A Short Menu - And Pretzels Rolls

It's almost the week of Thanksgiving! This means you could all guess what I'm making on Thursday, no use in posting that. I'm not exactly sure what I'm making Friday, though I know it will include homemade pasta...thanks for the suggestion Kelly! And on Saturday I will be working in the evening. This leaves Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. 

Okay, well I suppose I can share those three : )

Monday - fresh mozzarella and kale salmon burgers -- probably served with green beans
Tuesday - Italian beef sandwiches (sad to have the last of it, but so excited to eat it!)
Wednesday - turkey sausage and tortellini soup (beef broth, kale, onions, dash of cayenne. Easy peasy)

So here is the exciting part. Pretzels rolls! I have tried two different recipes and the one I linked for you was far superior. Not necessarily in flavor (don't get me wrong, it was definitely better), but specifically concerning the gorgeous brown color they gave me.

Here are pictures from my first two attempts:

Looks good, but not quite right.

Now THAT is beautiful!

I followed the recipe almost exactly. If you follow the link it says that the recipe is for two loaves, but it also gives a slight variation for eight rolls at the bottom. That is what I followed. It also does not tell you to sprinkle them with salt, but I think this is very important. As you can see, I just sprinkled on a bit of course sea salt. My dough did not rise well at all and it didn't cause any problems. Oh! And I have made these two times now and the second time I used 1/2 a cup of baking soda instead of 3/4 of a cup and it didn't seem to make a difference. The only thing that can be difficult with these is if the baking soda is bubbling up too much. A couple of my rolls from the last batch didn't get flipped over, so they were double-boiled on one side. Just made the bottom a tiny bit crispy and they needed to bake a couple of minutes longer. Next time I make these I am going to shape them as buns for brats! 

Yummy yummy!