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My New York Bagel Project

Today, I decided to make home made bagels.  I searched for a recipe, found a great one that unbelievably, was quite easy, and off I went!  I am just amazed at the end product.  I have never in my life had a fresh bagel, straight out of the oven with a nice crispy crust and soft warm center. They were by far the most delicious bagel I ever ate.  I made two versions, plain and Cinnamon Raisin. Here's my version of the recipe that you can find here by John D. Lee:

4 Cups Bread Flour

1 Tbs sugar

1.5 Tsp salt

1 Tbs Vegtable Oil

2 Tsp. instant yeast

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of warm water

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  You don't have to soak the yeast, just throw it in with the other ingredients. Mix until all the flour is incorporated.  I used all of the water and it came out fine.  The dough should be stiff, and you should be able to incorporate all of the flour.

Plop the dough onto your counter and knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough is uniform and smooth.  Or you can be lazy like me and put it  your good ole' hunkin' Kitchenaid mixer and let it do all the work for ya!

 After you finish mixing and kneading, this is what you will have.  You don't need any flour to roll it out, it doesn't stick to your work surface.

 Cut your dough into 8 equal pieces.  (I only made 6 pieces for my plain bagels and they were huge!) Let the pieces rest for 20 minutes. You can cover them to avoid a "crust"

Pre heat your oven to 425 degrees Farenheit

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After the 20 minutes, roll each piece out long enough to wrap around your hand, like the picture below.

 Wrap it around your hand and gently squeeze the seam. Now you just put your hand (palm down) onto your work surface and roll the ends together.

 Yep, press and roll and it will seal itself up.

 This is what they look like after rolling.  Now you have to let these rest for 20 minutes or so.  They won't look much different when finished resting.  They will get a bit puffier, but not much.

Put on a pot of water and bring it to a boil while they rest.

 I covered mine up while they rested....

. See...they look slightly puffier but not much after resting.

Now you gently drop them into boiling water for 1 minute, flip over for 1 minute, remove from the water and put them aside to dry for a minute. As soon as they are all boiled, place them on a cookie sheet or pizza stone (I used a stone) coated with corn meal. Put them in your preheated oven for 10 minutes, turn the sheets around so they bake evenly and bake for an additional 10 minutes, and you get these....

Tips:  I read that if you put 1-2 tsp baking soda in your boiling water that it gives your bagels a great golden "crust" .  I did this for both batches and will continue doing this.  When you take the bagels out, they feel almost too crusty, but after you wait 20 minutes or so....they soften up a bit and are perfect.  I know, I know, wait 20 minutes you say!!!???  It's worth the wait! 

I tell you, it seems like a long process, but it is really not.  It took me about an hour, start to finish.

You'll never buy bagels again for your Sunday brunch!

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Cinnamon Raisin - I added 1/4 c. of sugar, 2-3 Tsp cinnamon, and two small boxes of raisins (probably about 3/4 cup).  I added all of these ingredients in the beginning with the flour, etc. 

Got Some Good Press Today!

My camera straps from my shop were featured on NeatoStuff.com today!!  Great site with great gift giving ideas for everyone!  I am so proud of my work and accomplishments, I just thought I would share with you!

My new Dymo 456 Turbo !!!

I finally took the plunge and bought a brand new Dymo 450 Turbo!  Yes, it works with Paypal shipping, it prints fast and beautifully.  The labels are smaller than the 4X6 labels of my Zebra LP2844, but fit better on my envelopes, and work just as well.  I've shipped many packages with my "new" labels and there's no problem with the size whatsoever....So to all of you sellers looking for a way to eliminate the cut, trim, tape and ship fiasco...try the dymo.  The cost was about $100.00 with free shipping and it was worth every penny!  I got mine  here.  I took some pictures of the unit so you could see the size, which by the way is very much smaller thatn my zebra was.  Pics of the labels printed and applied to my envelopes show you what they look like ready to go!  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment.



TIME TO MAKE THE SALSA!!

It's that time of year when the tomatoes are jumping off the vine, ripe and red!  Since I was a kid, I watched my dad in the garden, planting, pruning, making things grow.  And as always, the first tomato that was big and ripe....we'd slice into it, slap it on some soft white bread with mayo and enjoy the first tomato sandwich of the season!  Oh the memories of me and my dad. Sometimes I wished I had payed attention to what he was doing, but I think he's watching me from above, tending to my tomato garden, because this year is a stellar crop!!  So...off to the canning process I go.  To this I give credit to my mom. I always thought she was crazy for doing all of that work, but let me tell you, the taste of fresh tomato sauce in February is not to be compared to anything you can buy...anywhere!  So mom and dad, I tip my gardening gloves to you for all that you did in your lives to enrich mine. 

Step One...make your favorite salsa recipe.  I use a general recipe, you can always add more hot peppers, etc. when you pop that jar open down the road..

