homemade pretzels and cheese dip

Making pretzels at home is fun and easy, considering the wonderful payoff you get in the end- delicious, fresh, warm pretzels that are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. I used this recipe which turned out really great. I rolled out some of the pretzels so they were thinner, resulting in a more defined shape rather than puffy and fat (like the pretzel in the back in the photo above). I also made a dipping sauce since I love to eat my pretzels with cheese, but I must say, yellow mustard is also pretty good too. These would be fun to make for a potluck or party, namely the superbowl. You know what I'll be making next year. :)

Already risen dough

Rolling out the dough

Pretzels with egg wash and salt sprinkled on top

Finished pretzels!

music mondays

I'm currently on a beautiful, tropical island probably listening to something like this...

simple details

Madewell silk top, James Jeans denim, Target wedges, Men's Kenneth Cole watch, David Yurman ring

I'm a big fan of clothing items that are modern, minimalist, have a great or unique fit, and differentiate themselves through small details. This top is one of those items. It's got a great boatneck neckline and a surprise v-neck in the back which makes it very hard to not love. I hardly wear heels of any sort on days where it's not required (which are most of my days), but this day I was just feeling it. These wedges are the most comfortable pair I've ever owned, which made it an easy decision to wear them walking around downtown Petaluma a couple weeks ago (post for that coming soon!).

homemade asian soy milk

Regular soy milk is not my fav, but asian soy milk, well, is a different story. I really like asian soy milk-- the flavor is different from normal soy milk found at grocery stores in the cartons. It's nothing that I can really explain or put into words... if you haven't had it, you definitely have to try it. There's one restaurant in San Francisco that I visit on occasion mainly for their noodle dishes, but I always make sure to get a glass of soy milk too. I decided to try making it on my own, how hard could it be? Turns out it's super easy (I used this recipe) and now I can enjoy it whenever I want. Besides being able to have it whenever I want, there are also a few other perks to making it on your own (as is with making anything homemade, I guess). It's inexpensive, you can control the amount of sweetness you add to it, and control what kind of sweetener you want to add (sugar, honey, rock sugar, etc). I've been enjoying it over the past couple of days both warm and cold and you can guarantee it will not be the last time I make it.