Bakin’ Bagels Baby!

Say that title five times fast….yeah…it’s the bagel word…messes ya up..but hurray for you who have quick enough tounges to say it without a mess up!! ;-)

So my friends, I am terribly embarrassed it’s been a whole week since I wrote! I promise you I’ve not been lying around on my laurels….well…some of us have been….

…..but not me!!! I had one sick child to start the week with and ended with three. Sarah is the last one to come home all coughing and sniffly..she says she is fine just a little stuffy but she’s got it…same as the rest of them. Already gone through one bottle of Nyquil and working on number two.

So I’ve been alone pretty much to take care of seven dogs and it’s been a mess of a week. My neighbour has tried to help me and ended up getting herself dragged across the road and flipped over by a very over eager Italian leonberger female whom we won’t mention by name….Isabella….in the attempt to get over and show a Border Collie who was jogging with it’s owner, who rules in these here woods….Very embarrassing episode which ended ok, but still very embarrassing. We use halti’s to have better control because they are just so strong. But we didn’t have one for Isabella that day because we had lost it, my neighbour is a tall strong viking woman and didn’t think it would be any problem..besides, Isabella is our “easy” dog…yeah..right…ugh…anyways..it ended ok, my shocked neighbour and the shocked border collie and owner all went about their ways and we all lived happily ever after but I always get shaken up when that kinda thing happens and yes, it’s happened before..they’ve pulled me to my knees before too in the attempt to get what they want..crazy, but we’re talking 100kilos (over 220lbs of dogs here folks)

So I’ve been taking an alternative route these days. Instead of walking the normal every day paths I’ve been walking just up in the woods, following deer paths. Remember I wrote about how they cut down some timber last winter…we’ve been walking up there too, great exercise for the dogs to jump over the timber but it looks sad up there…

Yesterday it looked like this around my home…

This morning it looks like this…

So Amy’s been bakin’…..I’ve always wanted to try making bagels but just never taken the time. Well, I did yesterday and below you can see the results…they rolled out nicely enough but I didn’t have enough flour on them to keep them from sticking to the trays while they rose that last time before you put them in water..so when I picked them up to put them in the water they whopper jawed into all different shapes and drooped like saggy boobs….but held their roundish shape somewhat…and you see the end results..not so pretty and round like a professional baker but these are homemade and homemade should look a little whopper jawed thank you!! I can assure you the garlic cream cheese and smoked salmon on these babies tasted delicious, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside just the way mamma likes them!!! hahahaha!!! The recipe follows the photos for anyone else who might want to attempt their own bagels!!

Bagels:

50 grams Yeast (Gjær)

1liter water (vann)

4TBSP (SS) Oil (Olje)

6TBSP(SS) Sugar (Sukker)

4tsp (ts) Salt

1400 grams Flour (mel) – I used a LOT more then this though…

For the cooking part you’ll need about

10 liters of water and 2 TBSP (SS) sugar per liter water..

Crumble yeast in your bowl and mix with cold water (I messed up here and used warm water but I also used dry yeast)…Add oil, sugar, and salt and then mix in your flour. Work the dough for about 8-10 minutes until it’s non-sticky. Cover with plastic and leave to rest in fridge for 8-10 hours!!!

Flour your counter or work space and work the dough out and divide into about 20 pieces. Roll each piece into an approximately 25cm long sausage shape and pinch the ends together. Lay them on a try and let them rise about 20-30 minutes. Then cook up your water and place about 2-3 bagels into boiling water for two minutes on each side- (Again, I didn’t read well enough and only boiled them on one side..grrrrr). Place on tray again and then bake at 200C for 20-30 minutes (I used 30 minutes). You can decorate these before you stick them in the oven with sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds whatever you like. I have kids in the house so we do it plain but I think the sunflower seeds sounds great!

Bon Appetite!

Have a great day my friends and I’ll try not to disappear on you again for a week!!!

Until next time…