Chocolate-Covered Pretzels

    I chose this recipe because I love chocolate-covered pretzels.  My aunt first introduced me to chocolate when I was two years old, and I have been hooked ever since.  I also chose this recipe because it was easy to make in my current kitchen situation.  My mom and I have always eaten chocolate together, and she was very excited to hear that I was making chocolate-covered pretzels for this project.

Ingredients: chocolate and pretzels (pretty complex)

Materials that I used: large bowl, rubber spatula, parchment paper, microwave, fork

Procedure:
1. Obtain ingredients and utensils
2. Arrange everything neatly on a clean counter

      I recommend using soap and a sponge or some other sort of cleaning supplies.  No one likes a dirty kitchen.
3. Make sure your dog stays away from the chocolate
      This is Scout.  He is the dog in the fourth part of this assignment.
4. Wash your hands thoroughly
      This is a very important step.
5. Unwrap the chocolate and break it into smaller pieces
      I tried to break the chocolate pieces into the already defined squares, but they did not cooperate.

6. Place the chocolate pieces in the bowl
7. Put the bowl of chocolate pieces in the microwave for increments of thirty to forty-five seconds

      So because I currently do not own an oven (our new one actually arrived yesterday), I could not heat the chocolate in a pot on the stove like a good chef would.  The microwave sufficed.

8. Poke the chocolate with the rubber spatula after each microwave visit

      I let Ryan do this part because he liked to stab the chocolate.  I tried to take the spatula away from him, but to no avail.
9. Rip off a piece of parchment paper that looks big enough to hold a good quantity of pretzels
      This can be a rough estimate.  No one will judge you if the paper is too large or too small.
10. Once the chocolate is completely melted, one can begin to dip the pretzels in it
      The chocolate smelled really good at this part.  You can use forks, or your clean hands.  I chose to use little forks, whereas Ryan chose to use his fingers (don’t worry I made sure his hands were very very clean).  His pretzels actually came out nicer looking.
11. After you dip the pretzels in, place them on the parchment paper to dry

      A few pretzels did not make it to the parchment paper.
12. Clean up afterwards
      Or else your parents will come in and yell at you.  Also, do not get chocolate all over the kitchen because it is harder to clean up than it looks.

    Chocolate is a very important part of my life and I wanted to choose a recipe that reflected that.  A fondness of chocolate has always been a bond that my mother and I share.  Unfortunately, I sneeze whenever I have chocolate, but I am not allergic!  No matter what anyone says, I am not allergic to chocolate!
    The salty-sweet combination is a comment on how one needs a balance in life.  You cannot have good without evil, and you cannot have sweet without salty.  My choice of chocolate-covered pretzels is a representation of the duplicity of graduating high school.  It is exciting to be ending a big part of life and starting a new chapter, but it is also terrifying.  It is happy to have accomplished this taxing feat, but sad to move on from everyone.  Chocolate-covered pretzels seemed like the perfect food to metaphorically represent my feelings about graduation, as lame as that sounds.

4.
    Dogs are known for eating things they aren’t supposed to, and my dog is no exception.  He is part labrador retriever and upholds every negative stereotype that goes along with that.

    One of my family’s favorite stories to tell is that of the butter.  Now sticks of plain butter may not seem appetizing to normal people, to Scout they are heavenly.  One day we came home to Scout sitting at the door with a stick of butter in his mouth.  He was holding it as if it were a juicy bone and wagging his tail with utter delight.  Upon further venturing into the house, we discovered a shredded cardboard box that had once held four sticks of butter.  We had already found one in Scout’s mouth, but had no clue as to where the other three were.  Walking through the house revealed two sticks of butter in two other rooms in the house.  We never found the fourth stick...

    Scout’s butter fetish may seem odd, but it’s nothing compared to his fascination with soap.  For some unknown reason, Scout enjoys licking the bathtub in our upstairs bathroom.  Most cliche dogs just drink out of the toilet, but Scout would rather scrape his tongue along the porcelain tub.  Like the butter story, we came home to Scout greeting us at the door with a bar of soap in his mouth.  Following the same pattern as the butter, Scout distributed bars of soap in every room of our house.  I am not sure what he gains from acting like this, but he has done it with many objects.

    Another favorite anecdote that we like to tell at parties is that of the teeth.  Yes, teeth.  Scout ate my teeth.  I had two large teeth removed, and Scout decided that they would make a tasty snack.  We are usually very careful about where we leave things around the house, but we had just placed the teeth on the counter in a plastic bag, not thinking Scout would choose to munch on them.  In a split second he jumped up, snatched the teeth, and swallowed the teeth.  The next hour was spent trying to make him throw them up.

