Buttery Soft Pretzels

When I was 20 years old, I was addicted to Auntie Anne's Soft Pretzels. So addicted that I wouldn't go to the mall to shop. I would go to get a pretzel. Finally frustrated by not being able to have one ANY time I wanted I bought an Auntie Anne's soft pretzel mix and dissected it in hopes of replicating my favorite treat at home.

After a few failed batches, I came up with a recipe that tasted (so says me) as good as Auntie Anne's. I shared this recipe on Allrecipe.com (recipe here). Within a year it became a top rated recipe and was included in the Allrecipes.com Dinner Tonight cookbook. It was exciting!

It has been almost 10 years and I still make these soft pretzels a few times each month. The pretzels are a bit on the sweeter side, which lends itself well to a cinnamon sugar coating. But it holds up well with more savory ingredients like pepperoni and cheese.

A few tips before you begin:
-Start with 4.5 cups of flour and increase the amount as needed. You want a soft, pliable dough.
-Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and spray with a non stick spray. The baking soda solution makes the pretzels difficult to remove from the pan.
-Brush or dip the pretzels while they're hot.
-These are best when eaten immediately. Cold soft pretzels are not that tasty.

My top 8 recipes of 2010

My thoughts have not been on food lately but have been more about my kitchen and staying out of it. Since holiday break began, my thoughts have wandered towards more important things. Things like John Cusack.

Confession # 838: I spent my last LOL (Lady of Leisure) day doing a John Cusack movie marathon. There. I said it. The morning started with classics such as "Better Off Dead", "Say Anything" and "The Sure Thing". The afternoon featured "Grosse Pointe Blank" with "High Fidelity" as the finale.

Did I OD on JC? Impossible.

His last movie actually inspired me. High Fidelity is a story about a Rob (John Cusack) the music-addicted, obsessively list-making owner of a record store called Championship Vinyl. The breakup of Rob and his girlfriend sets him to recalling his previous relationships with women, specifically those on a list of his Top 5 Worst Breakups.

I decided to make a list of my own. So #5 on my Worst Breakup of all time list was...

Pork Tamales

 Another year is ending. This will mark my 5th year living in the Lone Star State. I had to get used to a few things when I moved to San Antonio from the midwest. These included things like:

1. The high percentage of left lane coasters in this town. Keep right and pass left. It really is that easy. Don't be a left lane camper!

2. The 10 month summer season.

3. "Go Spurs Go"

4. Being able to wear summery dresses and flip flops up to November (refer to #2).

5. Eating tamales during the Christmas holiday. I don't know if this is only a San Antonian tradition, but it's one I've thoroughly enjoyed while living here.

This was my first attempt at making tamales, but the tamale gods must have been smiling down on me because they turned out delicious!

A few things to know before we get started: making tamales is time consuming (plan on two days); I ended up with 104 tamales, so you may want to half the recipe. Luckily, I have a large extended family and I like to share :)

Mmmm...Tamales.

Cream Cheese Penguin Posse

  

 I giggled the entire time while making these. Is that weird? Look at them. Don't they make you chuckle? And that scarf! Come on! Precious right? That tilt of the head gives them a little sass I think.

These little guys never fail to evoke the "aaaawwww how cute!" or the "they're too cute to eat!" or the "I must take pictures!" at parties. They're gangsta. Seriously, they help you make friends. You will be popular. Don't say I didn't warn you ;)

 

Sweet Potato Bread

Spontaneous road trips have had me MIA from the kitchen lately. My oven is cold and lonely. I have 12 sweet potatoes I bought before said spontaneous road trip taunting me on the counter. You know what they're saying? They're saying, "That's what you get for taking advantage of the 8 cents per pound sweet potato sale." You end up with more sweet potatoes than you need. ::gasp:: Does this make me a sweet potato hoarder?! Don't answer that.

Let's get to baking shall we? I started with one of my favorite banana bread recipes and made a few minor changes to make this (can I do a little bragging for a second?) super awesome bread. It turned out delicious and I used up only 3 of my 12 precious sweet potatoes.

The Original Arthur Bryant's Barbecue KCMO

This is a picture of me waiting in line for some Arthur Bryant's barbecue in Kansas City Missouri. This photo tells you a few things: I am not in Texas in my kitchen baking. I am one of those crazies who will wait in line for over an hour for good food. I am significantly shorter than the general population.

What this photo doesn't tell you: The line curved all the way around the building. It was 42 degrees outside. The people seated inside were taunting us with their barbecue sauce covered smiles through the window. It was 12:02 PM.

Simple French Toast

Thick slices of country bread, soaked in whole milk, eggs, vanilla and sugar then pan fried in butter. 

This is what I'm asking you to put in your face today.

Your belly can thank me later. Your hips, butt and thighs can address formal complaints to my dog Yoshi. He's a good listener. Trust me, I know.

In my world, the perfect French toast has a golden brown exterior with crisp edges and a rich, custardy (is that a word?) center.
 
To achieve this French toast perfection you'll need good day old bread cut into one inch slices and you must pan fry in butter on a low-medium flame.  This will blow your mind!