Staycation

So…I’ve been working on a post about quick and delicious pasta dinners that you can make when you need to fling something on the table quickly. Then I made a last minute decision to take a few days off work and relax with my family over Easter. As soon as I put my ‘Out of Office’ message on, I lost all interest in the whirlwind of weeknight dinners, so I’m going to write about some fun that I’ve been having in the kitchen lately – making my own soft pretzels.

I’m not sure if it’s my German heritage, or my Philly roots, but I love soft pretzels, and so do my kids. What’s better than warm pretzels – crispy and salty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, dipped in a bit of honey mustard and served with a cold beer? NOTHING. And I’m on vacation, so warm pretzels and cold beer I will have. Especially because I had a small man requesting pretzels before I had opened both of my eyes this morning.

I’ve been using this recipe from Real Simple Magazine, and it’s proven very successful. The instructions are really straightforward and there are lots of opportunities to involve young chefs, between rolling dough, sprinkling salt, and egg washing. I have not had the time or energy to seek out proper coarse salt, so I’ve just been using Maldon sea salt, and it does the trick. I’ve been fortunate to receive some very good feedback from local critics.

It’s a time-consuming process, but it isn’t hard, and the end product is very tasty. I’ll be back to writing about pasta next week, but right now, I’m going to put my feet up finish the rest of this beer…

If you want to make a quick honey mustard dip, I like this combination:

1 T. coarse, whole-grain mustard

1 T. dijon mustard

2 T. runny honey

Whisk them altogether and dip away. If you have any leftover, a squeeze of lemon juice and some olive or rapeseed oil will turn it into a lovely salad dressing.

In other foodie news…

You’re all watching Masterchef UK, right? It’s rocking my world right now.

I’ve been spoiled rotten over the last couple of weeks with meals at Craft and Richmond, and some very fun cocktails and bar food at Camden Exchange. Loving the Dublin restaurant scene right now.

Spring is here and it’s iced coffee season!  Make a double batch of this now and thank me later. I like to add a dash of vanilla to the finished product. If you want it to last all morning, pop it into one of these with a generous handful of ice and a good glug of almond milk. Happy days.