New York-Style Soft Pretzels Recipe

Before I open up a new planner book with “2011” marked across its pages, I’d like to squeeze one last post into 2010- A New York-Style Soft Pretzels Recipe. It’s the kind of recipe that many people crave after visiting the busy streets of New York. It’s the kind of recipe that a native New Yorker would crave after moving into middle-of-nowhere New Jersey (at least in my case). It’s the pretzel that I remember my parents buying my sister and I when we were younger.

During the summer months, my sister and I would ask our parents for the full-of-sugar snow cones sold by elderly men scraping at huge blocks of ice at carts bombarded with lines of sweating people holding dollar bills in their hands. During the winter months, my sister and I would ask our parents for the warm, butter, soft pretzels sold on every corner between Penn Station and Times Square.
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Walnut Pecan Clusters

Silence. Isn’t it beautiful? I can finally hear myself breathe. I no longer have to wake up at 3:45 in the morning to the ear-drum-piercing sound of my iPod. I no longer have to neglect my warm bed in exchange for a frigid twenty-minute walk to the train station. First semester has finally ended, and I am glad that I can oversleep without worrying that I might be late for class. An entire month to sweat over things that have nothing to do with school work – “If these cookies don’t come out the same size after they are done baking, I think I might have a stroke.”

So, to celebrate, I am not opening a cold bottle of ginger ale (although, now that I think about it, might not be a bad idea). Instead, I am giving you a cleaner-looking site and some delicious Walnut Pecan Clusters to munch on. I couldn’t help myself! Well, I could have, but I used the excuse of pregnancy to do all of this for you. Don’t ask.

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Thankful.

While everyone is asleep, baking, grilling, setting up their dinner table for guests, and letting just-out-of-the-oven pies cool near the window, I would like to share how thankful I am this year.

My family never sat around the dinner table sharing what we were thankful for, but this year, I invite you all to our virtual dinner table. Right before we all dig in, let’s all share our long lists of thanks. Don’t worry- the turkey and the biscuits will not get cold- around our virtual table, everything stays warm.

I’ll go first.
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Perfect Blueberry Muffins

Last Sunday, while the red and yellow leaves gracefully pirouetted to the wind’s frigid autumn song, my family and I slept, tucked under our warm comforters, ignoring the daylight that softly pierced our tired eyes. My mother and I were the first to wake; the dirty dishes from Saturday’s supper warbled my name in an implausible tone, “Kamran, wash us. Kamran, we need you! Kamran, we’ll give you chocolate! Kamran! Kamran . . . ! Kam-.” I gave in after five minutes; for the chocolate (wouldn’t you?). Once the sink sparkled like no other sink in the New York-New Jersey area, my stomach reminded me that breakfast was my next mission.

Prune-y hands, grumbling stomach, and all- I scrolled through an endless spreadsheet of recipes for an entire hour. And there it was. It was like the dude upstairs (points up) was reading my mind. A one-bowl recipe for Perfect Blueberry Muffins.
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Cranberry Almond Coconut Macaroons Recipe

Here in the United States, we’re less than two weeks from one of my favorite holidays of the year. It is a time where I get to stuff my face without people staring at the skinny kid eating with his hands. It’s a time where tons of pie is made (we’ll talk about pie later on in the week). And it’s a time where I have an excuse to be in the kitchen, while other wash dishes for me.

Last year, I was the leader in the kitchen- cranking out a turkey, homemade marshmallows for the kiddies, Apple purses for dessert (those didn’t turn out too well because I accidentally added too much flour to the dough- I’ve fixed that this year!), caramel candies, warm apple cider, pies, and tons of side dishes including an amazing “stuffing” (dressing).

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