BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day #02698 I saw on Facebook that one Philly Pretzel Factory location was making their butter cream with sprinkles on top. I doubt that they were specifically for Pride but I like to think that they could be. Not at my store since I do not get the impression that it is a safe space. I just get that impression. That is why I don't talk too much about me or my family there. If we can keep things professional and a simple working relationship where I do my job and do it well and not talk anything deep then we should be good.  Anyway I like to think this is a Pride pretzel.

Photo-A-Day #02697 Cheesy popcorn is one of my favorites. Having cheesy fingers is not. So, I eat cheese popcorn with chopsticks. 

Photo-A-Day #02692 Today we celebrated Eva and their graduation from High School. We got food from Chub's Blue Pig BBQ as well as some burgers from Chartley Country Store. I have a ton of them left over and frozen, too. I bought 20, cooked 4 and two were eaten. W weren't sure if people would rather have that than the amazing BBQ of Chubb's. I also picked up a Crowd Pleaser of pretzels from Phill Pretzel Factory and a couple of their sweet dips. Allison made a salad and got a treat platter form BJ's as well as a half sheet cake. We had Eva's aunts Tara and Shelby there along with Uncle Erik and cousin Kylie. Great-aunt Donna came and so did Great-Uncle Richard. Our neighbor Joannie came over and so did Great-Aunt Corrine. Mem and Grandfather came to the party and so did Eva's friends Aviva and Ollie. Eva's theater director, Mrs. Strunin came to visit as well. Andy invited their girlfriend, Jazzy over to meet everyone too.  Before the party a package arrived f...

Photo-A-Day #02689 Tonight we went to The Blackinton Inn for dinner with Mem and Grandfather to celebrate Eva's upcoming graduation. I met up with everyone after work at the Pretzel Factory. I was there to work the closing. It was a good night at work.  Earlier in the day Eva had Grandparents day with Mem and Grandfather. They came up last night to stay at The Blackinton so that they were ready for this morning. Eva had a nice time with her grandparents showing them the school and enjoying the activities that the school had set up for them. While they were at their event I went to work (the full time job) to pick up my old laptop. They cleared it and reset it to that I could have it back to use personally. On the way back from there so that I could go to work I went and got my comics and I also stopped by target and while there I found some gifts for Eva for Graduation and I also went to Lowes and got her a tool kit. My dad had done that for Tara when Tara went off to college....

Photo-A-Day #02684 I worked at the Pretzel Factory again today and later int he afternoon before I left for the day we got an online order for a large party tray of mini hot dogs. We made them up and got things ready. Then my boss noticed that the order was for Sunday. We already had 72 of these things baking. So, I ended up taking a whole giant bucket of them to bring home for dinner. I also had a bag of them so we ate dinner and ended up with a still full bucket of these little guys. Crazy.

Photo-A-Day #02683 When I came in to work today the owner was making some pretzel bagels. He had picked up some Everything seasoning and added it to these. I brought a couple of them home for Allison to try. I thought about them a little and suggested that if we prepared this the same way that we prepared our cinnamon rivets we could essentially make donuts. So we tried it. My boss actually had a donut cinnamon sugar because the cinnamon sugar that they normally used was missing. It had not been ordered. They came out really good. Tonight we watched The Outsiders as a family. We've been reading the book, Allison and Eva saw the musical, I listened to the audiobook and Andy is studying the book at school. I had never seen the movie before. Eva watched it with Aviva and Andy saw the Drive-In theater scene and trailer at school. 

Photo-A-Day #02679 Allison found my this giant jar of Chili crisp. She knows how much I love this in my soups and more. I've tried many different versions of this. My favorite is a garlic Chili Crisp that I find at Eugene Henry's on the Cape but that is a rather small jar for $14. This one was $9.99. 

Photo-A-Day #02677 Today at The Pretzel Factory they were twisting pretzels while I was there. When it came time to clean the Stringer they were finishing up and there as a a good pile of dough. I asked if I could try my hand at making something. I tried to make a mortar board for a graduation. It came out looking like a fat stingray.

Photo-A-Day #02674 Andy had a fundraiser through school where he had to sell Double Good Popcorn. This stuff was expensive but it was actually really tasty popcorn. My favorite was the Chi - Town Chow Down because it is the mix of caramel and Cheese popcorn. But they also had one that was caramel popcorn with cheese flavor on it. That was really good stuff. 

Photo-A-Day #02670 I brought a mess of pretzels in to work tonight. I also brought in one of each of the dips. Yesterday I was saying that I had to try them out and today I gave each a shot. A small amount on this pretzel so that I can speak better of the flavors that I actually like and can recommend to people. I brought them in for my cousins, Shaun. We also shared them with everyone who is upstairs in the building. There are still a ton left for him to take home.

Photo-A-Day #02669 This is our Dip Zone at The Pretzel Factory. I try and make sure that it is always filled with all the correct items. We needed to make a bunch of them each day and I like to organize them in the walk-in when I have some time. There are many flavors. I have not tried them all because they are very sweet. I do recommend the Salted Caramel one and Cinnamon is good. I like all the mustards, too.

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...