kruizing with kikukat: Snacking on the Ridge: Ranch Pretzels

Surprize, surprize! I am still not back at work. Its some kind of furlough day. Yay! I'll take the breaks when they come. Would be nice to get paid on holidays, but with the Travelocity Gnome in office, government workers will get nothing.

Seems like the teachers have a tentative contract for the next 4 years. . .just need to ratify. From what it sounds like, most people think its a good offer because of pay restoration, step increases & raises. I just worry about what indignities teachers will be subject to by agreeing to this. Never trust a troll.

Contract or no contract, this will be a short work week all around! The only work days this week are Wednesday and Thursday. I was planning on finishing up my CSI: Miami series on Netflix, but sometime last week, the Ds got into it (yes, I'm proud that D1 thinks Eddie Cibrian is hot stuff...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, so I've been told by the Dom). I will save the 10th season and watch it when they catch up to me. Should be summer by then, and the current season of my other favorite show, Criminal Minds, should be out on dvd or Amazon video.

When Uncle George came to town four months ago, he and Aunty Char spent some time at the home of his classmate ST. ST gave Aunty Char a tub of these pretzels. She claimed that she couldn't stop eating them and had never tasted anything so flavorful. Aunty passed around the tub for everyone to eat. One bite confirmed that ST's pretzels were garlic-heavy and not baked.

I am well aware that there are many versions of this recipe out there (of course, you can only have so many variations when you are dealing with so few ingredients). Some include garlic powder. Some entail baking the pretzels while others merely suggest letting the pretzels sit for a while with the seasonings.

With my food OCD shifting into high gear, I cannot get over the idea of NOT baking the pretzels. I do not mean to offend those of you who make the non-baked variation, but I would encourage you to try the baked version. You will end up with a crispier product which will not get soggy from the popcorn oil. Your mouth will not be coated in raw popcorn oil film, and your fingers will not be covered so thickly in white cheetos-like matter. Trust me/

I've taken this to work functions, and when I can find the giant tub of honey wheat pretzels, I make a bunch of this and keep it in mason jars. It makes a good grab-as-you-go-out snack. It is also an excellent snack to take with you when you go horseback riding!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Ranch Pretzels

     18-20 oz honey wheat pretzel twists
     1/2 c popcorn oil
     1/2 tsp dried dill
     1/2 tsp lemon pepper
     1 envelope ranch dressing mix

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Combine oil, dill, lemon pepper and dressing mix. Spread pretzels out in a shallow baking pan. Pour oil mixture over pretzels, tossing gently to coat. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring pretzels every 10 minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

During Spring Break, we made the short drive out to Waipio Ridge Stables and enjoyed nearly 3 hours of breathtaking views while on horseback. Here are some of my favorite pics from the adventure. . .