These Are a Few of My Favorite Things, Part 2

As the holiday season draws closer – or begins, depending on your perspective – favorite foods start to call me and tempt me. One of the true favorites in my family isn't one that has been handed down from generation to generation. It's a much more recent development. As in, in the last 10 years. And we can now no longer have holidays without it.

Actually, if I'm being honest, this food pops up all year long for special occasions. Like the Fourth of July. Or Easter. Or Saturdays. We're not picky. It's really good food.

Curious yet?

Ranch pretzels.

Plain old pretzels soaked in butter flavored oil mixed with ranch dressing powder and then baked for a while. Oh, yum.

I'm fairly certain I've become addicted to these things. I've been known to make a big batch for a party or church fellowship and then just put the giant bowl of pretzels out on the table without labeling it, so that most people just assume they're regular pretzels and pass them up. That way I get to take more home with me to eat later.

Probably shouldn't have admitted that, huh?

Oops.

Anyway, if you're feeling the need to try these out and see if they're as good as I say, I'm including the recipe here. I've tasted (and attempted) other variations of this…some people like to add some heat to it, so feel free to experiment. I went for a chili-lime version that had some possibilities, but I'm still working on it. If you come up with a great new variation of this, let me know! We're always up for new snack foods!

Ranch Pretzels

2 bags of regular twist pretzels

1 bottle of Orville Redenbacher butter flavored popcorn oil

1 envelope of ranch dressing mix

1 giant ziplock bag (2 gallon size or larger)

Pour the oil and seasonings into the ziplock and mix well. Dump both bags of pretzels into the bag and turn until the pretzels are all coated with the oil mix. If you have the time and patience, let them soak for a while, turning occasionally. (I've left them for an hour or more sometimes when I've forgotten about it, and they've never been soggy, so there's no need to worry about that.) Pour these out onto two cookie/baking sheets. They will be piled up – there's no need to try to get them flat or evened out. The original recipe called for baking it for an hour at 200 degrees. I've since decided that I can raise the temp a little and shorten the baking time, but you can do whatever. Just don't burn them! I also load both trays in at the same time, and just set a timer for halfway through so I can swap the top one to the bottom and bottom to top. Don't know that it matters, but it makes me feel better.

Enjoy! But beware – these are highly addictive!