I had a Schlotzsky’s® Original sandwich a couple of weeks ago, and it had been years since the last one. I forgot how great all those toasted layers played together, and especially how that great bun really anchored all the flavors with its special taste and texture. Well, the OCD in me took over and I was determined to make it for myself. There aren’t any of these restaurants near me, and I figured that if I wanted one I was going to have to make my own some how. This was basically going to come down to three challenges: find a recipe to recreate the special bun, create a recipe to recreate the special garlic dressing, and getting the sandwich put together with the right things in the right order. There are dozens and dozens of links to recipes for a “Schlotzsky bun recipe” on the internet, but they basically come down to two – the recipe the store uses (pounds of proprietary mix) or a home made copycat that everyone seems to have copied. The first is obviously useless, the second I found unsatisfactory as it wasn’t really close. After many tries, I think I have it nailed pretty well. Starting with some stock recipes, it only took a few tries to get the garlic dressing down. It’s very simple and very tasty, and can sure be used on other things too. Finally, I found a reference from a former employee who laid out not only the ingredients for the sandwich, but also the order of assembly and the instructions for the technique. He remains anonymous, but the process is outlined below. Hopefully, some of you will undertake this project and provide me feedback on your results. Okay, here we go… FILLING INGREDIENTS (for 1 large sandwich, adjust as needed): CLONE - Sandwich Bun (recipe below) CLONE - Creamy Garlic Dressing (recipe below) Parmesan cheese, grated 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded 2 oz. cotto salami, sliced very thin 2 oz. genoa salami, sliced very thin 2 oz. boiled ham, sliced very thin yellow mustard red onion, sliced thin tomatos, sliced lettuce, shredded ½ cup black olives or marinated black olives METHOD Slice open the loaf horizontally into 2 even thicknesses. Apply spiral rings of garlic on each bun half starting from the outer edge inward - six for large, 3 for medium, 2 for small sandwich. Add Parmesan cheese from a shaker, roughly 5 to 6 shakes to lightly dust both entire buns. Distribute one cup of shredded cheddar cheese on the bottom bun, and one cup of mozzarella cheese on the top bun. Put both buns in a toaster over at a heat of 375 degrees, to barely melt the cheese until you see it bubbling a bit, then pull them out and spread the cheese evenly with a spatula. On the bun with the cheddar put 1/2 cup of the olives, then slices of boiled ham covering the entire sandwich overlapping each ham slice. Remove the top bun from the toaster over spread the mozzarella cheese out evenly with the spatula; put the bottom bun back in the oven while you work on the top. On the top bun place slices of cotto salami laid out the same as the ham then the slices of Genoa salami even spread out on top of the cotto salami, finishing with rings of yellow French’s mustard. Put the top salami bun in the oven and take out the bottom bun and get ready to dress it. On the bottom bun add first shredded lettuce, sparingly just enough to cover the bottom meat. Next, add your slices of tomato and thinly sliced red or yellow onions, six thin slices, no more. Here are two beauties, ready to go. Retrieve the other bun but it together, and prepare to feast! CLONE - Original Sandwich Bun Makes 2 large or 3 medium sandwich buns INGREDIENTS 1 recipe CLONEsky’s® sourdough starter (recipe follows) 2 teaspoons white sugar 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 cup lukewarm milk (at about110° F) 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups bread flour 2 tablespoons corn meal METHOD In a large bowl, stir together the warm milk, sugar, salt and baking soda. Stir to dissolve, then add in the CLONEsky’s® sourdough starter and whisk together. Beat the flour into the liquid mixture one half cup at a time until smooth, then move on to the next half-cup. When you are finished, the batter should be thick, very sticky and smooth. Prepare 2 each 8” or 3 each 6” pie or cake pans with non-stick spray, and then scatter the bottom of the pans with the corn meal. Divide the dough evenly between the prepared pans. It won’t look right, but the batter will spread as the dough rises. Spray the top of each bun with non-stick cooking spray, and then cover and let rise for one hour in a warm draft-free spot for one hour. I turn on the oven for a minute and then right back off, and let it rise in there. It should be barely just warm. Once the dough has finished rising, spray the top of the bread with non-stick cooking spray lightly again. Bake in a preheated 375° F for 20 minutes. Once the top is lightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean, you are done. Turn the finished loaves out on a cooling rack, and allow to cool for an hour before slicing. CLONESKY’S SOURDOUGH STARTER - yields about 1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F) 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1 cup all-purpose flour Combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit until the yeast becomes foamy, about 5 minutes. (If the yeast does not foam, discard the mixture and begin again with new yeast – check the date.) Add the flour and stir briskly to work in. Cover loosely and let rest in a warm, draft-free place (like an oven with pilot light or light) for 8 to12 hours. (The mixture should become very bubbly.) Now you can use your Schlotzsky’s® sourdough starter to make your Markzsky’s® Original® No-Knead Sandwich Buns! CAUTION: Never keep any sourdough starter tightly closed! The gasses that build up from the yeast can pressurize the container (such as a glass jar) and possibly make it burst! CLONE - Creamy Garlic Dressing 1 c. mayonnaise 2 tbsp. minced parsley 1 tbsp. white vinegar 1 tbsp. milk 1/2 tsp. powdered garlic 1/2 tsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. salt Whisk all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Load into squeeze bottle and keep in refrigerator. Makes about a cup

