It was on my phone calendar this month. How did I not know this before? I think they have it wrong though. Every day should be pretzel day on my calendar. At least every day that I can get to a good one. After all, not all pretzels are created equal.
I like mine soft and the dough a little sweet, of course. With my pretzel, I like soft melted cheese and a small cold imported beer. A good Hefeweizen is my favorite. Both are a rare treat anymore but last Saturday we made a quick stop at Edelweiss, our favorite German Deli in Portland Oregon for a fresh out of the oven Pretzel. They have the best anywhere. Soft, fat and sweet, kind of like me.
I’m half German so I grew up with this fare and its memories warm my heart. Everything in the German Deli triggers some of my better memories. I’m pretty certain I experience the world through my taste buds. My daughter and I watched every episode of “Somebody Feed Phil” on Netflix twice and have decided that we want to travel to as many places as possible and experience the food. I’m more interested in the bakeries of the world and tasting as many pretzels as I can find. Open those borders everyone. My taste buds are tingling.
One of the best I’ve eaten.
Wikipedia says the origin of the pretzel is ambiguous and many countries take credit. I don’t really care about that. Just pass me another pretzel and the day will be perfect.
So how do you experience the world? Are pretzels your thing?
Happy Pretzel Day.
From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself.
insearchofitall 
Comments on: "National Pretzel Day" (66)
i’m happy to celebrate this one!
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Happy to have you join me.
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I want to run to my car and drive right to New York or Philly – the closet places where I can get a decent soft pretzel. Where I am from we eat them with a good mustard. In Philly I subsisted on them and thought they were God’s most perfect food for ;unch.
There ya go Marlene… starting something that can’t be completed. There is a mall chain around here that purports to sell them, but they are skinny tasteless things that would be tossed to the curb in Brooklyn, the Bronx or even South Philly!
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We have one too but they are horrendous pretzels. My son loves them but need to get him used to what’s really good. I only started eating mustard about 8 years ago. Now I’m a connoisseur. I’ve had the pretzels with mustard and it’s good but a good cheese fondue and pretzels, OMG yum. I want to go to my favorite German restaurant here now. Hmmm. Maybe. I’m glad I’m not alone is the pretzel love dept. 🙂
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Mmmm.
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Oh Marlene, that sounds so good right now. I wish we had a really good German restaurant in the Phoenix area, but I do not know of one. Since I’m not a big meat eater I am not into everything on a German restaurant menu, but there are always yummy things that I really love. My grandmother was German, and she used to make her flat kuchens–plum and zimt and I think apple. And her German potato pancakes YUM AND DOUBLE YUM. She came to this country when she was three (so learned to cook here from her German mom) and could still remember helping stomp the grapes in Germany as a toddler!!!! Her mother’s family owned vineyards. My other grandmother’s mother was from Prussian people (the only child born in this country), and I think her cooking came from her mom and she passed it to my grandmother, but nobody followed in my grandmother’s footsteps cooking-wise. Now I’m going to be on the lookout for a real pretzel.
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I think it will all die out with me too, Luanne. That kind of cooking is heavy and time consuming and no one wants to do it anymore. There was a meat market deli at one time in Phoenix but that was more than 10 years ago. I’ll ask my son if he’s heard of anything around there but if there were, he’d have been there. When I go to the German restaurant, I get the spaetzle with gravy and red cabbage or the lentil soup and hard sourdough roll or the potato pancakes and applesauce. Now that we are both lusting for food. I’ll say goodnight. 🙂
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Oh, you are making me so hungry!!!! I think I know the deli you’re talking about and have been there. Years ago I knew a German woman who told me about it. Small and limited. Why can’t we have a real German restaurant? We have something like 5 million people!!!
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No one wants to cook anymore? 😉
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Derek turned me on to soft pretzels. He loves them!
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Smart man! They are the best. Thanks for stopping by.
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I’m with you Marlene, I do love pretzeln ❤
Same as you – soft, fat and not too brown, salted ones. Perfect with just some butter spread in them….
