April 15, 2025 // Diocese

Food for Thought: Persisting in Prayer

Bethany Beebe

When my aunt and uncle decided to remodel their home in Tennessee, a kitchen overhaul was part of the changes. With their new appliances came a free KitchenAid pedestal mixer. Since they already had one, the tool that is, ironically, the same color as my car hit the highway north and pulled into our culinary garage.

I have neglected to take advantage of the kitchen Corvette, as I’ve come up with a host of excuses. Time gets away from me. Something shiny captures my attention and takes my focus from what I possess. I fail to see that I have all the resources to enjoy something amazing that is, very likely cheaper, tastes better, and probably has fewer preservatives. I have the potential, sitting in a cabinet, to learn to bake. I might not open a bakery or cater someone’s wedding, but I could make myself a more well-rounded person and enjoy trying something new.

Jesus is like that pedestal mixer. A gift undeserved, He has a lifetime warranty. He cares for us in our inattention and distraction. He forgives when we forget His provision. When we allow the idols of life to distract us from the only truly worthy object of our attention, He forgives, and I can seek that reconciliation any time.

The Risen Christ lifts our souls to peace and fulfillment now and promises to do the same in the future, just like the yeast makes baked things rise. It is in our prayer lives that we rise to that potential.

You can make a seemingly countless number of recipes with a pedestal mixer. From mixing dough to making ice cream, you can realize the end of making something tempting to eat. Likewise, we are fortunate to be able to consume from a banquet of prayer options. Whether the stunning beauty of the Mass that enters a new Catholic Christian into the Church or a quiet moment of heart surrender during an early morning trot, God honors and respects our attempts at connecting with Him. When that taste of prayer settles in one’s heart, it grows like yeast in warm water.

In honor of that notion of the centrality of prayer in our lives, making yeast pretzels seems an appropriate closer to this Lenten series. It is in prayer that we entered into Lent, and it is in prayer that we will take the joy of Easter into the rest of the year. The shape of the pretzel dates back to before the year 1000 when monks began baking pretzels in their classic shape because it looked like crossed arms against the chest, the common physical posture for prayer at the time. I share it with the prayer for a blessed Easter for each of you.

Soft pretzels

For the pretzels

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon instant yeast

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup warm water

1 1/4 teaspoon olive oil

For the soda bath

1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

Toppings

Kosher salt

Melted butter

In the pedestal mixer, combine the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, water, and oil. Mix for three minutes on low speed. Alexandracooks.com helped me out with the recipe, and she recommends that in the absence of a pedestal mixer, the cook mixes the ingredients with a spatula until the dough is shaggy, then knead it in the bowl a bit, then knead it on the counter for about another minute.

I covered the bowl of the pedestal mixer with clear plastic wrap. After this, let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour. The recipe author suggests nothing deleterious will occur if slightly longer than this time.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Using a minimum amount of extra flour on the counter, cut the dough into six pieces and roll to about 12 inches long. My source said this gives the gluten a bit of time to relax.

Once these are done, roll the dough into strips 22-24 inches long. Picking up the two ends, cross near the ends and fold over the middle to create the classic pretzel shape.

In a waiting bath of four cups of warm water with 1/4 cup of baking soda dissolved in it, dip each pretzel. The original recipe suggested using a long-handled strainer to dip in the bath. Without this tool, I used a slotted spoon and had no difficulty. After removal from the bath, place the pretzels on a parchment-lined sheet pan.

Sprinkle with kosher salt and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

After removing them from the oven, place them on a cooling rack. They can stand alone, be served with some melted butter, or offered alongside a dish like a bowl of tomato soup and cheese.