This was one of my favorite lessons from last year. (I feel like I always say that....?) But seriously, this was great. It would work for a variety of grades- elementary or high school as well. I did it with 7th grade and will again this year. Using the move-able figures- students had to create a zoomed/close-up composition using the figure, taking the negative space into consideration. I actually had them do a "photo shoot" with their ipads: take photos of the figures in different positions and then cropped the photos. For some students it was easier for them to work from the photo. The students sketched out shaded pencil drawings first. Then they drew them BIG on 12 x 18 slate grey Tru-ray construction paper (one of my favorites, along with their turquoise). They chose a color palette to work in and had to have 3 different shades of oil pastels so that they could convey the shadows. They all came out awesome! And it gave students a chance to strengthen a variety of skills. Some needed to master blending, some needed to strengthen their ability to communicate dimension, etc.

We are so lucky here at Birch Fabrics, to be able to partner with some very talented ladies from the crafting community. Here we have an Elephant Plushie Pattern and Tutorial by Christina McKinney, a creative contributor to our Birch Fabrics blog, momma, photographer, and all around awesome person! Check out her adorable pattern and tute! .......................................................................................................................... I’m so excited to share this fun tutorial with you!! Growing up, my mom collected elephants - so I have always loved them. These make great little snuggle buddies for little ones or decorations for a nursery. And since they come together so quickly, they make great gifts. The pattern is available in two sizes, large and small - so you can make one, or a whole little family of them! Tips: Use a 1/4in seam allowance throughout. Read your pattern pieces BEFORE cutting, two of them require you to add a seam allowance along one edge. Pinning will really help keep seams matched up, but I DO NOT recommend sewing over pins! Press all your pieces well before and during sewing. Supplies needed: 1 fat quarter in main fabric print 1 fat quarter in contrast fabric scrap piece of iron on interfacing polyfil stuffing Printed pattern pieces PRINT PATTERN PIECES HERE! Fabric Shown: From Just For Fun Collection and Mod Basics 2 by Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics Organic. You need to add a seam allowance to a couple pieces. I don’t measure them exactly, eyeballing it is just fine! This is how mine are pinned - about 1/2 in between - then I just cut up the middle. (My fabric here is folded wrong sides together, so I’m cutting both the left and right pieces at the same time. I recommend doing this to keep the pieces exact.) They should end up looking like this: So, once everything is cut, you’re ready to go! First, start with sewing each set of ears. Take two and put them right sides together. You’re going to sew just the curved edge, leaving the straight side open for turning. Repeat with second set of ear pieces. Turn your ears right side out and press. Using your pattern piece as a guide, place one ear on one of the main body pieces. The raw edge of the ear will lay against the raw edge of the body piece. Lay the corresponding face piece on top, sandwiching the ear in between. Pin in place and sew along the straight edge. Repeat this step with the second ear, face, & body pieces. Press your seam toward the