If you have ever stood in front of the bread aisle unable to pick between a soft pretzel and a bagel, this recipe is the answer to a problem you did not know could be solved. You get the salty, dark, snappy crust of a pretzel on the outside and the dense, chewy, sandwich-ready interior of a proper bagel. Both in the same thing. At the same time.

I came up with the idea after making soft pretzels with my girlfriend's daughter. Somewhere in the middle of it I noticed the dough and the process were nearly identical to bagels. So I improvised a version that combined the two. This was actually the first time I tried to wing a recipe without looking anything up online first, and I'm quite happy with how they turned out. Even if baking is not usually your strong suit, the dough is very forgiving.

The key to getting that real pretzel flavor and color is the alkaline boiling bath. Cooking the shaped dough in a mixture of water, baking soda, and a little honey before baking is what creates that deep golden-brown crust and the slight snap when you bite into it. Without this step you just have a dark bagel. With it, you have something that genuinely tastes like a pretzel on the outside. The honey balances the bitterness just enough without making things sweet.

If you spend much time camping in state parks, you have probably wondered whether you can cook with charcoal in the park fire rings instead of firewood. I had the same question on a recent trip.

The short answer, at least in my home state of New Jersey, is yes. Charcoal is generally allowed in park fire rings as long as there are no broader fire restrictions in place. Still, every park is different, so it is always smart to confirm with the rangers before you light anything.

But the real question isn't just whether you can use charcoal.

The real question is why you might want to.