Sadly I don't think I've seen any such here where I live. You're lucky to have a deli restaurant in your area!!! Enjoy
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I’m so sorry you can’t find them where you live. I love our deli and restaurant. That’s part of what brought me here. Maybe there is one hiding if you look real hard. I don’t think I could continue living without my traditional comfort foods. 😉 I’ll keep good thoughts that you find one.
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Thank you 🙂 🙂
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Pretzels and bagels … remind me to embrace our Northern Europe immigrants/heritage and acknowledge it’s okay to add the carbs and gluten that were integral in their communities
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I so agree. I only partake when we have family visiting and they want my mother’s old world dishes. I don’t know who will carry the traditions on after me. My son is trying but we still have good German restaurants. 😉 There are no calories, etc in old traditional foods. I’m sure you have plenty of those too, Val.
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I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a soft pretzel, just those hard, dry crunchy ones. I wouldn’t even know where to look for one!
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You start with a good German Deli or restaurant. The mall pretzels try and they satisfy my son and me in a pinch but the deli makes one like they did in Germany. Or you could go there for October fest at the end of September and have your fill. Tons of fun. You have to try one somewhere.
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The only German restaurant I’ve heard anyone speak of was in New Brunswick! I expect it would take some doing for me to find one.
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I’m so sorry.
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One town over they do a spring-fall farmer’s market. They have pretty good soft pretzels there. The problem though is one is never enough… 🙂
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You make me laugh, Deb. I got lucky as my daughter only asked for one for each of us but left to my own devices, I’d have 2 or 3 myself. The pretzels at our farmers market don’t quite cut it. But they are better then nothing. Hope you and your daughter are doing better. Keeping good thoughts for her.
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Surgery today, so at least we have a starting point in this process. I hope that will give her spirit a boost.
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As you know, for me it’s a total sensory experience! Like you, I like a big, fat, soft pretzel with a crust that’s not too hard and shiny, and some nice big crystals of salt. A bit of unsalted butter or some Camembert on the side, and my own preference would be a Czech Pilsener. There now, you have me drooling. I wonder if I can find some red cabbage and smoked sausage at the supermarket…
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I get the red cabbage and the best smoked sausage at the deli too. Sorry. I’m sure your heritage foods are just as drool worthy. A really good pretzel is so very special though. I know you understand the pull. Thanks for the new ideas on how to enjoy the pretzels.
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Mmmm, rode kool met appel en rookworst….
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That’s awesome, Marlene! So glad you got to go to that deli. I enjoyed it too, when we lived in Portland. Have a great week!
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I do enjoy a good pretzel! What a good thing we share the day. Should have saved reading this untill after lunch
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I take it you can get soft pretzels where you are. Good to know.
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Yes, we have a bakery down the road that makes them!
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Pretzels are definitely my thing! I love them. I would be with you on a bakery tour of the world. Now that is something I can dream about!
P.S. your photos are showing up twice in the posts. It is not a problem, I just thought you might like to know, if you were not already aware.
Cheers, Happy pretzel eating
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Hello Vonderfrau ! I love pretzels and that one looks yummy. The first baked pretzel I ever had was in Chicago. I’d go to visit for the summer with my cousin Barbie, Tante Tabya and Onkle Helmut. They actually lived in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago. A very German community where everyone spoke German (except me). My Tante made Kekle, a twisted, deep fried donut thing with icing sugar. Do you know these? We’d eat half a dozen without a blink. Oh the good old days, LOL Also, pickled red cabbage was a big hit. My dad was Ukrainian though and that was the customs we most celebrated at home because all his family lived here too. I like both ethnic foods 😀 xoK Prost !
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That whole northern European thing is a mix of the same thing made slightly differently. Red cabbage is a favorite but I love sauerkraut and sausage too. I don’t think I’ve had the doughnut thing but it sounds very good. Add sugar to anything and I’m in. I’ve never been in a German speaking community. Wish I had. Might not have lost so much of it. Get better so you can enjoy the good weather.
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I never even knew about soft pretzels until I married my husband, who is from Pennsylvania. A Philly pretzel from a street vendor, with mustard on top, is absolutely delicious! Isn’t it interesting how our senses trigger memories? I can see how that pretzel takes you back to your childhood. I hope you and your daughter get to travel and eat. Best to you, Marlene.
