Hot, soft, salty pretzels are one of humanity’s greatest inventions, full stop.

You mix, shape, boil and bake them, then spend the afternoon with a jar of mustard and a can of cold beer (or soda pop, for the youngins) in utter joy.

The hardest part of the entire enterprise is making a proper pretzel shape, but, you know what? They taste just as good when they look like a hot mess. And better than any par-baked or mall-bought pretzel you’re going to try this year. This is a great baking project for a couple hours of delicious fun on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Go online for detailed step-by-step instructions at: farmsteady.com/instructions