Of all the snacks, my absolute favorites are popcorn and pretzels. When I lived in the States I was a sucker for Cape Cod White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn but didn’t come across them when I moved here to PR. One day one of my friends told me she saw them at a supermarket in Isla Verde. Of course, next day I had hopped in my car and went to get some. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen them since. I also die for pretzels. Pretzel sticks, pretzels rods, mini-pretzels, you name it. I am not a fan of Wetzel Pretzels or anything like that though. Back home, Super Pretzels was my weakness. After moving to PR, I found them once at a supermarket in Rio Piedras and I bought a box. The one that carried like 36 I think it was. As a matter of fact, that’s how long ago it was that I don’t even remember. That, too, I never found again.
BUT, as a fan of Food Network and Alton Brown, I came across a soft pretzel recipe of his in an episode of Good Eats! I ran for something to write with (forgetting they have the recipes on the site) and decided to try it. LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! They didn’t come out as pretty as pretzels should look, but they tasted awesome and they’re very filling…EXTREMELY filling.
I had a craving since it had been a while from the last time I ate some, so I decided to bake me some pretzels. It takes a while because of the time needed to let it rest. It didn’t really double so I knew I missed something or other, but the pretzels were for me so I forgave myself for that. Just to sit with my cup of milk and eat my homemade pretzels felt...oh so goooood. After I was done, I was actually DONE with eating for the rest of the day.
“Como sapo ‘e letrina” {like a latrine frog} like my mom says when you’re so stuffed you couldn’t eat a bite more. Thankfully, I had just finished working so I just sat there…although it was more like a slump than a sat. I began to think, “why can’t more things I do give me this type of satisfaction?” And I don’t mean the go-to-Longhorn-and-order-a-full-rack-of-ribs-with-fries-that-you-eat-all-by-yourself satisfaction; I’m talking about doing things that make you feel fulfilled. It’s something we should be doing just about every day. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure when’s the last time I felt that way…I mean besides that moment when I was still chewing on my last piece of pretzel, of course. I don’t think that anything else we do that doesn’t give us that sense of satisfaction is meaningless because these are things that we NEED to do…but we should make time to do things that makes us feel fulfilled. We’re only here for a certain amount of time and no matter how much time we think we have left, we’re never sure of what can happen tomorrow. Has it hit you that we’re almost halfway through the year? Has it hit you that you are a couple of years older than you were last year? (Obviously you’re not but it probably feels that way, doesn’t it?)
I guess, it just hit me right there and then…as I simultaneously thought if swallowing this last piece would make me burst like if I were in Aliens or something. I’ve always been the type of person that says “Do NOT live with a ‘what if…’” “Always go for your 'what if…' and just have a back-up plan just in case.” The thing is “what if…s” don’t really come along too often. Do I sit and wait for my next “what if…” to come along? What happens in the meantime? Nope. I think it’s time to just try and figure out what can make me feel “filled”…besides these pretzels that will probably put 5 lbs on me. Uuugh…let me go get my balance and see what have I done to myself now.
