These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty!!

People in my office are crazy about their pretzels.

These pretzels are making me thirsty!

After a few months of pretzel rods in the break room, my coworker showed up this week with a homemade concoction.  People were going nuts over them.  They were gone by the time I made my way over, so I got the recipe and made some last night.  They're super easy and pretty fantastic.  My favorite pretzels are the Snyder's Ranch Pretzel Bits.  These taste even better and are much healthier and cheaper.  There are so many possible variations to this recipe....cinnamon/sugar, chili/lime, buffalo, parmesan/garlic....

Ranch Sourdough Pretzels

1 box Snyder's Sourdough Pretzels
1/2 - 3/4 cup olive oil [or canola oil]
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dill weed

Break the pretzels into halves or thirds, so they're big chunks that will absorb the oil.
Stir everything together in a large bowl.
Let sit for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Place on cookie sheet and bake at 200 for 20-25 minutes.
Store in airtight container...or just eat them all instead.

Summer Salad

I know it's not Summer, yet, but you could've fooled me!

Fresh lettuce from my bestie's garden the first week of May, 99 cent strawberries, kiwi, green onion, toasted pecans and cajun turkey breast.

I ALWAYS make a second salad to take for lunch the next day!

Chocolate Creme Brûlée

I found a recipe for Creme Brûlée that called for white chocolate, which I find to be rather sweet.  So, I decided to live on the edge and go for semi-sweet/dark.  If you like your chocolate sweet, stick with the semi-sweet chips.  I did half semi-sweet chips and half 72% cacao bar, which I cut into little pieces.

Creme Brûlée is actually pretty easy to make and is a fantastic "make the night before" dessert.

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks (room temperature)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream (I'm sure Half & Half would work)
4 oz chocolate chips or chocolate bar cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp course sugar
fresh berries (optional)

Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl.
Bring cream to a simmer over med-high heat.
Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted.
Add a few tablespoons of the cream to the egg mixture, while stirring.
Then add the entire cream mixture to the egg mixture, stirring until combined.
Add vanilla.
Pour into 6 ramekins that have been placed in a 13x9 casserole dish.  Add water to the casserole dish to create a water bath.  I filled until the water was 1/2 way up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake at 300 for 45 minutes until set.
Chill overnight (or several hours).
Sprinkle course sugar over each ramekin and fire with a small kitchen torch.
If you don't have a torch, you can broil for 3-4 minutes until the sugar carmelizes/browns.
Re-chill for at least 10 minutes before serving.
This was amazing with fresh raspberries and strawberries.