Snappy Dogs. there were a bunch of people there including a motorcycle club that was probably on their first run of the season, too. Lisa and Teresa were thrilled to see us there for their opening day. Andy and I got Great Dane hot dogs, Allison got a Big dog and Eva a chicken sausage.

Photo-A-Day #02652 Tonight I went out for dinner with my friend Aaron. He is a much more adventurous eater and I am and he took me to Pho Horn in East Providence. He ordered our appetizer which was a shrimp item with raw sugar cane. For dinner I got a beef bowl that included brisket, meat , tendon and tripe. I tried it all and bypassed more of the chewy stuff but the brisket was incredible and the flavor was excellent. It was so much fun to hang out with Aaron. It had been far too long.

Photo-A-Day #02651 Andy made three Focaccia breads today. One was plain with salt on top, the second was Garlic and the third was tomato and onion. These were excellent. Andy is getting better and better at making this bread, too. 

Photo-A-Day #02646 Had a regular day at work with my new schedule. I'm doing 1:30-6:30pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. that means closing up and that means taking pretzels home. I can't be eating these and there are only so many that the family can eat. Allison took two bags to school and I tossed the rivets into the compost. Eva took a few for her friends as well.  Today at the end of work we had a bunch of stuff that had been baked and Tim, my boss, had me take a bunch home. I was planning on having one of the pepperoni pretzel items, it was baked almost right before we left for the night. I had it in the bag of all the big pretzels. On the way to the car I saw a UPS driver eyeing me and my big bags of pretzels. I asked him if he wanted one. I said, take whatever you'd like and he saw the pepperoni and grabbed that. I had not specified that I had wanted that but it is probably for the best since that has a lot of carbs. He was very grateful and happy so that is good.

Photo-A-Day #02639 Today after work I made some Birria meat in the Instant Pot. I had ordered a couple of Birria Bombs to add to a roast and some short ribs. Then into the pot at high pressure for a few hours. When it was done we had a delicious dinner. It was so good that I ate it and forgot to get any photos whatsoever. I didn't get the preparation quite right but it ended up tasting great. Today was my second day at the Pretzel Factory. I wasn't there as long as the first day but did plenty of work. When I got in it was oven stone cleaning day. Each week the stones are taken out of the oven and scraped clean of excess salt and char. It was actually pretty satisfying to scrap away the layers with a putty knife. Each stone is $600. That blew my mind. Also, I wish my boss had not told me as I was holding one.

  Photo-A-Day #02638 Today I started a part time job at the Philly Pretzel Factory. They just opened up a week ago and I went in then and talked with the owner and asked about them needing help. He did and I waited a while and didn't hear so I went back and talked with his wife and filled out an application. I got a call to come in the next day and I did and the owner gave me my hat and shirt and said I could come in the next day, Friday which was their grand opening. I did say, are you sure you want to be training me during a grand opening? So he rethought that and had me come in today. I worked from 7am to 3pm. I learned how to prep the place, twist up pretzels the factory way, baked many pretzels, got trained a bit on the register and even helped the owner change out the wax seal on the bathroom toilet. He needed someone to help lift it. It was a good day and I am back tomorrow and Wednesday. Next week I'll be working afternoons into closing.

Photo-A-Day #02630 This afternoon we had lunch with Tar and Erik at Morins. We went for the meal and the advice on college funding. We're working on how to fund Eva's first year of college. We're in that "No need" level of college funding and that means taking out plenty of loans. So we are working on how to best do that. So I've got a lot of research to do to get the best rates I can for loans and we are also looking at scholarships. while we were there Erik told us about how much he has fond memories of the Charlie Burger and how he and his grandparents used to split them whenever they went there. They liked the renovations that were made to the place. I told them that they had to see the sign on the side of the building, it really gives the place a great look. Before we went to lunch Mem and Grandfather stopped over to congratulate Eva on her award at the METG Festival.

