There's a Whole Lotta Love for Deschutes Brewery

As soon as people wrap their heads around the fact I have a blog dedicated to reviewing pretzels that I eat in Portland one of their first questions is not surprisingly, "What's the best pretzel you have had in Portland?"

This is tough. However, my first off-the-top-of-my-head answer is usually...drum roll please...

Deschutes Brewery.

Whenever I have friends visiting from outside of the Portland this is usually where I take them. I have already blogged about their delicious pretzel (might I remind you it comes with a creamy white cheese sauce with Black Butte Porter stone ground mustard sauce around the edge), but for this post I wanted to share that not only am I a fan of Deschutes but when my friend Dalton and his wife Elaine were in Portland and I took them here they also would agree that it was a tasty little treat!

Earlier last year my friend Corey came to visit and he was in Portland for only about a week and we ended up going to Deschutes twice! I guess my taste in restaurants (pretzels) isn't too shabby! Fortunately, I live in a city that is off the charts when it comes to good places to eat!

Starting 2013 off right with a Grosse Neujahrs-Breze

Happy New Year!

My sister sent me a recipe for a Grosse Neujahrs-Breze or a New Year's Pretzel and I figured it would be the perfect way to start off 2013 for Portland Pretzels!

In Germany, pretzels are a symbol of good luck. The Grosse Neujahrs-Breze is made a bit differently than some pretzels as three strands of dough are braided before you twist it into the traditional pretzel shape.

Additionally, pennies are randomly hidden in the dough and if you find it, your New Year's wish(es) are supposed to come true! While my breze doesn't look exactly like the picture included in the recipe I followed, I can assure you that it was delicious. Essentially a puffy, soft consistency with a slight lemony/salted flavoring. The added lemon flavor was likely because my nephew poured a little too much lemon juice into the batter vs. lemon zest like the recipe called for. Luckily it didn't ruin it :) I also hid raisins in the dough to reprsent the pennies, because I thought it would be more sanitary (and tastier for that matter).



Happy New Year!

If you are interested in twisting up your New Year's traditions I highly recommend following this recipe.

Cheers to 2013!