Friday, March 13, 2009

Pretzels for Lent




Today is Friday of the second week in Lent. We continued our new tradition of making pretzels this morning. Pretzels are traditionally made by Catholics during Lent because in ancient times a very strict fast of only bread and water was observed. The pretzels twisted shape was made to reflect arms crossed in prayer. Even today, in many places in Europe, pretzels are only sold between Ash Wedensday and Good Friday, not at every mall and big box store like here in America! I decided this would be a meaningful new tradition for our family's Lenten journey and it really has been nice. And delicious! I thought it would be a good meat free meal for the required Friday abstinence and also for adults who are fasting they make an easy light meal. The kids, of course, are not required to fast, which meant that all 12 pretzels were gone in about 15 minutes!
I have tried a couple of diferent recipes so far and this one is by far the best. So if you are interested here is the link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Buttery-Soft-Pretzels/Detail.aspx
I hope they enrich your lenten experience and if you are not observing Lent then I hope you find them as tasty as we do!