Labor Day Domesticity

I spent today lazing around the house, since the social calendar has been sort of full the past few weeks to allow for much sitting around the house in sweatpants, cooking-for-fun, etc.

I made a batch of pretzels following a combination of this recipe, this one, and this one. I mixed together:

• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 4-5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 cups warm milk

Mixed thoroughly, then kneaded for about 8 minutes. I put them in a covered bowl to rise for an hour while I cleaned up the kitchen and did some knitting. Then I punched down the dough, cut it into 12 pieces, and rolled them into short, fat snakes. I covered them with a towel and let the dough relax for about 5 minutes while I put a pot of water with a couple tablespoons of baking soda on the stove. Then I rolled the dough out into long skinny snakes, folded into pretzel shapes, greased two cookie sheets and turned the oven on to 425. Once the baking soda water had boiled, I dunked each pretzel in it for a few seconds, fished them out, and lined them up on the baking sheets. Popped them into the 425 degree oven for about 12 minutes. In retrospect, I should have cooked one pan at a time so I could center them in the oven better - the bottoms are a bit burnt - and done an egg wash so they'd be shinier (I discovered I didn't have a pastry brush to brush the egg on with).