This is just one in a series of delicious goods to come out of the Gold Cup Test Kitchen.  If you haven’t made Dana’s Bluegrass Cupcakes yet, do yourself a favor and put it on your to-do list for this holiday weekend.

On Monday, after I read Jessica’s Soft Pretzel Rolls post on Tasty Kitchen, I was determined to recreate one of my favorite baked goods.  Typically I just hop over to the Whole Foods bakery when I feel the need for a pretzel roll, but I’ve been looking for a bread to use for our Gold Cup tailgate spread as a vehicle for slider sized sandwiches.  Pretzel Rolls fit the bill.

I followed Jessica’s step-by-step instructions and used erinraatjes’s recipe.

This is what my dough looked like after I let it rise for about an hour.

I divided the dough into 18 dough balls (I need to work on my uniformity) and let them rise for another 30 minutes.

This is where the fun began!  Adding baking soda to boiling water brought back old science class experiment memories.  As an adult, I am proud to report, I still make a giant mess.

I boiled each dough ball for 30 seconds on each side.  I had a little trouble getting them to flip over and RP stopped by the kitchen just long enough to laugh at me for talking to myself and to remind me that I couldn’t hurt the dough balls when I flipped them over and encouraged me to get “more violent.”  Helpful.

After I boiled all 18 of the rolls, cut an x into the tops and sprinkled them with salt.  I popped them in the oven and prayed they’d look similar to Jessica’s beauties.

Thankfully, this is what I got.

I inspired some food envy at work today when I showed up with sandwiches on pretzel rolls for lunch.

They were delicious.

As with every one of Jessica’s recipes that I make, Manny couldn’t wait to get a taste.

Manny is also an avid reader of HowSweetItIs and has been known to steal bacon and chocolate off the counter.

A decision made late this afternoon put some added pressure on these little delights.  We are entering our Gold Cup spread into the tailgating competition.  It’s our fourth year at the races and we’re looking to bring our A-game.  Wish us luck!

I intend to make another batch of pretzel rolls and load them up with tuna salad or other sandwich fixin’s.  Should be tasty.

On a completely unrelated note, I had mentioned a number of times on Twitter that I’ve been dressing like an Easter egg this week.  I wasn’t kidding.  I laid out the tops I wore this week and the colors could easily appear in an Easter basket.

My splash of color hasn’t gone unnoticed by my co-workers.  They have challenged me to end the week with a bright combination.  This is what I have come up with:

Too bright?  I didn’t think so!