Pretzel Time

Max has taken a strong liking to cooking shows. AFN shows them every morning so most mornings I'll come downstairs to see him wrapped in a blanket watching the Take Home Chef, or Good Eats. It was one of these mornings where he was watching Good Eats with Alton Brown. (This is my favorite cooking show. I used to think he was a nut, but now I really like him. And I still think he is a nut, but entertaining in a corny way.) Sam was watching too. He was expounding on the secrets of how to make Homemade Soft Pretzels. Sam thought they were awesome and asked: "Can we make those daddy? Can we? Can we?" I told him probably, (my standard noncommittal answer), and that we could look for the recipe sometime. I had to leave for work before I got to see his trick for getting the nice golden brown crisp coating on them and have felt a little unfulfilled since then. (Though I suspected it was an egg wash and I was right). So tonight I found the recipe and got Sam to help me with the dough and then after dinner M and S both helped me roll them out. It turns out it was a pretty easy recipe. We/they didn't make the perfect shape, but they sure tasted great. Just as good as at a ball game with my Dad in Oakland! I ate two despite having a stomach ache.