Whole Wheat Bagels

“Who bakes their own bagels?” my mom asked.

Apparently me. Of all the things to make, it does seem a little silly. It’s not too hard to get delicious, fresh-baked bagels for cheap. But there’s a big difference between fresh-baked at a bakery and fresh-baked by your own hands in your own home.

While bagels may not be my favorite food (though they’re up there), they’re my most beloved, since I associate them with my best friend in the whole wide world.

As I started comparing recipes, I soon discovered that even at the basic level none of them agreed on anything. Not how much yeast or sugar to use in proportion to the flour, not how long to let the dough sit for, not how long to boil them, not how long to bake them or at what temperature. So, a little skeptical about the hopes for the edibility of my final product, I improvised and, hurray, it worked!

1 packet yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1. Dissolve yeast into warm water. Stir in sugar. Add 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. Let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Add the whole wheat flour, then the salt, and then the all-purpose flour a little at a time, adding a little bit more water as necessary to get all flour to form dough.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes. Cover with damp cloth and let sit for 20 minutes.
4. Divide dough into 8 balls. Make holes in center of balls and form bagel shapes. Cover loosley with plastic wrap and let sit 1 hour.
5. Bring a large pot of water + 1 tablespoon sugar to a boil. Boil bagels a few at a time, for about 5 minutes each, turning often with a slotted spoon. Remove and dry.
6. Place on greased, corn meal-covered baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes, placing another baking sheet underneath after the first 10 minutes to prevent burnt bottoms.
6. Mm, fresh bread!

Next time I’m making sourdough bagels, since sourdough > all other bread, and they’re not quite so easy to find, especially not on this coast.

 

Currant Pecan Muffins

1 ½ cups flour
¼ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup currants
½ cup boiling water
½ cup pecans, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375º
2. In small bowl, combine boiling water and currants. Let sit for 5 minutes, then drain.
3. Combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix egg, oil, milk, and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients. Fold in pecans and currants. (Be gentle with the currants.)
4. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool and enjoy.

We buttered the tops and sprinkled on brown sugar mixed with some flour and a bit of cinnamon as an afterthought.

Makes 1 dozen.

Recipe by me and my friend Erin! Inspiration from the usual sources.

 

Chocolate Crème de Menthe Squares

Since the fire that destroyed my family’s house two weeks ago,  everything’s been thrown into a strange state of chaos and unfamiliarity. Meals have been no exception.

My friend Kelly who lives across the street came out to sit with me at 4:15am when she heard about the fire. Besides giving me a pair of shoes to borrow, she also offered to make me banana pancakes. Although I couldn’t fathom the thought of food around the tight twisting of my stomach as the firefighters sat smoking cigarettes on  what was left of the porch roof, it was a nice gesture.

One of the first tasks our neighbors undertook while doing their best to provide us with stability and generosity was arrange a schedule for cooking us dinners. Despite their attempts to coordinate, we still received enough paper plates stacked high with homemade brownies to last us a month.

Now that life has settled down a little and we’ve moved into the house we’re renting for the year until we can have ours rebuilt, it’s become a serious effort for my mom to concoct dinners. She’s been trying to recreate as many of our favorite meals from memory as possible, for the sake of comfort and familiarity. At the same time, the lack of cookbooks and our limited pantry stock have forced her to experiment and branch out.

This is the only other recipe I have left of my mom’s besides the few I’ve already put up here. I’d typed it up to post later. Fortunately, it’s one of the ones that has the most memories attached to it, simple as it is. It was my mom’s go-to recipe for impressing guests and pleasing the whole family, passed down from her mother. I copied it from fancy script on a worn, torn, yellowed scrap of chocolate-splattered parchment.

Cake Base
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
4 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp salt
½ cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
16 oz can chocolate syrup

Mix ingredients; put in greased 13×9 pan. Bake 350° for 30 min.