    Everyone knows that dogs are not supposed to eat chocolate.  Scout has disobeyed this rule more times than I can count on my hands.  He loves chocolate.  He simply cannot get enough.  My nana is an excellent cook, and Scout is a constant burden in her kitchen when we visit her.  During one particular vacation at my nana’s house, my nana had made triple chocolate cookies for us.  These cookies were chocolate with chocolate chips, coated in chocolate frosting.  Delicious for humans, disagreeable for dogs.  We stashed the bag of cookies far back on the counter and blocked the passage to them with containers and other objects.  Somehow, against all odds, Scout managed to get the bag of cookies and proceeded to eat eighteen of them.  He consumed eighteen triple chocolate cookies, and is still alive to tell the story, as well as make the same poor choices again and again.

    Among his other idiosyncrasies, Scout has habitually eaten rocks.  I don’t think any sane person could come up with a reason for why my dog would take pleasure in consuming rocks, but yet he still does it.  When he was a puppy, we had to constantly stick our hands in his mouth in order to catch the rocks before he swallowed them because it is not good for a dog to eat rocks, obviously.  On one particular occasion, my dad had finally lost his patience with Scout.  After picking up his ninth rock on the walk, Scout was happily chewing on a new stone when my dad jammed his hands in Scout’s mouth.  My dad then pulled his hand out, and in his fingers was a tooth.  Scout just swallowed the rock and continued walking, not even phased by having his tooth ripped out.

    These short anecdotes do not even scratch the surface of what Scout has eaten over the years, or will eat in the years to come.  Although he has devoured his fair share of indigestibles , Scout continues to gobble up anything that strikes his fancy, and we continue to call the vet on a weekly basis.

Revive the Tradition of Family Dinner

3.
        Family dinners have been decreasing in frequency in modern times because of fast paced lives, separated families, and pure lack of time.  Because they have become less habitual, they have become even more important.
 
        Healthy eating habits are the main defense children today have against obesity.  How one eats follows that person throughout his or her life, as well as affects every aspect of it.  If children develop bad habits, such as only consuming junk food or eating in front of the T.V., then these habits will stick with them.  The children will grow into adults with bad eating habits, who will then pass those habits onto their children.  The endless cycle of malnutrition will trickle down into each successive generation.  Family dinners promote healthier eating habits because it requires one to sit down and prepare a meal.  Meals require thought, preventing the ease of simply ordering take-out or going through a drive-thru.  When planning a dinner, one must choose vegetables, side dishes, and a main, core food item.  If children witness the care put into planning a meal, they will learn how to be grateful for what they eat.  Eating dinner as a family also usually includes sitting down at a table, instead of plopping on the couch in front of the T.V.  When one eats in front of the T.V., one does not feel how full they have become, and therefore continues eating, even after they have reached the point of satiating their hunger.  Eating at the table also allows parents to control the portion sizes of their children’s meals.  They can supervise the amount of fruits and vegetables their children consume, and make sure that they are getting adequate nutrition.  Preparing a meal and eating at table seem like simple feats, but the consequences of not doing these tasks are serious and grave.  Family dinners provide a way to complete and teach these skills to the next generation.
 
       Family dinners provide an easy and convenient way to ward off obesity in children and adults.  Because obesity has become a serious issue in America, as well as the rest of the world, instituting regular family dinners is even more important.

2.            The sun was shining, the butterflies were fluttering, and the bunnies were hopping.  It was Easter Sunday, and the family had gathered around a table overflowing with food.  The traditional Easter dinner consisted of everything from a giant, carved ham to the tiny pats of butter arranged on a dish.  It all looked so good, but no one was allowed to touch anything until my aunt said so.  She had prepared ninety-five percent of the meal, so I guess she had control over when we were permitted to eat it.

                In order to fully understand the disturbing event that happened next, some background is needed.  My grandfather is notorious for pulling out teeth.  They could be his own teeth, or the teeth of anyone who was dumb enough to come near him with a loose tooth.  I was aware of this folklore and was always warned to not get too close to Grandpa with my loose teeth, and I had always obeyed.  I also was careful to make sure my younger brother did the same, although I did prompt him to tell my grandfather each time one of his teeth were loose, but I’d yank him away before it was too late.  Yes, I did always save him in the end.

                I had never witnessed my grandfather pull out anyone’s tooth before, and I was starting to believe it was just a myth.  Until that fateful Easter, I was very very naïve.

                We were all seated around the table; I think I could hear the ham calling my name.  Just as we were about to start, my cousin Molly walked up to my grandfather and declared that one of her teeth was loose.  You could cut the tension with a knife.  I could hear my uncle whisper to my aunt, Molly’s mother, “how could you let her tell him that?”  She had no reply.  She simply sat in her seat with a dumbfounded look on her face.  Molly persevered.  “Grandpa my tooth is loose,” she announced again, staring up at him.  No one could say a word.  Even my youngest cousin, who had been babbling in the corner, had ceased making noise.

                With one swift movement, my grandfather reached into Molly’s mouth and pulled out her tooth.  The sudden, sickening pop made everyone quiver, except for Molly, who thanked my grandfather and skipped away with a look of glee on her face.

                Now she could enjoy her Easter dinner without having to deal with a loose tooth.  The rest of the table could only stare at the food and wish we still had our appetites.