How to Make Homemade Bagels

"Bagels are wonderful. Bagels are fine.  I love Bagels, I eat them all the time..."  (Sing this to the tune of the "Sandwiches" song)  I enjoy a good bagel every now and then.  And since we moved to NC I haven't really found a great bagel joint yet.  So, while planning out my week of recipes for ADM I got to thinking of bagels...and here we are!  :)  I did some research into the whole process.  (Mostly just through wikipedia, because I love it, as you probably already know! ;)  And this is what I came up with.  They are surprisingly not as difficult as I thought they may be....but mine also don't look perfect by any means.  So here's how I did it, and a recipe too!  :)

Bagels:

1 pkg. Yeast

1/2 c. Water, lukewarm

1/2 c. Milk, lukewarm

1 t. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 t. Sugar

1/2 t. Salt

2.5-3 c. Flour

Optional toppings:  Sesame Seeds, Poppy Seeds, Onion Flakes, Garlic Granulate, etc. or for Everything Bagels mix equal parts of: Sesame Seeds, Poppy Seeds, Onion Flakes and Garlic Granulate.

1.  Combine the yeast, water, milk, olive oil, sugar and salt until well combined.

2.  Mix in about 1 c. of flour at a time until a stiff dough forms.

3.  Take the dough and knead for about 5 minutes or until it is smooth and well combined.

4.  Separate dough into 12 equal sections, then roll each section into about an 8" log and then make each log into a circle like below.  

12 sections, 12 logs and 12 circles of dough.

5.  Let rest for about 30 minutes.

6.  If you are doing plain bagels skip to step 7.  Get your toppings ready now on a plate.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Topping for everything bagels

 7.  Bring a pot of water to a boil.  For golden bagels with a crispier crust add 1-2 Tablespoons of Baking Soda to the water before boiling.

8.  Once the water is boiling carefully place one or more bagels in at a time.  Don't crowd the bagels though!  Let each bagel boil for about 1-2 minutes on each side.

 9.  Once you take out each bagel either place it on a prepared baking sheet if plain or dip it directly into the topping plate and then place on the baking sheet.  (Baking sheet should be greased or lined.)

 10.  Once all the bagels have been boiled (and topped) and placed on the baking sheet.  Place baking sheet into the preheated 400 degree oven and bake for about 15 minutes. 

 11.   Then flip over and bake another 5 minutes.

 12.  Their bottoms will look about like this  (I did use some baking soda in my boiled water above btw.)

 13.  Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire rack for a few minutes before serving or eating.  :)

Mhmmmmmmm....yum.

Enjoy!   :)

How to make your own reusable produce bags!

Sew, I've been eyeing reusable produce bags online and at stores...but can't seem to find any that are very reasonable.  Sew --  and yes I do think I'm clever using sew for so today (:  -- when I found this mesh laundry bag of mine (that I got free from someone handing them out at college my freshman year) I decided it would be perfect to use as the material for my bags.  (Sorry for the run on sentence.)

I'm planning on using these at the grocery store as well as farmers markets for fresh produce.  If you can think of other ways to use these send me those ideas too, I'm always interested!  :)  You could also easily do this with lightweight fabric that you have on hand, or mesh you can buy at the store.  I did want some that you could see through though, so you may want that as well.  :)

Anyway, here's how I did it, and you can too!   It's sew easy!  ;)

1.  Lay out your bag on a flat surface.

2.  Cut into 4 equal pieces.  (You could measure and be exact...or you could just wing it like I did today.)

3.  Sew up the rectangles so they are bag like shapes with one end open.  (Somehow I ended up with no pics of this step...but I did double stitch the mesh sides that I sewed up to ensure they would be secure!)

And since I cut up a bag, I didn't have to sew all the sides--just an fyi.

4.  Then get some string or yarn to use for the draw string.  Cut a piece that is long enough to go all the way around the bag at the top, and knot it together to make a loop.  Then place it at the top and fold over the mesh/fabric like so and sew it to make a loop for the string.  (Fold the bag inside out and fold over the fabric to sew for the loop, and be careful not to sew the string or else it won't work as a draw string.)

5.  Repeat with the rest of the bags, and the end product should look something like this at the top.  Then cut a small hole in the mesh/fabric and pull the string out where the knot is.  Now you have a functioning closure for your bag!! :)

Here's a better view of the drawstring closure working on one of my bags.  Cute huh?  And functional. :)

Viola!  Here are my four produce bags (with drawstring closures) that I made out of the unused laundry bag I had lying around!  Sure they aren't perfect.  Sure they aren't all uniform.  But, hey!  They didn't cost me a thing, AND I can use them instead of one time use produce bags at the store from now on!!  :)

Hope this made sense and is helpful.  If you have any questions feel free to ask a question or let me know!  :)

How to make a homemade banner!

I had a couple of people ask me to make a tutorial for the banner I made and posted on here the other day. So here it is: :)

What you'll need:

Pinking Shears

Colorful fabric of your choice for triangles

Long strip about 1.5" wide for holding banner together.

Sewing Machine (ok, you could do it by hand...but that'd be a lot of work.)

I'm not giving quantities of fabric, because it all depends on how long or big you want to make it. But for mine that I made today I used 22 triangles and it made a banner that was about 7 feet long.

1. Get out your colorful fabric for the triangles and get ready to cut them out!

2. Starting cutting out triangles with your pinking shears*. They don't have to look perfect, or if you'd like you could measure them all and make them perfect. :) It's all up to you and how you want it to look--and how much time you'd like to spend making it!

*Pinking shears don't prevent it from fraying, but it controls how much it will fray. So that's why I used pinking shears so that I didn't have to hem the triangles and it will give it some homemade flavor for years to come! :)

3. I found that cutting the triangles so that the top (flat part that will be the top once it's in the banner) is about half of the length of the sides (parts you cut) makes it the right proportions.

4. Once you have all your tirangles cut out put them in a pile. (Mine's kind of a messy pile...)

5. Get your long strip ready. You can use pinking shears on it if you'd like, but you don't have to since it will be hemmed. :)

6. Lay the strip with the nice side down.

7. Then fold each side into the center like this.

8. Now fold that in half and sew it together for a few inches. (Leave as much as you'd like to be able to tie it to something.)

9. Now stick your first triangle in the fold and sew. I did mine like this, but it doesn't matter which direction the fabric tirangles are facing--as long as they are all facing the same way! :)

10. Keep sewing, like sew. ;)

11. Once you get done sewing the first one, put the second one right next to it, but not overlapping and sew. Then continue with the rest of the triangles until you get to the desired length! :) Then remember to leave some at the end to be able to tie it up for decorating!

Here it is flapping in the warm breeze. Like I said this one has 22 triangles and is about 7 feet long.

Detail view.

I alternated the fabric of triangles on the banner I made the other day, but today I just used one fabric. So be sure to make your banner they way you want it! :) The more colors the better.