Boiled & Baked

In the past I've been lucky enough to check two pieces of baggage when returning home from a foodie destination, but since the airlines shall soon be charging for the privilege, I decided it was time to try making bagels (in case there was no room for bread in my suitcase next time). I actually meant to try bagel making several years ago, especially after someone mailed me a recipe. And then I lost the recipe, which provided a great, if not illogical excuse to put my project on the back burner. It turns out I own multiple books with bagel recipes, but the truth is that I've always been reluctant to deal with yeast.

A standing mixer and dough hook made dough making a breeze. I even found a recipe that didn't call for proofing the yeast! Once I'd formed the bagels, they spent a night "retarding" in the refrigerator.

Fourteen hours later, like a kid on Christmas morning, I couldn't stay in bed any longer and ran to the kitchen to check on the bagel progress. They looked about the same as when I had tucked them into the refrigerator the night before. I was sad, and a little anxious that this was going to be a big bagel failure.

But I continued, determined to deal with failure in the early morning hours if that's what was to pass. Boiling the bagels required some coordination that at moments I seriously thought I lacked, but the bagels survived without incident.

And then the most amazing part. The flatish hard little disks I'd placed on the baking sheet started to rise and take on a real bagel shape while baking. I put on a pot of coffee and tried not to stare obsessively at the oven.


And then, breakfast.