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Thanks so much, Jennie. I hope we get to do some traveling too. The pretzels at the mall have a funny taste to them. Guess I’m getting fussy. Food triggers so many memories for me.
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I hope you get to travel, Marlene. Keep eating the good pretzels and skip the mall! Sounds trigger memories for me, like the sound of a train in the distance.
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Oh Marlene, you crack me up. A whole post dedicated to PRETZELS. I have always liked the fat, soft kind, but I think I have not had enough of the “good” kind as you describe them, because I am pretty sure I can’t tell the difference. The one in the photo above looks amazing. I think we had pretzels in Mt. Angel, and I had one at McMenamins in Bend last year with the yummiest mustard. I agree with you on the Hefeweizen.
I love your idea of travelling through the world and tasting things. I have the worst worst luck with food when I try things, and often accidentally choose something awful. I think the whole time I was in Japan I remained hungry – I very rarely chose something so good I ate it all. (Except the okonomiyaki—mmm to die for) I’ve learned not to get excited about food in other countries for that reason. Bummer. Instead, I tend to look at buildings and landscapes. Those are things that I can compare with less grimacing. ha ha
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I like some of the architecture but it’s the food that always draws me in. H wants to go to Japan one day. She loves odd food and lots of Asian food. I’ve never been a fan. I tend to stay simple and close to what I know. When I lived in Taiwan, I was a size 2 because there was nothing there I would eat. I always head to a bakery first. I know I won’t starve there. 🙂 Edelweiss has great pretzels but you have to get there early on certain days or they will be gone. Since I’m back on the diet, we are not going back for awhile. Too much temptation.
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Mouth watering description Marlene and a little treat of what you fancy does you good as they say…
The beer would go down a treat too…. 🙂 ❤
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Some days we just need to have a little fun to help the rest stay palpable. I don’t get pretzels very often and beer even less often but they were both worth it. I’m catching up with you right now. See you shortly. Hugs.
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So know what you mean.. Sometimes Hubby when out shopping will bring me a chocolate filled doughnut back LOL…. Naughty but NICE 🙂
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Ohhhhh- I want one NOW! I love them large and soft and doughy like you describe. But I’ve never had one with cheese on top and that and the beer sound divine. I’m usually a “lots of mustard on top” of my warm pretzel kind of girl. 😊
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I’m so sorry to make your mouth water for something you probably can’t get to right now. 🙂 Some places will offer a little cup of soft cheese for dipping or our German restaurant offers a cheese fondue with pretzels. I never ate anything with mustard until about 8 or 9 years ago. Couldn’t stand the taste until then. Now I go for fancy mustard’s and try new kinds. Just not on my pretzel. 😉 Next time I get a pretzel, I’ll give it a try. Thanks for the visit. 🙂
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You just crack me up every time.
Pretzels aren’t really a thing here (and they most certainly weren’t in the north of England where I grew up), so I’ve learned a lot from your post.
What gets me every time is a good bagel. The best ones I ever had were in New York in 1995, when my ex-husband and toddler daughter visited family in Manhattan. There was a place called Ess-A-Bagel round the corner. Apparently that is Yiddish for “eat a bagel”, and I most certainly did. Every day, for 10 days, I was in that queue. I’d be in it now if I could. Smoked salmon, sour cream and chives for me.
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I love the Yiddish term for the bagel place. Oddly, I found them tough, too thick and dry. I have never been a fan though so many are even around here. Pretzels are found that are not flavorful or pleasant to eat which is why I say they are not all created equal. I just had a note from another person in England that had never eaten a pretzel. We love what is familiar quite often. My last husband tried to get me to give mustard and avocados a try for 25 years. I refused to even contemplate it. A year after our divorce, I was sampling ever variety of mustard and eat lots of avocados. It’s funny how a person reacts to people trying to push their ideas and tastes onto someone else. Maybe I just never had a really good bagel. Hmmm. Thanks for joining the conversation, Jill.
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I’ll send you a bagel and you send me a pretzel, how about that?
