A local bookstore is going out of business and as a result, I was able to get 2 Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade cookbooks for a steal! I have tried to cut down on the number of cookbooks I buy because we received a TON for our wedding and have barely scratched the surface with them. Also, I have NO room left more and since we (the hubs) have picky tastes, many recipes from cookbooks don't appeal to us. Plus, I have about 50 recipes saved under my favorites online that I am excited to try, so why not save money and make those? Oh well, Sandra is one of my favorite cooks and I love her approach to cooking good food with available items and limited time, so I felt it to be a worthwhile investment. I am a avid reader of her magazine and now her cookbooks, so don't be surprised to see several items from her featured here.
Once again, onto the food! I made this as a weekend brunch meal in which totally freaked out the hubs. He asked what was for lunch. I said pretzels and beer cheese dip. He goes, "Your feeding me pretzels for lunch?!?!" (He's still a little on guard with all the new foods he is trying. He's not use to change but hasn't disliked anything I have made yet ;) Review at the end of the meal..."Are there more?" For a boy who doesn't eat much...he had around 8 (count em) pretzels! Wow! I had 4 and was stuffed! He has already requested them again. I was a little nervous making these, I had never really attempted such a thing before, but I am excited to try them again. The beer and cheddar pretzel dip was great as well. The hubs thought it was great that I was serving him beer, for lunch, on a SUNDAY! Shoulda gone to church...
Garlic Cheese Pretzels
Source: Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking
Yields: 14 pretzels
Starts with basic pretzel recipe:
1 loaf frozen white bread dough, thawed
All purpose flour, for dusting surface
1 egg, lightly beaten
-Feel free to end here with ingredients to make plain pretzels. Simply sprinkle with coarse salt before baking.
To make pretzels garlic cheese continue here:
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1. Line cookie sheet pan with waxed paper. Divide dough into 14 pieces. (I used a kitchen scissor to cut)
2. On lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a 16 inch rope and form into a pretzel shape. (This is where all the times I watched the employees at The Pretzel Maker came into good use.)
3. Transfer dough to prepared sheet pan; cover and refrigerate until ready to boil. (I made pretzels the night before to cut down on time the next day)
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter a sheet pan.
5. In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add pretzels, 3 at a time, and cook until pretzels rise to the surface, about 2 minutes. (Mine never sunk, so they never rose. I just set the kitchen timer for 2 minutes)
6. Remove and drain on paper towels.
7. Arrange pretzels 3 inches apart on prepared sheet pan. Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with Parmesan and garlic power.
8. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until brown.
Beer and Cheddar Pretzel Dip
Source: Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Weeknight Wonders
Ingredients:
1 can (10.7 ounce) condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons horseradish mustard (I used regular mustard)
1/2 package (.4 ounce) buttermilk ranch dressing mix
1 bottle (12 ounce) pale beer, Budweiser
2 cups finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Spray a 1 quart oven safe baking dish with cooking spray.
3. In a medium sauce pan, over medium-high heat, cook and stir together the cheddar cheese soup, cream cheese, mustard, and ranch dressing mix until the cream cheese has melted. Stir in beer.
4. Remove from heat and add the cheddar cheese a handful at a time, stirring until thoroughly combined.
5. Transfer cheese mixture to the prepared baking dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbly.
Serve with warm soft pretzels.
Sometimes I hate to admit that the hubs is right. Maybe someday I will learn to take more consideration into his advice because if I had, I would have been enjoying these little one-bite-wonders months ago! This is another one of those recipes I dreamt of but was too intimidated to try it because it looked difficult. I think it was the pizza dough on this one that turned me away. But since I discovered that I can take the left handed approach (aka. shortcut) and use frozen bread dough, I have been a happy camper and much more willing to try new recipes. 
Pizza Bites
