Pretzel Mania!

Lunch Time Pretzels

So I totally blame this post on my friend Debbie who had been Facebooking her beautiful pretzels.  Debbie is a good person, unlike me, and actually shares her recipes.  I decided to make some for a lunch time snack after lunch.  They were beautiful as you can see.  They were amazing.  10 mins after they were out of the oven, they were gone.

Dinner Pretzels

 They were so amazing, that when I asked my family what they wanted for dinner, they all screamed "PRETZELS!"  So we had pretzel bites and beer cheese dip for dinner.  Sounds logical, right? All I can say is mom of the night right here.  So we had an amazing night full of pretzels and Stone Age, a game our family loves to get violent at.  ;)

I used this pretzel recipe here.  I'm posting it at the bottom.  It's super easy and super amazeballs.  But the cheese dip was of my own doing.  I'll post that too.  You're welcome.  :)

Soft Baked Pretzels

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant quick rise yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)

For the Topping:

1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp baking soda
vegetable oil for greasing the sheet pan
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Combine all the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix with the paddle attachment until somewhat combined (or just mix by hand with a wooden spoon). Change to the dough hook and knead on medium low for 5 minutes. The dough should feel soft and smooth, not sticky to the touch.

Lightly dust the dough with flour, then place in a ziploc bag and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and lightly grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil. You could also do parchment paper if you can find one that's rated high enough (most parchment papers I've seen only go up to 420 degrees F).

Remove the dough from the bag and place onto a lightly oiled countertop. Divide the dough into 8 pieces (just cut it with a knife).

Whisk to combine the warm water and baking soda and cook in the microwave for 1 minute. FYI it's not going to dissolve completely, and that's okay.

Roll each of the eight pieces into a long rope, and shape each one into a pretzel (see the step-by-step photos on the blog post to see how to do this). Dip each pretzel into the soda wash and place onto the greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, then let them rest for 10 minutes.

Bake for 9 to 10 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown. Brush the pretzels with the melted butter while they are hot out of the oven. Enjoy while they are hot, and keep in mind these don't taste as amazing the next day. Enjoy! 

Cheesy Beer Dip 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp nutmeg
6oz (half a bottle; you get to drink the rest) of beer (I used an amber)
3 C sharp cheddar cheese, grated
salt and black pepper, to taste

Start by melting the butter in a saucepan, and cooking it with the flour for about a minute.  It may seem silly, but this step is crucial to get rid of the raw flour taste.  Next, whisk in a cup of milk.  Keep stirring, and cook for several minutes, until the mixture thickens.  Once the milk mixture has thickened, pour in half a beer.  Bring back up to a simmer, continuing to stir constantly.  Stir in the black pepper, nutmeg, and mustard powder.  Stir.  Then add the grated cheddar cheese, one cup at a time, stirring until the cheese is melted and incorporated in the mixture before adding the next cup

A New Adventure

So this year started off with a bang.  Homeschool.  It's something I never thought we, as a family, would do.  But one has to do what one has to do.  And this is, for the moment, what my husband and I feel is best for our family.

So I did all sorts of research.  Hours and hours of research.  I mean, we're talking migraine-
inducing- research.  But we found a program that will work until the program I really want to use is accepting new students.  So far so good; then again it's only been a week.  *eek*

Labor of Love

I'm thinking now I'll have a little more time to post our different goings-on.  The chick is a lot more self-sufficient.  She has THE cutest new kitchen that my husband and I spent working on together.  As you can see, it's pretty amazing.  And she is constantly playing in it.  I have no idea where she gets wanting to be in the kitchen all day from.

Yes, It lights up.

*Side note* I now know what my mom meant when she said, "One day you'll have one JUST LIKE YOU!"  It was not only a statement of fact, but a curse/threat/promise.  I miss you every day mom.