For her internship at the end of her university degree, Sophie had the opportunity to spend six months in the US. She had a great time, and was able to experience Halloween the way it’s supposed to be, just like she’d seen in the movies. It’s traditional in America for the streets to transform into rows of haunted houses, each more elaborately decorated than the next, and for residents to dress up as all kinds of different characters. This year, to mark the occasion of Shauna’s arrival in Luxembourg, Sophie is planning to invite her to a US-style Halloween.
Let’s get cooking for Bretzelsonndeg!
In the office the other day, Marc’s colleagues were talking about Bretzelsonndeg, which is just around the corner. Marc had completely forgotten about it, so it was lucky that he was there when they were discussing it. It’s March already. The first few months of the year have flown by! He had almost forgotten about this special day that Sophie loves so much. Would she ever have forgiven him if there were no pretzels for breakfast on this traditional day? Definitely not! He knows Sophie well enough to know that pretzels are no laughing matter! Marc is planning to surprise her, by trying to make home-made pretzels, but things do not quite go as planned...
Bretzelsonndeg (Pretzel Sunday) is a day when traditionally, in Luxembourg, men offer their sweetheart a pretzel as a proof of their love. If their sweetheart accepts the pretzel, and if the feelings are mutual, the lady offers her man a basket full of chocolate eggs for Easter. However, if the lady offers him an empty basket ("De Kuerf kréien", in Luxembourgish), it means that she is not interested and that she is dumping him.
Source: https://luxembourg.public.lu/
Since last summer, Marc has been putting EUR 50 aside each month for his “baking robot" project. He has already saved the amount that he needs to purchase the robot, earlier than planned, thanks to a good deal that he saw on letzshop.
In just a few clicks, Marc places the item in his basket, enters his delivery address and Visa Premier card payment details to make the purchase.
He immediately receives a confirmation e-mail, indicating that his order will be delivered in a few days...
A few days later...
Ding dong! The delivery man is there with an enormous package for Marc...his new toy has arrived! Grinning from ear to ear, no sooner has he shut the door, he is already getting the baking robot out of its box. It is large, heavy and beautiful!
Marc spent the weekend looking for sweet pretzel recipes as he intends making a good impression for Sophie on Bretzelsonndeg. It is now up to Marc to put his baking skills into practice because he knows absolutely nothing about puff pastry dough – the key element of a pretzel. There is no time to waste, as he only has a few days to try out recipes before Sunday.
1. Mix all the ingredients (except butter) in a bowl to obtain a soft and homogeneous paste. Make a ball of it and place it to rest for 30min.
2. Then make the puff pastry. To do this, roll out your dough in the shape of a square (to help you, you can draw a cross on your ball of dough and stretch it by the 4 corners).
3. Spread the butter fresh out of the fridge in a squared shape to a thickness of about 1cm. Place it on top of the dough in the opposite corner and close the dough at each corner.
4. Spread the dough again, about 40cm long and 20cm wide.
5. Fold the dough in at both ends and fold it in half again. Leave your dough to rest gently in a cloth for 2 hours in the fridge.
6. Roll out the dough again and fold the dough into 4 and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
7. Finally, spread the dough over a width of 10cm, twist and shape it into the shape of a pretzel.
8. Leave to rest for 2 hours, add your favourite ingredients (almonds, chocolate ...) and bake for 15-20 minutes at 220°C.
Enjoy your meal!
He does a quick check before starting to bake: he has weighed all the ingredients, washed the baking robot bowl and whisk, he has a tea towel on the work surface ready to use for letting the dough rest and the butter is at room temperature...everything is ready!
Marc diligently starts mixing the first ingredients, using his baking robot. Listening to the rhythm of his new equipment, he feels like he is participating in a TV cooking show and has the urge to start dancing. Marc starts to dance to the songs on the radio whilst baking, when Phili bounds towards him.
During the walk, Marc turns the images over and over in his head of his new baking robot, which had taken months to save up for, and that has broken on the floor in the space of a few minutes only. He cannot believe it. He had not even had the chance to enjoy using it. Why had he not just done things in the right order: take the dog for a walk and then start baking?
Suddenly, he remembered reading somewhere that his purchases are covered by the ‘Purchase protection’ insurance linked to his Visa Premier card, subject to having paid for the full amount of the item using the card. There was a glimmer of hope! As soon as he finishes the walk, he would go and read the terms and conditions for his card and the ‘Purchase protection’ policy. Maybe his insurance would be able to help.
As Marc had paid for the full amount of the baking robot using his Visa Premier card, he was insured for up to EUR 500 per claim. What a relief! The food processor cost EUR 499, thanks to a really great deal, which means that he could get a full refund on it. On receiving this good news, Marc picked Phili up in his arms to ask for forgiveness for taking his temper out on the dog earlier.