elephants trunk. (It should naturally face that way when you flip the ear back.) Using your face pattern piece as a guide, line up where your eye will be, and iron on your interfacing piece. Just as a side note, there are a couple options for the eye. I use a stitch on my machine that just happens to look a little like an oval: You could also stitch an eye by hand, or leave it off entirely. I strongly recommend the interfacing if it’s machine or hand stitched - otherwise the fabric could tear. (Since these are meant for little ones, I would avoid button eyes.) Once I have the interfacing in place, I like to mark a small dot on the front where the top of my stitched eye will start. This helps keep things even! Once the eye is stitched, I pull the top and bottom threads from the front to the back and tie a small knot. Since reversing/securing the stitch isn’t an option with decorative stitches, I do this to make sure it doesn’t pull out over time. Then snip your threads The front should look something like this: Now, you need to stitch up your little tail piece. ***Quick note in regard to sewing this in the smaller size. I still cut the tail piece the same size and sew it the same way. I just shorten it when I’m finished.*** Fold over and press each long edge 1/4in. Fold in half and press Sew along the open side, staying close to the edge, but making sure you catch both sides. As close as you can to one end, tie a small knot for decoration. Using your pattern piece for placement, lay your tail piece in place and pin. Keep in mind that the tail will hang whatever direction you stitch it. So, decide if you want it angled up or down and place it accordingly. Leave about 1/4 inch out, just to make sure it gets caught in the seam correctly. Lay your second body piece on top, matching up all the edges and seams. Pin in place. You’ll need to decide what edge to leave open for turning and stitching. A straight edge is ideal for this - much easier to sew up once you’re done. Mark your start and stop points with double needles or different colored pins. Stitch around the edge taking care to follow all the curves. Take your time! Be sure to secure your start and stop stitches near the opening so it doesn’t unravel when you turn it right side out. Before turning, snip the inner and outer curves. BE CAREFUL and don’t snip through your stitches!! The inner and outer edges of the trunk and belly are the most important curves to cut. (Though I tend to just snip almost the whole way around. It goes a long way in helping things lay correctly when turned.) Turn right side out, poking out all the rounded edges and corners. I use a chopstick for this, it’s perfect!! (I don’t know about y’all, but I always have more than a few of those laying around! Take out anyone?) Once all your seams are pressed, you can start stuffing! I like to take small pieces of filling and push them into the trunk first. I then use the chopstick to poke filling into all the nooks and crannies. Fill to your desired firmness. (I recommend less filling if it’s meant for very little ones. Far easier for them to hold on to!) Once you’re happy with the filling amount, sew up the opening with a blind stitch. And you’re done! See? EASY! All Photography and Pattern-work by Christina McKinney, for personal use only. Not to be duplicated or sold. Please check out Christina McKinney's photography page on Facebook!

One of my most successful posts last year was about the “T-Shaped vs. V-Shaped Employee.” But, there’s more than just these two types. Which type are you, I… | 434 comments on LinkedIn