Prepare your jars, your canning bath, and you're ready!

Fill your jars, clean off the tops, close em' up and get ready to add to the water bath.

Careful here...don't let the jars touch!  When they crack in the water bath..ughhhh, what a mess!

 Put em' in your boiling water bath for 45 minutes and....

 Salsa for the Winter!!!

NOW ONTO THE TOMATOES WITH BASIL AND GARLIC.........

GOT VEGGIES????   CAN EM'... KEEP EM'... EAT EM'!!!!

HOME SWEET HOME

So after the primping, after the years of landscaping, after the new fence, the weeping cherry tree for mother's day and after spending the entire weekend weeding the lillies near the fence...I love my house! Yeah, my neighbors ask me what I do to keep my lawn so green.  Answer: I pick up the phone and call Turfmasters!  I can't do everything, you know!  Anyway, sitting in my rocker drinking sweet tea on a hot summer afternoon enjoying the view is worth every ache and pain of owning our home in New England.

New iPad Covers!

I've been asked for these, now they are here!!  A snug little jacket for your new iPad.  Meant to protect your electronic toys from getting scratched while they're in your bag, backpack, or just laying around. Not just a sleeve, but this features a flap closure to prevent that backpack "litter" from creeping into your pouch. These sleeves feature an inner core of  foam, covered with a soft fleece surface. They have no snaps, zippers, hooks or even velcro. Completly metal free....great for airport security.  They are fun, funky and a great way to protect you gagetry!  Check them out in my shop.  A great accessory at a great price! 

The Perfect Brownie Pan Part 3 - Cornbread

Experiment #3 in my Perfect Brownie Pan

I have read tons of review of this pan, and quite a few people complain that it leaked all over their oven.  So....I tried cornbread.  A batter that is quite loose going into the pan.  As you can see, out of the oven, they are just fine. No leaks, nothing in the oven.  Now the removal of the seperator may be quite tricky, as I was almost out of pam, so I'm not hopeful for a clean break....here goes......

As you can see, the seperator came out just fine, with only a light spray of pan on it.  You can see some crumbs attached to it, but nothing that made it hard to remove or clean.  I'll let them cool just a bit and see how they come apart.

No problems here...came apart beautifully...now for the special part......

WARM HONEY BUTTER GLAZE....YUUUUMMMMMMM

I have determined that this pan does exactly what the infomercial says it does.  It bakes perfect little squares of all types of goodies perfectly.  I do shorten my recipes by 5 minutes or so to allow for all of the metal surrounding your individual pieces.  

 VERDICT:  A Keeper.  Works well, cleans up like a charm.

The Perfect Brownie Pan Part 2 - Raspberry bars

Raspberry bars ready for the seperator and oven.......

just out of the oven...looking quite gooey.  I hope my "perfect" pan works on this gooey mess!

ok, I couldn't wait...I just love these bars.  I usually burn my mouth because I just can't wait to have one. The corner came out really easy..not so sure about the middle ones...I just have to wait a while for the gooey raspberry filling to cool..................

Here's the verdict.  They were easy to pull apart, and didn't stick to the seperator.  My perfect brownie pan is now my perfect raspberry bar pan. The seperator didn't go all the way through the bottom of the oat mixture, well, just because it's an oat mixture and not batter.  They still broke apart quite easily! Had to wipe the pan and seperator lightly with a sponge, but still no problem with cleaning.  I can't figure out how the people that hate this pan had such a hard time!

The Perfect Brownie Pan

I decided to purhase one of the Perfect Brownie Pans just as a try it out experiment.  I was quite skeptical, because many people on line said it was worthless.  Well, never one to take the work of other cooks, I decided to try it myself.  Ok, love, love, love this pan.  I don't know what the people did wrong that said everything stuck to the pan and insert, couldn't get the thing out, the brownies were like rocks, the batter leaked out of the pan...they must not know how to cook or something.  I used my own recipe, sprayed the pan and insert with pam.  I did shorten the baking time by 5-6 minutes.  It stands to reason that if each brownie is surrounded by metal, they will cook faster!  Anyway, they came out great, and clean up?? Easy as eating the brownies.  Here's my picture gallery of my perfect brownie pan experience.  Next.....perfect raspberry bars!

Just out of the oven. My kit came with this stand that you place your brownie pan onto and the sides drop away, leaving the bottom and insert.  Let the brownies cool just a bit and remove the insert.

See how easy the insert comes out?  And pleasseeeeee....look at how clean it is.  A quick rinse and it's ready for the next batch!

Now, seperate your little morsels and enjoy!  Again, please take a look at how clean the pan bottom is.  Virtually nothing to clean.  You could just wipe it down with a damp cloth if you want.

My conclusion...it's a great pan, I'll probably get another.  The price is kind of steep at $19.99, but worth it if you make lots of bars for taking places.