Soft Buttery Pretzels

I have a confession to make. I've never had a pretzel from the mall. You know the ones where you watch them make the dough and smell the soft, buttery, morsels cook. Lord knows I've been temped to purchase one of these salty temptations, but I've always controlled myself. Thanks to my mother, I have a terrible time buying food from vendors at the mall, the fair, or theme parks. She instilled me in the value of a dollar and I've never been the same since. She would run math problems for my sister and I, showing how much the prices were increased in places like this simply because people were hungry and had no other option. Our family always had another option and it was called bring our own food. I was humiliated by this as a child. I couldn't understand why my mother insisted on making sandwiches in our motel room before we headed to Disney Land in 1989. My dad's family traveled with us and ate out every meal, even at Disney Land. I was insanely jealous watching them eat greasy hamburgers and fries while I ate warm ham and cheese on wheat bread. Then, in 2004 Jeff and I found ourselves at a Food-4-Less in Anaheim, CA buying bread, jam, peanut butter, and apples as we prepared for 2 days in Disney Land. We estimated we saved about $150 on food that trip. Without even trying, I had married a man who was raised with the same frugal mentality. 

Because I love to cook and bake, we often find ourselves at home eating food I prepare. I splurge on nicer ingredients every now and then and we rarely eat out. When we do eat out, both my husband and I have to control ourselves and not think about the money that we are wasting. I dwell on the fact that I will not have to set one foot in the kitchen to help clean up and my dirty dishes are whisked away and not by me or by a 4 year old who may or may not drop them on the way to the kitchen. Just last night we feasted on salmon that I baked with lemon and rosemary, fried red potatoes, green beans and fresh bread hot from the oven. This gourmet meal was less than $6 for our whole family and I have leftovers! My husbands wonders why we would ever eat out with food this good and he is completely spoiled. Then I remind him of the messy kitchen. Cleaning the kitchen is my #1 least favorite household chore.

Was I talking about something in particular? Oh yes, pretzels. Mall pretzels. I recently tried a recipe for Soft Buttery Pretzels that Lindsay submitted on Food Love. They are supposed to be a replica of the mall pretzels that I've never eaten, only dreamt about and then didn't buy because they cost too much. I have to say that these delicious buttery pretzels are exactly how I imagined they should be. They are soft. They are chewy. And I will never be the same. Try them and save yourself some money. :) Pack them in the little baggy and eat them in the food court at the mall and get a taste of money saving satisfaction as you and you alone know that you just saved yourself a few bucks.

Emma's been sick the last few days. In one way, having a child who can communicate her symptoms is a relief, but those symptoms don't always make a lot of sense. She woke up with a high fever on Wednesday complaining that her frote, head, and fingers hurt. She slept most of the day and yesterday she was fine until last night when she had another fever of 103 and said her door and blanket were hurting her. She's spent a lot of time on the couch telling her sister to get away from her because she's "not in the mood to play." This morning she is asking me for ice cream. I don't have any ice cream, but she requested that we go to the Bar-Mort and buy some. I have a terrible time resisting a feverish child, so I may end up going out for ice cream. I also need to return library books and buy some milk. I am fully aware that this is how the germs get spread, but seriously, I don't think I can handle another day trapped in this house making pretzels and salmon and chicken bbq pizza and then eating the leftovers. So, I'll go buy ice cream (for my sick child only). That will make me feel much better.