Pretzel Mania

This year Annika is taking Culinary. Since she was out almost all of last week with a migraine (thank you Grandma for passing that gene on) she had the privilege of baking for the family over the weekend. Ms. Blomquist, here's your proof that it really happened!

We'll start with the primary players. (egads! how could I forget to put the yeast in the photo? It's like the star of the show!)

Carefully checking the directions

Kneading

Double checking the recipe

The dough rests in the bowl for a few hours until it doubles in volume. (We opted to do this in a single day, rather than let it rise overnight in the fridge.)

Showtime! Annika sets the oven temperature at 425.

While the oven gets ready for business, Annika shapes the dough.

First, the cross...

then the flip, to form a cute little pretzel.

We thought we would try tossing a few in boiling water to give the pretzels that chewy texture. Here Annika tests that old saying about the watched pot.

Boil, boil, toil, and trouble...oh wait, that's Macbeth, not Culinary.

Next up, the egg wash.

Annika gets artistic with the basting brush.

Last, but not least, a little sodium which makes life taste oh so much better.

Into the oven they go...

for 20 minutes, which is just enough time to clean up the mess. (Bless you, bless you, Ms. Blomquist! She washed the dinner dishes too!)

And they're ready!

Yum!

But even better with the proper condiments.

So there you have it. Annika has become a domestic goddess. Or at least a pretzel baker of the highest order. By the way, the boiled then baked pretzels were yummilicious, and we gobbled those up right away. Sorry, Ms. Blomquist, you get a baked one, and only one, because they are too delicious to share, and we have lots of greedy little brothers in this family.