Pretzels

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/2 c water, combine flour & salt, stir into remaining water. When yeast mixture is foamy, add to flour and mix thoroughly. Turn out on floured board and let rest 2-3 minutes while you clean and oil bowl. Knead 10 minutes, until dough is silky and resilent, adding more flour if necessary. Return to bowl and allow to double in volume. Punch down dough and cut into 16 pieces, then roll into 18-24" strands. To form pretzel, hold each end of strand and form a horseshoe (curved part away from you), then twist the ends around each other and press firmly into the loop of dough under them. Let the pretzels rest for 10 minutes under a towel on a lightly floured board. Preheat oven to 450F. Simmer 2 quarts of water in a non-reactive pot (no plain cast iron or aluminum). Dissolve baking soda. Poach pretzels two or three at a time, 30 seconds on each side. They should rise to the surface. Remove, pat dry and place on a heavily butter-greased non-aluminum baking sheet. Brush liberaly with butter, sprinkle with coarse salt and bake 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Note: Some traditional recipes for soft pretzels use lye (plain sodium hydroxide) instead of baking soda, using about 2 tbsp lye to 2 qt boiling water. You may also wish to try substitute brown sugar for the white kind listed. Serve these hot with honey mustard sauce, pizza sauce or cream cheese.