Photo-A-Day #02621 On Wednesday I went and checked out the Philly Pretzel Factory that just opened. While I was there they gave me a free pretzel as well as a coupon for a free ice cream with purchase of 5 pretzels. I had Eva with me today because she had no school. so we went out to find some nice dress pants for her for the Theater Fest next weekend and also for the Prom. Eva is making much of her outfit for the Prom but not the pants.  When I went to the Pretzel Factory on Wednesday I asked the owner if they were hiring. He seemed excited when he took my info. I do hope he calls soon. I'm not sure if I can trust myself to stick back to my eating plan if I do get hired, though. I do love pretzels and even enjoyed them as part of a sundae. The thing I went there for, though, was a pretzel cone for ice cream. They don't make them in house so that was disappointing. They are premade. I would have liked having a fresh one like a waffle cone. But I still have not tried one, so the...

Photo-A-Day #02620 Tonight Andy made a batch of Ninja Bread Men Sugar Cookies. We discovered that this would be a fun cookie for Cora to eat in the play. It is funny because she takes the cookie and rips off the head immediately which causes me to search for a perfect animal to describe her eating. This weekend will be the final weekend of the play. It has been a lot of fun to be a part of this production.  Andy is going to come and volunteer tomorrow night at the concession stand for the play. Andy has to do 10 service hours as part of National Junior Honor Society. I keep waiting to hear about an induction ceremony for this but I don't think they are doing one.

Photo-A-Day #02618 Today was Saint Patrick's Day and I put 3 corn beef briskets in the crock pot and Instant pot. They were made using a Killian's Red as the liquid in the crock pots. The one in the Instant Pot also had a Dragon Fire Oatmeal Cookie Stout that Allison noticed had a sort of Caramel taste to us. We did Points and a flat and once again weren't sure which type it is that we like more. I used the package of spices with crock pot and not the one in the Instant Pot. However, when I was taking it all out after 8 hours I found the little plastic package did in fact make it into the Instant Pot. It did not open, though, so that is good. We basically ate everything so quickly that I never got a photo of the meal before we devoured it. We had plenty left over for a few more days of Corned Beef Hash.

Photo-A-Day #02611 The family is excited because we can use the grill again. It is finally clear of all the snow in the backyard. Makes things easier for preparing dinners.

Photo-A-Day #02600 The ice cream that I made on Wednesday.  I picked up our ice cream yesterday and well, I ate my ice cream before I took a picture yesterday. Today I have a nice photo. A soft lavender color to the ice cream because of the black raspberry and cherry juice. It also contains some hot honey, can't taste it, Nutella, can't taste it, peanut butter, also can't taste it. It also has toffee pieces, peanuts and oreos. The fruit flavors are subtle. It tis rather enjoyable overall. I have a feeling that at some point I'm going to get a big bit of something that I didn't mix well. I have many ideas to make another batch but this one will take a while to finish. Plus we have Andy's batch. That is a very honey heavy one.

Photo-A-Day #02599 When Allison and Eva went tot he Transformers Store in London they picked up a Funko Bitty Pop! Retro Toys set of Transformers. The way that Funko did these sets was that they had 4 different Bitty Pop! Retro Toys sets, each with a different Hasbro Retro Toys Theme. There was Transformers, G.I. Joe, Mr. Potato Head and Board Games like Monopoly and Operation. However, in these sets of four figures there was one figure that was a mystery figure. The mystery figure may or may not match the overall theme of the set. Int his case it does not match because I got Lite Brite with my Transformers. I didn't have the heart to tell Eva that I already had this set on my wall of Transformers. She was so happy to have found something fun for me in London that was Transformers themed. And they are very cool. I opened this one because I have an unopened one on my wall. I didn't know about how they worked the "mystery figure". So now I am on the lookout for Soundwav...

