Delicious Reading: The Rock Bottom Brewery and 'FabuLESSly Frugal'

I have written before of how I love that food can be like a scrapbook -- how certain tastes are associated with special memories. I have also written about how I like to try to recreate special tastes from great restaurant experiences. The following recipes combine these two favorite things.

Fifteen years ago, my husband and I were in graduate school for theater at Western Illinois University. Macomb, Illinois, is the perfect environment for a blizzard, as the wind can whip the snow across the prairie. We would return to this winter wonderland early from Christmas break each year to prepare for the American College Theatre Festival. We would then pile into 12-passenger vans and depart for the festival that was traditionally held somewhere even colder and snowier, like Madison, Wisconsin.

We spent almost all day in competition or seeing plays, but luckily, for the moments we had free for eating, the year we were in Madison, there was a Rock Bottom Brewery within walking distance of the hotel. We tromped through the snow almost every evening to eat there. We made some of our dearest friends in graduate school in moments like the ones we shared in a booth at that restaurant -- laughing loudly, sharing appetizers instead of getting entrees to save money and using the combined brain power of six bachelor's degrees in the arts to do the math for splitting the check and figuring the tip.

Our favorite starter was pretzel bread with beer cheese. I looked up the menu at Rock Bottom recently and discovered they don't have this item anymore. But all was not lost. When we had our snow days at the beginning of March, I felt inclined to try to recapture the magic of a warm pretzel and creamy cheese on an icy evening.

I found the pretzel roll recipe on a blog called "FabuLESSly Frugal" (www.fabulesslyfrugal.com), where a whole team of ladies share tips and tricks with readers who want to make the most of coupons, spend less money and still live fabulously. In addition to all the couponing advice, they have a recipe section with an index, as well as a special section on freezer meals that even has shopping lists. You can trust their recipes not to feature expensive or exotic ingredients, and to have easy-to-follow directions.

The cheese sauce is based off several recipes floating around on Pinterest, but modified to my preference to have the "ale" flavor in the cheese and to have to buy only one bottle of beer (I'm a wine drinker -- it takes me forever to go through six bottles of beer). There is not a strong alcohol flavor to this dip. My kids loved dunking their pretzels in this, though when they found out the secret ingredient, they asked me with nervous giggles if they were going to get drunk. Another "Mother of the Year" moment.

While the snow is (hopefully!) gone until next winter, I hope you can make some warm memories of your own as you share some laughs and enjoy this pub classic with friends.

Super Soft Pretzel Rolls

__Ingredients:__

1 cup warm water

3 tablespoons brown sugar (or granulated)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup oil

3 cups bread flour

1 tablespoon yeast

6 cups water

3 tablespoons baking soda

1 egg white

1 tablespoon kosher salt

__Directions:__

1. Mix brown sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl.

2. Combine oil and 1 cup water and add to sugar and yeast mix.

3. Add the flour and mix; dough should not be sticky.

4. Knead the dough for a few minutes.

5. Divide dough into 12 balls and shape into balls.

6. Let rise on greased foil cover sheet for 20 to 30 minutes, until double in size.

7. Meanwhile, bring 6 cups water and baking soda to a simmer in a wide pan with straight sides and preheat oven to 375 degrees.

8. Place 4 rolls in the water for 1 minute on each side.

9. Drain and place on cookie sheet.

10. Repeat with remaining rolls.

11. Brush rolls with egg white and sprinkle generously with kosher salt.

12. Slash with a sharp blade on top to create a decorative look.

13. Bake about 12 to 15 minutes, until slightly browned and "pretzel" looking.

__Beer Cheese__

__Ingredients:__

1 bottle Newcastle brown ale

1 brick cream cheese, cubed

3 cups shredded sharp cheddar

__Directions:__

1. Pour the ale into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer.

2. Add the cream cheese and stir until melted

3. Add the shredded cheese and stir until melted.

4. Pour into a bowl and serve immediately. This makes quite a bit and you can refrigerate and rewarm the leftovers to use again as a dip, a sauce for vegetables or the base of a unique macaroni and cheese.

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About Brooke

Brooke Clubbs is a Jackson mom of three, a freelance writer and a communications instructor.