Ballpark Pretzels

Every week, our church small group does dinner together before our discussion time and each week has a different theme for the potluck meal.  Last week, our theme was Ballpark Food! Any and everything you can get while watching baseball at your favorite ballpark.  I had all the ingredients for soft pretzels, so I thought I'd give it a shot!  I used this recipe and had, unfortuneatly mixed success with it.  Next time, I think I'll try a different recipe just to see what the differences are.

Before rising.

After boiling/baking.

The results looked good, but were kind of strange.  Parts of them tasted pretty good, while other parts tasted really bad! (To me, it seemed almost like pockets of yeast had gathered in areas and gave a very bitter taste...not sure though.  The dough was mixed well in a KitchenAid mixer.)  If anyone else tries this recipe or finds a better one, let me know your results!!! 

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I Miss Rogers Park

I can't even think about writing this post without tearing up.  I loved Rogers Park and all that living there entailed.  I miss our friends. I miss our church. I miss hearing people banging around the dumpster in the middle of the night.  I miss taking walks with my fellow mommies and their kiddos.

Texas is just so different.  I have made some great friends here. I love our new church. I love being closer to family. I love the sky here.  But I will always look back on our time in Chicago with very fond memories and probably teary eyes.  Praise God for the time we got to spend there!  Praise God for the friends we made there!  Praise Him that we moved to Texas with peace in our hearts about the decision.

I try not to dwell on RP too much because it makes me long to be back there.  I don't want to seem ungrateful or unhappy about being in Texas, because I'm not!  I do love so many things about being here.  I just sometimes have trouble reconciling my feelings about moving away from Chicago with those of living here now.  I can accept that I was happy there and that I am also happy here.  I think I am just hoping for a kind of replacement for the friendships that I left behind.  I know I will never find that though.  I think that living in a place like RP just builds different relationships.  I am unable to just walk a few blocks to join friends for coffee.  I can't catch a bus or train to visit a museum with them.

Conclusion: I need a car to have friends here.  :)

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