Photo-A-Day #02598 I had wanted to do an ice cream making class with andy during February vacation and well, since this has been an extended vacation because of all the snow days we got our chance to go today. An ice cream shop local to us, Frisbie's offers ice cream making classes. It is more of an experience than a class but it is very fun none the less. We are here with the ice cream sundaes that we got after we made our own ice cream. Because our ice cream will take a day to freeze properly they give us some of their ice cream to enjoy after class. I say give but we definitely paid for the experience. The cost was $75 per person. I think that the store probably took home 75% of that fee in profit after all was said and done. So they poured a bag of ice cream mix into the machine to mix, add air and freeze a bit. We each got a large tub and added that base ice cream. Then we could mix in our own base as well as other items. I had wanted to make a strawberry oreo ice cream but th...

Photo-A-Day #02589 Andy and I are on our own for the week. Allison and Eva are having a great time with Mimi in London. Today I slept till 9am, I have not slept past 6am in YEARS. Alarms off and no one waking me up. It was great. Andy had forgotten to turn off their alarm so they were up early but quiet enough not to wake me. We played some One Hit Heroes in the afternoon. We were going to attempt to play a Transformers card game but the game rules proved a bit challenging. so we scrapped that idea. I'll play the solo version and figure out how it is supposed to be played and then we'll try playing together. Andy asked that we go to Johnny Rockets for dinner. On the way out they said that they had money and would be paying. It was revealed that the money had come from Mimi to take us out one night while the girls were over in London. Andy chose Johnny Rockets at the Providence Place Mall. They were paying so who was I to argue. Johnny Rockets is airport food and well, not that ...

Photo-A-Day #02581 My 43 hour 3D print of a Dice Tower has completed. It completed this morning around 6am. I had started it on Friday and it printed all through the night and the next night. I tested out all of the dice in my play collection. The set that I use for my daily RPG game that I've been playing since the first of the year. I am a few days behind and will get caught up later on tonight after the Super Bowl. For the Super Bowl we had some ribs and other treats. I slow cooked the ribs at 20 for 2 1/2 hours then 350 for an hour and then 425 for 30 minutes. They were so tender and tasty. We enjoyed them as we watched the new episode of The Muppet Show before the Super Bowl. The kids were in it to see Green Day perform. It was  good performance. Then Eva came down for the halftime show. Andy came down after the halftime show asking when it was happening. They had just missed it. The halftime show was good. At this time that I am writing this the Patriots are down by 12 in the...

Photo-A-Day #02577 Allison and Eva went to see Eva's friend Aviva play hockey tonight and so Andy and I were on our own. Since I wasn't so into leftover roulette I decided to take them out for dinner. We went over to Brigg's Corner for dinner. andy decided on pizza and I was going to get wings but decided that I had not had good pizza in a long time and Briggs makes some great pizza. It isn't on my eating plan but one night wasn't too bad and my blood sugar did not take a bit hit. The pizza was so good, though.

Photo-A-Day #02575 Tonight I made meatloaf for dinner and also some potatoes. I baked the potatoes in cream, butter, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper. The potatoes came out really good, in my opinion. They got a couple of questionable looks but they were tasty and creamy and the had great flavor.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #025689 With a major snow day yesterday and a second snow day for Andy today plus a 2 hour delay for both Allison and Eva we had more time at home. Yesterday Andy made some chocolate/coconut cookies and Eva made chocolate chip cookies. Today Andy made everything but the kitchen sink cookies with M&Ms, pretzels and potato chips. Needless to say It has been a challenge to stick to the Virta diet that I am on. I had a few of these cookies. Each was good but my favorite are the coconut ones. Andy did a great job on them. Although next time we figure that they leave out the chocolate chips and dip the cookies into melted chocolate instead. I continue to work on reading my comic book collection.Today I completed the 12 issue series of Transformers Generation 2. Good story, not the best but I was so excited in 1993 when Transformers came back to comic books. I don't think I'll ever tire of reading these stories.