I crave pretzels, soft and crunchy-sourdough, more than anything else here. Sometimes I daydream of covering a warm, braided soft pretzel with mustard and sharing it with no one. Selfish, yes, but they are the perfect snack and the best lunch substitute known to my mouth.Fortunately, my brother Ryan and his delicate-lotus-flower-of-a-wife, Jen, sent me a package containing, among other things, a 1.5 pound pack of Amish Pantry Dutch Soft Pretzel Mix. This is enough to make anywhere from 6-10 soft pretzels, depending on your rolling technique and size preference. Caitlin and I made the dough and rationed half of it into the freezer for later. We managed four delicious pretzels: one salted, one garlic, another Italian-seasoned, and the last was brushed with a mix of warm butter and salt.
They were delicious.
We could tell that this was the real thing because, after saving one for the following day, the pretzel got doughier and crinkly (just like those from downtown) after sitting through the night. The salvation to my Philly-cravings:
This is our little toaster oven. It can manage small baking jobs, bagels, toast, roasting nuts, granola, vegetable melts, and the occasional nacho plate.
The little gangly one that looks like its out of a Tim Burton flick is mine, the nicely-proportioned and well-seasoned guy if of Caitlin's doing.
Bam! Finished product
A week after making these I went back to the foreign grocery store and picked up The Six Pound Bag of mini pretzels. The last bag we got lasted about two months...we will see how long this one sticks around.
I love pretzels and so should you.
