BoomerGirl Diary

Ah yes, the boys of summer are back and playing their hearts out. This is what my Fantasy Baseball Team looks like currently. I’ve just made a trade that I’m very happy with – Derek Jeter for Manny Ramírez. People call me crazy for getting rid of Jeter, but when it came down to it, my Red Sox emotions got the best of me. And I believe in Manny!

Jason Varitek (Bos - C)

Paul Konerko (CWS - 1B)

Jeff Kent (LAD - 1B,2B)

Marcus Giles (SD - 2B)

Chipper Jones (Atl - 3B)

Curtis Granderson (Det - OF)

Nick Swisher (Oak - 1B,OF)

Shane Victorino (Phi - OF)

Manny Ramírez (Bos - OF)

José Guillén (Sea - OF)

Nick Markakis (Bal - OF)

Édgar Rentería (Atl - SS)

Orlando Cabrera (LAA - SS)

Eric Chávez (Oak - 3B)

Ryan Freel (Cin - 2B,3B,OF) DL

Roger Clemens (NYY - SP)

Daisuke Matsuzaka (Bos - SP)

Rafael Soriano (Atl - RP)

Dustin Moseley (LAA - RP)

Mike Mussina (NYY - SP)

Tim Wakefield (Bos - SP)

Josh Johnson (Fla - SP,RP)

So are you wondering what all this baseball talk has to do with cooking? One of the things I love about baseball is the food. It’s all about eating outside in the warm weather. I love soft pretzels. They remind me of a carefree summer day watching a baseball game with the sun shining down on me as I suddenly notice mustard falling onto my white T-shirt. It happens. But the pretzels taste great even though the mustard can mess up my summer whites. Here’s a great recipe. You probably cannot sneak these into a stadium, but they’re great to take to a picnic or a barbecue. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Cooks.com.

Soft pretzels

(Makes 8 large pretzels)

Preparation time is about 45 minutes.

1 pkg. yeast

1 1/2 c. warm water

3/4 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

5 c. flour

1 egg (beaten)

Coarse salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with foil and dust with flour. In a small bowl, beat egg and set aside. In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix water and yeast. Let mixture set until you see tiny bubbles, then add the table salt and sugar. Stir in flour. When you can no longer stir with the spoon, turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until a smooth and elastic texture. Keep adding additional flour as needed, so that the dough is easy to handle.

Separate dough into eight pieces. Rub each piece between your hands to form long ropes, like you would as a kid with Play-Doh. I used to love the stuff! To form the pretzel shape, make a "U" with the rope. Bring each tip of the "U" down and across to meet the opposite side. Press lightly where the tips overlap the base of the "U". Place pretzels on cookie sheets. Use a pastry brush and brush egg over each pretzel. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm with mustard, butter, and/or honey.