Pretzels. Homemade soft pretzels. These use to be something of an obsession for Pete and I before Sage was born. After our son's arrival, however, yeasted dough became an absurdity in the context of life with this colicky babe. (Deep knee bends and "shuuuusssshhhhhhh" sounds don't lend themselves to hand kneading nor fishing dough out of boiling water.) By the time the colic passed we had pretty much forgot about them.
Today our pretzels have returned.
My kids saw these on Crafty Crow and didn't know what they were. Seriously. They'd never seen a soft pretzel before. Within moments we had our aprons on (Ahem. Impossibly cute Lupine-size thrifted apron from a recent outing. Adorable.). We pulled out an old recipe card from Pete's and my early life and got busy proofing yeast.
My original recipe came from Martha Stewart. It has been modified over the past decade to morph, like any living recipe, into what now is. Basically we substitute freshly ground spelt and rye for 1/2 of the wheat flour and use white spelt for the balance. Instead of kosher salt we use some wonderful Celtic Sea salt (you can find some at your coop. It is mineral rich and delicious).
What food-loves have you recently rediscovered?
Yay! This is one of the Rachel recipe cards I still have in my recipe box (actually, I believe it’s on TWO cards – page 1, page 2) along with broiled tofu. Maybe I oughtta dig out this recipe again, too! Thanks, Rachel.
Hello old friend. You are correct – It is definitely a two-carder. I dont think Ive made these since the late 90s. Glad youre still loving them! xo
yum yum, my kids have been taking about making pretzels and once we saw your we just had to make some! Thanks!!
Happy to inspire good food for or with kids!
Well, Monkey just saw the pictures on this post and said “Elephant!” so I’m guessing he’s never seen a soft pretzel either. Guess I need to make some, too!
Awesome. Absolutely awesome. Did you catch that Lupine calls cinnamon rolls cinnamon snails?