Last year the cup stack was one of my FAVORITE team building activities (see post here). So, naturally, I wanted to give it another shot! The Cup Stack is a fun, yet challenging activity that promotes team work. The supplies are basic: cups, string, rubber bands. I go ahead and tie the string to the rubber bands so it is ready to go. I make a few for groups of 4 and a few for groups of 5, this way no matter what the numbers are in the classroom I can make it work. I start by asking students what teamwork is. What does it look like? sound like? feel like? We brainstorm a list of ideas that I hang in the classroom for students to refer to. Each class comes up with a variety of ideas, but they all center around the same theme. Then I introduce their challenge. I start off my admitting that this will be a frustrating activity. We discuss ways to handle our stress and feelings that arise when others make a mistake or don't do what we want them to do. I model that they will each be given 6 cups and a rubberband with strings attached to it. Their job is to stack the cups into a design by only holding onto their individual string. I demonstrate that when everyone pulls on their string the rubberband opens wider, and vice versa. I also show them the challenges of picking up a cup that has tipped on its side or fallen on the floor. No matter what happens, they must follow the one rule: YOU CAN ONLY TOUCH YOUR STRING. No touching the rubber band, no touching the cup, and no touching other group member's strings. I reinforce how communication is so important in order to reach the goal. Then I set them off. Here are some videos and pics. After about 10-15 minutes, we pause and reflect on our experiences. I ask them to rate their group on how well they worked together using the ideas we wrote at the beginning of the lesson. I ask them what went well for their group. I also ask them what didn't go well for their group. We talk about different strategies and ways we an handle ourselves when things don't go the way we want them to. Throughout the activity I walk around and facilitate positive communication, so I usually have a few examples to help springboard the discussion.

This game is one of my favorite games ever. It’s killer easy and it’s way fun. You can use candy (M&Ms are my favorite) or any other type of marker (I’ve used Cheerios, Goldfi…

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Hey there bookworms! I’m so excited to be back with you for another round of bright ideas! Here we go! One of the things I loved about my position last year was being able to go into so many different classrooms and learn new tricks from the fantastic teachers in our building. One of my ... Read More about Beat the Bell {A September Bright Idea!}

I randomly came up with this idea during the last week of school. One of my reading groups had finished their book and project before any of the other groups had finished. Instead of giving them a new book (there was only one week left), I quickly created this template and told them to pick an event in history and research it. I had one boy choose the Vikings, someone else chose the atomic bomb, a girl wanted the great depression, and another student picked the Korean war. I loved that everyone had such diverse topics. After they got started, I saw some great learning take place in my classroom! Because it's an inquiry-based activity, they generated their own questions. And because they got to choose their own topic, they were excited and felt ownership over the project. I plan on using this next year as a fun fast finisher activity. This list is something I quickly generated. {I know it is not all inclusive - if I left something off that you really want me to add on, please leave me a comment.} This would be fun to hang up somewhere in the back of the classroom so fast finishers can work on a project whenever they want. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD HISTORY DETECTIVES! * * * * * Want to hear some GREAT news? I am leaving next week on an 8 day history trip to Virginia where I get to study at the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute! I also get to visit Jamestown and Yorktown. I'm so excited! I plan on posting lots of the things I learn, including pictures!

Y'all just loved the last stromboli I posted, so I decided to give it a little St. Patrick's Day twist! This Reuben Stromboli is just as easy as the last one, but with all the great

Mike mike mike guess what day it is?! CRAFT DAYYYYY! That’s about as amped as I get for Wednesdays…but anyway, last week I saw these cute little monster bookmarks on Pinterest that made…

This post is all about last minute costumes.Halloweekend is rapidly approaching! It’s the best time of the year to dress up as anyone you want to be. When October hits there are two types of people. You have those who plan out their Halloween costumes by strolling through Pinterest weeks in advance looking for the hottest

These FREE Printables and Unit Studies for Eric Carle's Books will help you expand on what your kids are learning through these beloved books.

19 Sunday School Object Lessons [with videos] that you'll cry with happiness over. And then of course, you will proceed to use every LAST ONE OF THEM because they are SO AWESOME!!! Check them out below! > (Free) Download the entire list Preview modal- First Name Please enter your name.…