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Too funny, you are. We’d both get a box of green mold by the time they arrived. Good thought though.
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I am not sure I have ever eaten a pretzel , they always look a bit boring to me. However, you have made a Good case for them, and should I ever see one in a bakery I promise to try.
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I get what you are saying about boring. I think it’s the carnival atmosphere I was first introduced to them in that caught me. They say party time to me. I like a treat that is not real sweet sometimes. It’s like having a good hot roll and if you can dip it in cheese, so much the better. Interesting to hear from someone that has never had one. Thanks for stopping by, Cathhy.
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Now I totally want a pretzel and a beer! I always prefer snacks that are less than sweet and more about bread and cheese ❤
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Hope you can find a good one in your neighborhood. A good German pretzel is hard to find. The mall pretzels have a bitter taste to them for some reason. I tend to favor salty vs sweet especially if alcohol is involved. 🙂 Let me know if you find one. Hugs,
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Marlene, I’m feeling hungry reading your post and would love to have a pretzel! I like the sound of yours but without the beer! I’ve only had them twice before … once toasted in front of a gas fire at uni … not a success as they came out rock hard. The second time in New York and a moment of enlightenment! So this was what all the fuss was about! Sublime! As for bakeries, Germany has made an art of them and my friends and I enjoyed so many delicious cakes whilst I studied there! Hope you’re keeping well and Spring is kind to you. Take care. X
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You are the second blogger I’ve heard from that had their first good pretzel in New York! I’m fascinated that you studied in Germany. I so long to get back there and visit as many bakeries as possible before they have put me in a cart and wheel me back on the plane. I’m sure I’ll be quite pudgy by then. 😉
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Well now I’m just hungry. 🙂 A big soft pretzel with salt and warm dipping cheese in my idea of heaven.
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Then we are in complete agreement, Erin. Now I’m hungry for one again too. 😉 Right after I wrote this, I started a diet that allows no bread, so no pretzels. ;(
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Boo!!
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Oh wow, I so need a pretzel now! They don’t have them as many places down here, as they did in Michigan. I wonder if I could find a Tex-Mex fusion pretzel…That would be tasty!
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If you listen to the music of Germany and Mexico, you wonder if they didn’t meet somewhere along the line. I’m a fan of the churro which I think is the Mex version of the pretzel. We can’t find that many good pretzels here either. But when I find a good one, OH BOY! Hope you find yours.
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Of course I love pretzels! And you’re absolutely right, Marlene: every day should be pretzel day! :DThe one from your German deli looks scrumptious! I really should try baking them myself one of these days. 😀 And thanks for the tip about “Somebody Feed Phil” sounds like my kind of show! 😀 And yes to open borders and trying out new things!
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I bought some pretzels at the deli and put them in the freezer. I’ll warm them in the oven for my son when he gets here Wednesday. Tomorrow!! My daughter will watch” I’ll have what Phil’s having” or “Somebody feed Phil” anytime she needs to cheer herself up. His joy is contagious. Let me know if you like it. I will Never bake my own pretzels. I’m just too lazy. 😉
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Your son is a very lucky person. 😉 Wishing you all a wonderful time together!
my mum and I started watching “Somebody feed Phil” yesterday and absolutely loved it!! He’s so fun, and the face when he tastes something amazing – priceless! Like a toddler tasting chocolate for the very first time. 😀
I’ll let you int oa secret – I might be too lazy to bake my own pretzels as well. 😉
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Thanks so much, Sarah. He is already hard at work on the fix it list. I have to pay him with something. I’ve made lentil soup and this week I’ll make bread and potato Knöde with meat gravy. His favorite. I make the meat gravy but buy packaged Knöde. 🙂 I felt the same way about Phil when I watched it. He sees things with fresh eyes. We should all keep our sense of wonder. You are not lazy, just otherwise occupied. 😉
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So tempting pretzel! Could you please share recipe…. would love to try once.
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I have NEVER made a pretzel myself so no recipe. I look for good places that make them and buy them. Mine came from our German Deli. Thank you for stopping by for a visit.
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Okay thanks. It was pleasure reading your blog. Will continue 😇
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Thank you very much.
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