Crème de Menthe
½ cup butter
2 tbsps crème de menthe
2 cups confectioners sugar

After cake is cooled, spread over cake.

Chocolate Glaze
6 tbsps butter
½ pkg chocolate chips

Mix and melt. Cool and spread over cake. Chill. Cut into squares.

I wish I’d begun this project sooner so I’d have more saved, for my mom’s sake. But what’s gone is gone, and we work with what’s left as best we can. At least there’s something, and well, at least there’s us to appreciate it.

 

Basic Pie Crust

Based on recipe from The Good Housekeeping Book of Illustrated Desserts.

For 1-Crust Pie

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
3-4 tbsp cold water

In medium bowl, with fork, stir flour and salt. With pastry blender, cut shortening into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbles. Sprinkle cold water, a tbsp at a time, into mixture. Mix lightly with fork after each addition, until dough is just moist enough to hold together. Shape into smooth ball. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll out dough into round about 1/8 inch thick. Cut dough about 1 1/2 inches larger around than upside-down 9-inch pie plate. Roll dough around rolling pin; transfer to pie plate and unroll. Ease into bottom and up side. Make decorative edge.

To bake without filling, preheat oven to 425°. With fork, prick bottom and side of crust in many places. Bake 15 min. Cool.

For 2-Crust Pie

2 cups all-purpose floud
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening
5-6 tbsp cold water

Follow steps for making 1-Crust Pie dough. Shape into two balls, one slightly larger. Roll out larger ball and place in pie plate. Trim egdes. Fill. Roll out smaller ball, cut a few slashes or design in center, center over filling. Make decorative ede.

 

White Chocolate Berry Pie

1 pie crust, bought or homemade
5 oz white chocolate
2 tbsp milk
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
2 cups sliced strawberries

Prepare and bake pie crust. Cool completely. Microwave 4 squares white chocolate and milk about 2 min or until almost melted. Stir until melted. Cool to room temp. Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and orange peel in small bowlwith mixer on low speed until smooth. Beat in white chocolate mixture. Fold whipped cream into white chocolate muxture. Spread in bottom of pie crust. Arrange strawberries on filling. Drizzle with remaining melted white chocolate. Refrigerate 1 hour or until serving. Store in refrigerator.

Serves 8.

Variations I haven’t tried: raspberries instead of strawberries; german sweet chocolate (with 1/4 cup milk) instead of white; graham cracker crust instead of plain.

 

Fairy Drop Cookies

This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book I found on the kitchen counter of the literary house at Washington College while I was there working as a camp counselor with the Upper Chesapeake Summer Center for the Arts. Yes, I baked cookies instead of doing my TA job. But no one complained after they’d tried them! They’re cute and dainty and deliciously almond-y. I dyed the frosting yellow and added blue colored sugar to some and green to others, going for a summery (and vaguely Pushing Daisies-inspired) color palette. Instead of sugar, some of them got cherry halves. I liked this addition because it made them look distinctly boob-like. :]

Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
1 cup oil
2 eggs
2 tsp almond extract
4 1/2 cups flour

Beat butter. Add sugar, powdered sugar, baking soda, and salt; beat until fluffy. Gradually add flour. Chill dough, covered, 30 min. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Flatten on cookie sheet. Bake 350° for 10 min. Cool.

Almond Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2- 3 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk/light cream
food coloring (optional)

Beat butter till fluffy. Add almond and vanilla extracts. Alternate gradually adding sugar and milk. Add food coloring as desired.

Frost cookies. Add sugar/sprinkles/cherry halves/crushed candies/whatever. Enjoy!

 

Tangy Salad Dressing

My favorite dressing for the simple salad I’ve been eating a lot lately– spinach with walnut pieces and dried cranberries. Yums! The original called for twice as much oil and for raspberry vinegar, but I prefer it this way.

1/4 cup canola oil
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 small garlic clove, mashed
1/2 tsp poppy seeds

Combine ingredients in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate. Shake well.