There is a lot of Ted Harrison love at the school these days. Both Grades 2 and 3 are completing art projects based on his work. Ted Harrison is a well known Canadian artist famous for his use of line and color in his landscape paintings around his beloved Yukon home. This is an easy art project based on his work. MATERIALS REQUIRED: - watercolor paper or heavy weight sketch paper - watercolor, tempera, or acrylic paints - black paper - glue - scissors - reference photos (there are lots of images of Ted Harrison's work online) - oil pastels or wax crayons I like to tape off my paper and then draw in your line design. You want to discuss the way Ted Harrison uses a strong line to show shape or contour of the landscape, how the line is just as important as the color. With younger kids you may want to use pastels or wax crayons and draw those heavy lines. I'm using crayon here and they resist the paint allowing you to keep those heavy lines, oil pastels work even better. Start painting. It's good to start with the lightest colors first and then work your way to the darkest. Although the crayon or pastel resists the paint you still want the kids to stay within the lines if the can so you have those separate areas of deep color. With older kids you can get them to conserve that white line. When painting with watercolors you'll want to leave some space between the colors any way so they don't mix together before drying. Another option is to try the stained glass method. I've mixed a couple of squirts of acrylic paint into a bottle of white school glue. I then use this to mark my heavy lines, lie flat and let dry. (about 12 hrs.) Once the glue is dry paint in your strong color. They glue helps to corral the paint in each area for easier painting. Now you can add an Inukshuk if you wish. Cut out individual stones out of black paper. Then glue down on top of your painting. Place a sheet of wax paper on top and rest a heavy book on top of that to help it dry flat. The paintings also look great just on their own. Here is some work by Grade 2. They used their twistables for this and it turned out terrific but I think they are ready to try the painting option. Great work grade 2!

My last lookbook kinda blew up so I was eager to get started on the rest. This one was definitely much harder but I tried to get it as accurate as possible. The top image is for a more upper class fa…

Create an adorable set of paper guinea pigs including a mama with two babies! This free printable template is easy to cut out and slot together – no glue needed

Hey doodz, remember last year when we got our new fence installed? (Part 1, Part 2) Well today I wanted to share with you how it be lookin’ one year later. I’ve stained it since the last time we talked about it. I decided to go for a dark brown stain (semi-transparent chocolate by behr), and I really like it although staining was a total bear of a job. It took me 5 gallons of stain, many, many, M A N Y hours, and tons of slivers. It was worth it, although if I ever had to do it again I would seriously consider hiring it out. What can I tell you about staining; it’s a pain, it’s hard, and slats are dumb. I used a brush because I wanted the color to look variegated and dimensional, so some of the slats had 3 heavy coats of stain and others had 2 lighter coats – it all took a lot of time and effort but I’m really happy with how it all turned out. Just to give you some idea, I began this staining project last fall and finished it at the end of April. It was a big project and took an enormous amount of time – I better like it. To refresh your memory, we previously had a dated chain link fence with green plastic slats – not a pretty backdrop for the garden vibes we were going after. Last spring we had installed a horizontal cedar slatted fence. We had added a 4′ fence on one side of our yard, and a 6′ privacy fence on the other (can you tell which neighbor I don’t like?). We added gates to both sides of the house, and a big gate in the back opening up to a concrete slab on the side of our garage. Now that the fence is installed and stained we seriously love everything about the fence! I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. Bros, I’m not gonna tip-toe around it, this is a sponsored post, and I’m proudly endorsing Fencein Deck, the company who built our fence. If you’re in the twin cities area and are looking to have a fence built, (custom or otherwise) please consider giving Dave a call (651-246-3176) or shoot him an e-mail, he is a good dude who has built a solid business (Fencein Deck) for himself here in […]

This authentic Italian Lasagna with Béchamel is layered with a rich bolognese, pasta, lots of cheese, and of course a pesto & parmesan béchamel. No ricotta is needed! It is a total comfort food that anyone would love.

Creative Writer Worksheet – Writing Study Guide (PDF) This week marks the end of our year of creative writer worksheets. From a multitude of possible topics I had to choose one last worksheet, and here it is! I hope this worksheet will serve as a reminder to keep studying and improving yourself as a writer. There’s always more to…

How to create an end-of-day routine that leaves your room spotless, every time!

The next pattern in our summer series is an update on a favorite that I released last fall. These crochet wristlet keychains are absolutely perfect for markets and would make cute (and useful) gifts.This beginner friendly project works up in about 10-15 minutes and is one of my favorite items to make for markets. The wristlet is crocheted using the I-cord technique. Don't worry if you've never used this technique before. It's surprisingly easy! If you can make a chain and draw up a loop, you