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. . .

the tack room

D2 on Ka`eo

walk, walk, walk

D1 with Taro

D1 on Noni

at the halfway point. . .a good time to break out the ranch pretzels!

Carry Along Shrimp

I'm still trying to get used to the longer work day.  Cannot say I've mastered it, but I'm doing okay for the moment.  Last week was a totally busy week for trainings, but we started it off with a meeting that ended with my coworker chewing out the bosses.  As I left, she asked me to close the door.  Later, she told me that during her chewing out process, one of the bosses apologized to her because she was made to feel unsafe.

The irony is that I was the actual victim of the scenario my coworker referenced!  I was the one who looked like an ass in front of the entire office staff at the opening-of-the-year staff meeting.  It was apparent that three other coworkers were given a different set of directions from what I was given.  This resulted in me standing up and talking for 2 minutes about the wonderful experience I had at the Culture Matters day and the 3 of them taking close to 30 minutes to do an interactive (and with powerpoint slides), multi-sensory presentation.  Uhhhh am I the only one who thinks I got screwed?

Anyway, I've added this to my anecdotal records of all the times I have been slighted  . . . the multiple times I have been mistreated/chastised/chastised publicly due to another coworker's screw ups.  I may be making a call to the Office of Civil Rights.  I called them two years ago about the same boss, and they gave me advice, which included continuing to compile anecdotal records.  Most of all they empowered me to believe that I don't need to take it.  I have been hesitant to report the boss because I don't want this to reflect poorly on the High Commander.  If anyone reading this happens to be a labor attorney (like crazy uncle George who worked for the National Labor Relations Board in the Seattle office) or a civil rights attorney, free advice is welcome.

Ironically, my cousin works in the complaints section of the Department of Education's Office of Human Resources, so I suppose if things get really bad, I could go to her.  But I don't want her coworkers to think I'm getting special treatment as her cousin. . .and really, with her voice, I don't think even my cats would take her seriously!

Last week,  The Help commented that my post about Kilauea Lodge lacked the zest, zeal, and colorful bitching which are normally rampant in my blog.  I think he was proud that I was exercising my inner censor.  Believe it or not, I intended to tone things down a bit since I have way more blog traffic now.  But this latest boss episode was just too much.  I'm just so disappointed in the boss. Again, the High Commander set the bar high, but not everyone can be the same.  Auwe!

Other than the trainings and me being shortchanged an apology, I had an okay week.  I didn't cook (thank you, leftovers, Hilo Lunch Shop, Restaurant Osaka, KTA, McDonald's, Hilo Rice Noodle, Tamari, The Rents), I worked on my online class, and at the urging of Kevo, JoFer & Weezee, I began reading Fifty Shades of Grey. I'm almost done, and I fully intend to buy the next 2 books in the trilogy.  Then Imma gonna look for Christian.

About my leftovers. . .a few weeks ago, Longs had large size (16/20) shrimp on sale.  A 4-pound box was under $25!  It was too good a deal to pass up, so I bought a box...I would've bought more than just 1 box if I had the room in my freezer.

D1 likes scampi (something about the butter and garlic being addictive), but I prefer grilled shrimp.  I usually rotate my repertoire for grilled shrimp. . .I have 3 recipes which I rely on.  They are:  Carry Along Shrimp, Mimi's Shrimp (recipe from a local cookbook) and the other needs no recipe (Italian dressing marinade).  Carry Along Shrimp is actually the favorite grilled shrimp recipe of The Help and The Rents.  My favorite is Mimi's.  Sorry.

I'm guessing this recipe got its name from the fact that you can throw the shrimp and the marinade into a ziploc bag and "carry" it "along" with you to a picnic.  Whatevers.  What I do know is that this works best when the shrimp are large (no smaller than 21/25).  Its a small pain to get the shells off, but its definitely worth it.  While this goes well with rice, I like it as an accompaniment to a tossed salad. 

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Carry Along Shrimp

     1/4 c mayonnaise

     1 1/2 tsp sugar

     3/4 tsp oyster sauce

     1 1/2 tsp finely minced garlic

     1 1/2 tsp lemon pepper

     3/4 tsp lemon juice

     1/2 - 3/4 lbs shrimp (size 21/25 or larger)

Remove legs from shrimp.  Butterfly the shrimp through the back without cutting completely through body.  Combine all other ingredients and whisk together thoroughly.  Combine shrimp and sauce, making sure sauce covers all parts of shrimp, even cut in the back.  Soak for 1 hour.  Grill.