BAGELS!!!!

This was my first attempt at homemade bagels and they were awesome!! I used Peter Reinhart's recipe from "The Bread Baker's Apprentice". I did not have the malt powder or high-gluten flour. Next time I will try and find those ingredients. These bagels were chewy, but not "hurt your jaw" chewy. They were soft and crispy. I used a little too much cinnamon sugar, so they were kind of sticky. Next time I'm going to try asiago cheese (my favorite) and cinnamon raisin (the kids' favorite). I really enjoyed making these. The dough is really stiff and easy to work with. They sat in the fridge for over a day before I got around to making them. I want to try and freeze some formed dough next time. I'd love to be able to make them with less planning. All in all, a huge success. Tomorrow, I'll be making my traditional Easter cinnamon rolls. I'm trying Peter's recipe for those as well. Stay tuned for pics.

This afternoon the kids and I went to "A Garden Affair" at the library. Unfortunately, I missed one of the speakers I really wanted to see. She was one of the farmers from the CSA we belonged to last year. I did see a cooking demo by Bev Shaffer. She is the chef and instructor at Mustard Seed Market. I have always wanted to attend one of her classes and today I got to do it for free! The class was on using herbs. We also got to sample what she made. This made the kids happy. It was very interesting and informative. I'm even more impatient to get into the garden now. However, we currently have a high of 27 degrees and snow. Not great gardening weather.

My cinnamon rolls are currently proofing. I'll put them in the fridge on my way to bed and then take them out around 7am for an 8:30am baking. I feel a little guilty. I tweaked the recipe. Normally I don't have guilt for doing this, but it seems very presumptuous to tweak the recipe of a master baker. I couldn't help myself though!! His recipe did not call for any butter on the rolled dough. I always butter the dough before I sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar. I debated for several minutes, but in the end...I buttered. Not a lot, just a thin coating of unsalted, softened butter. I can't wait to try these. I made them larger than I usually do, so I'll have 8 huge rolls. I may not be able to wait until 8:3o to bake them. We may end up having an early morning breakfast.