One of the ways I’ve been dealing with the pain is by spending time in the kitchen baking when I am able to. It often helps me focus on something besides the pain my body is in. And it keeps me vertical and moving around instead of just lying down.
I’ve made soft pretzels in the past but always skipped the boiling part, and wow, it makes quite the difference. I’m comfortable now with it, though I still make quite a mess, but that’s sort of my style.
The recipe for these is Pretzel Buns from King Arthur. I’ve become a fan of many of their recipes, party due to the fact it’s not some recipe web site with a very long story and dozens of advertisements.
Seriously though, I absolutely love these buns! I’ve had them toasted with just a bunch of cheese, with an egg, with some cheese and leftover taco meat (surprisingly good!) and even with cream cheese. I plan to make more of these. They also freeze pretty well.
I know what you’re saying, what about the beloved Pretzilla from Miller Baking in Milwaukee? Well, those are/were my go-to for many years, and I do like to support Milwaukee companies. My niece even used to work there, but in 2020 they sold out to a private equity firm, and of course any store-bought bread-based product is going to have additives and preservatives.
One of the reasons I am trying to make/bake more at home is because I want control of what goes into things. Flour, water, yeast, and salt (and sometimes olive oil or butter) is pretty much all you need for most dough. Be it pizza, bread, pretzels, or bagels. No additional ingredients are needed if it’s not going to sit on a store shelf. (Though honestly Pretzilla is probably better than most others, and is Non-GMO, Vegan, and Kosher.)
(Apologies for the vastly different color temperatures of the photos in this post. Our kitchen lighting is weird.)