ninevirtues | 50 new recipes: Soft Pretzels

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/soft-pretzels-october-feast?autonomy_kw=soft%20pretzels&rsc=header_1

Some notes:

Recipe calls for pretzel salt, which can be mail ordered from Spice Barn. If you discover this logistical issue the night before you want to make the pretzels, you can substitute kosher salt (available in large boxes from your local Safeway.)

Martha's photo editors can twist a pretzel much more attractively than I can. That said, you must boil and then bake them, and none of my creations fell apart in the hot water, so I must have done something right.

However, some of my pretzels came out.... strangely un-cooked, in a way that suggested that they needed to be boiled longer. Next time, I will carefully time how long I boil each side (recipe calls for 1-2 minutes).

Additionally, after they rise the second time, the pretzels have a distinct Up and a Down side. Placing the Up side facedown on the cooling rack gives you an ugly pretzel with grid marks on the good side. Don't let this happen to you.