Step Five: Mall Pretzels, Employment, and Allergies

I am, generally speaking, excellent at avoiding the "cheap, unhealthy, pre-fab" food that you find at the average American mall. I can walk quickly past Chinese food samples, bourbon chicken samples, Ben and Jerry's, and even the wafting sweet cinnamon-y deliciousness that is Cinnabon. I can ignore the call of Haagen Dazs, resist the urge to drink a lemonade the size of my head, and put my fingers in my ears and whistle as I walk past an Orange Julius.

What I cannot resist, however, are mall pretzels. This is exacerbated by J's love of the same. The crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, salty and sweet and covered in a glaze of fatty delicious butter dripping on fingers while sogging the wrapper twists of bread are from heaven. There is no resisting, and almost every time I set foot into a mall I wonder when I'll run into the pretzel stand, and if I have enough change to grab two.

So when I stumbled upon a recipe promising the deliciousness of mall pretzels at home, I jumped on it. These did not disappoint -- they're remarkably easy to make, worth the wait for them to rise, and hold up to the standard against which I hold all soft pretzels these days, they're at least as good as the ones in the mall if not better. I made ten pretzels, and nine were gone in the next hour. I won't tell you how many I ate.

Tutorial on twisting pretzels:

Divide the dough evenly. The original recipe divided into 6 parts, I divided into 10. In retrospect, 6 would probably have made slightly thicker, puffier pretzels, which would also have been nice.

Roll your dough into one long, even rope.

Make a U shape with your dough

Fold the ends over one another

Twist once

Pinch ends in with curve of dough, turn upside down

Mall Pretzels:

¾ cup warm water
1 ¼ tsp of active dry yeast
1 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup warm water
2 tbsp baking soda (for soaking)
½ tbsp butter, melted
coarse kosher salt

Pour ¾ cup warm water into bowl of a stand mixer, or into a mixing bowl. Dissolve yeast, brown sugar, and salt into the water. Add in flour, mix on medium speed until dough comes away from sides of the bowl and is smooth. If kneading by hand, when ingredients come together, dump onto a floured surface and knead dough about 8 minutes, until smooth. Pour a few drops of olive oil into mixing bowl; place dough in and turn to coat surface. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.

When dough is ready, cut into 6 pieces. Roll each into ½ inch thick ropes. Shape pretzels by forming a U, then twisting ends and flipping over, gently pressing dough to seal. Let rise 15 minutes.

Fill a bowl with 1 cup warm water. Add baking soda and stir to dissolve. Soak each pretzel for 30 seconds, flipping over halfway through if not fully submerged. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle coarse salt over top. (If you prefer sweet pretzels, use cinnamon sugar instead of salt. I would have done this, but we were out of cinnamon. I guess I'll have to make them again. Darn.) Bake at 450°F for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. For an extra buttery flavor, brush on a little more melted butter when the pretzels come out of the oven. And seriously, why would you not?

In personal updates, I have at last found employment in our fine city of Providence. I will be a teaching artist for the Traveling Theatre through the Center for Dynamic Learning. It's looking to be an exciting opportunity, I'll have the chance to work with students as well as to do some development in terms of program and curriculum, I'll be able to do some grant work, and most importantly I'll be able to find a community of fellow theatre educators here in Rhode Island. One of the first things I've noticed thus far is that, where in Ohio I had separate contacts in Toledo, Columbus, and Cleveland, here the entire state is a connected theatre network. J has coworkers connected to the Trinity Repertory Theatre, the Rhode Island Youth Theatre, the Traveling Theatre, and so many more -- those three are just the ones I happen to have contacted in the few short weeks we've been here. I interviewed with women who were friends with, and colleagues to folks at J's school, and with artistic educators all across the state. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, you can drive from the Northernmost point of Rhode Island to the Southernmost in about an Hour and 15 minutes. It has come to our attention that Rhode Islander's hate long drives, most everything one could need on a regular basis is less than 15 minutes away, and so when I've told employers that I'm more than willing to drive 40 minutes for work they've all been surprised, even more so when I've told them that's been my commute to and from Scott for the last several years. In addition to my work at the Traveling Theatre, I have a meeting this week with the Artistic Director of the Rhode Island Youth Theatre, which may lead to additional employment, something which is vital considering the fact that my job with the Traveling Theatre, while incredibly desirable in many areas, pays about what you'd expect (or less) from an Americorps position, with a comparable amount of work and dedication required.

Regardless of financial woes, J and I are excited to be settling in and beginning work. He begins teaching on Wednesday, and has been working hard on developing curriculum, syllabus's, lesson plans, and stimulating projects for his students. Our semester at the Traveling Theatre centers around The Things They Carried, so I've been reading up, and mentally preparing myself for a new beginning in a new company.

The only downside to living in Rhode Island thus far? Other than the extreme distance to all of our friends and family, which is a given, I appear to be allergic. No kidding -- all the allergy symptoms that were mere background in Ohio, with only occasional flare-ups, seem to have reduced me to a sneezy, coughy, itchy, gross mess here. Popsicles seem to be helping, so I'll be stocking up on those while I wait to see an allergist.

I know, Popsicles. Man, I've got it rough.

Keep an eye out, I've got killer recipes for a lower-fat version of Vodka Cream sauce and a great crock-pot recipe for Beer Pork Chops with gravy.