Yes, indeed. In Bavaria soft pretzels are often eaten for breakfast – with sausage, beer and, of course, mustard. Here, we’ve been eating them as a midnight snack (mostly because they’re irresistible right out of the oven, and I’ve been starting them way too late in the day); then eating them again for breakfast, minus the beer and sausage. If you roll them shorter and thicker, they’ll rise in the oven until most of the holes have been filled in. Then they can then be sliced in two horizontally and used as the bread for a not-too-sloppy sandwich.

The recipe comes from Local Breads, an amazing book that has been batting its eyelashes at me from the shelf for nearly a year. Sure, I’ve opened it; drooled over the recipes, learned the photographs by heart. But I never found the time to bake from it until a few weeks ago. Since then I’ve made the pretzels three times, and I now double the recipe. (You should too – eight soft pretzels is just not enough unless you’re baking for one and don’t intend to share!)

It’s been lovely, really – Andy and I, plus an assortment of friends and house guests, all chatting about life, love, and literature around the stock pot, watching the pretzels boil, sinking into a tired and contented silence as they bake, then reviving for more on love and philosophy as we tear into the soft warmth of their flesh, our talk shepherding the night toward morning. It’s romantic, I know, but it really does happen, and it could happen to you if you bake these. No promises, but I tell you, late nights and soft pretzels create a kind of unanticipated alchemy (aside from the anticipated but still magical alchemy of baking.)

Bavarian Soft Pretzels

Yields 8 pretzels. Recipe can be doubled.

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour
3 tbs unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups tepid water
1 tsp instant yeast
2 1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup baking soda for boiling (note: you needn’t double this amount for a double recipe)
Kosher salt and/or sesame seeds for topping

Method

In a large bowl, mix flour and butter and work butter into the dough with your fingers until evenly distributed. Add water and mix until absorbed, then add the salt to one side of the dough and yeast to the other side and work in both. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter top and kneed for 10 to 12 minutes until firm and smooth. Round dough into a ball and allow to rise, covered, in a oiled bowl at room temperature until light and springy, about 1 hour (it won’t double in size.)

If you are doubling the recipe, divide the dough and cover one half. Proceed as for one batch, then repeat. Place the dough on a lightly floured counter top and from into a rectangle. Use a chef’s knife to cut into 8 equal pieces, form each piece into a ball, and allow to rest covered for about 5 minutes. Roll out each piece with your hands until it is about 18 inches long, tapering the ends slightly. To form the pretzels, grab hold of each end and cross the left end over the right with the looped portion nearest you. Now create a twist by crossing top piece under. Finally, lift the twisted ends and flip them over onto the loop. Press the ends down to seal.

Place the pretzels on a oiled baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2-24 hours.

When you are ready to make the pretzels, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add the baking soda slowly and turn the heat down to a simmer. Place the pretzels into the boiling water one at a time, simmering on each side for 15 to 20 seconds. Remove from the water, draining well and return to the oiled baking sheet. Repeat until all pretzels are boiled.

Sprinkle pretzels with kosher salt and/or sesame seeds and bake until they are a rich brown, about 35 minutes. Enjoy warm or at room temperature with a good mustard. They are best fresh, but can be stored, well sealed for a couple of days.

I can’t tell you much about the Kona Inn, but if you’re craving some delicious banana bread I promise this recipe will bring you satisfaction.

When Stepmother left me and my sister as young adults she knew we would be left craving some of the fine baked goodies we were brought up on so she was kind enough to leave us each with a thoughtfully prepared binder of her favorite recipes. I’ve held on to my binder all of these years since then, and this banana bread recipe is one of my all time favorites. It turns out so moist and flavorful you will be tempted to eat it all before it has a chance to cool.

Kona Inn Banana Bread

Yields: Two Loaves, Prep Time: 20 minutes, Baking Time: 45-60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup softened un-salted butter
• 6 ripe bananas, mashed (approximately 3 cups)
• 4 eggs, well-beaten
• 2 1/2 cups cake flower
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. With an electric beater, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add bananas and eggs, beating until well mixed.
3. Sift together dry ingredients three times. Blend with banana mixture, but do not over mix.
4. Pour into (2) lightly greased loaf pans. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour, until firm in the centers and the edges begin to separate from pans.
5. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from pans.
6. These freeze beautifully.

Beer bread isn’t really the first thing I might think of making. In fact, as I was mixing up a batch last night I wondered what I was doing baking bread when we had two loaves in the bread basket and 8 grocery bags of apples and pears that need preserving (please post your favorite recipes to the forum!)

But the folks over at A Year in Bread had posted a recipe a couple of weeks ago, and last night we opened Andy’s latest batch of beer. It wasn’t the best beer he’s made. A bit thin, a bit one-note, with too many molasses overtones. Certainly drinkable, but “what else can you do with beer,” Andy asked. And I knew.

I mixed together flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Stirred in some of the beer. Added handfuls of raisins and walnuts and put it in the oven. The whole thing took less than 5 minutes, not including the baking time. And in the morning, we had this fresh, moist loaf of raisin-walnut bread. It’s perfect with a big slab of fresh butter.

Raisin-Walnut Beer Bread

• 3 cups flour (use any combination you like)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbs baking powder
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups beer (more as needed to achieve a thick but pourable dough)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Pour in beer and stir until just combined. Fold in raisins and walnuts.

2. Pour batter into a well buttered loaf pan and bake about 45 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let rest for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Note: Feel free to experiment with other flavors – herbs, cheeses, nuts – this recipe is very flexible.