a list

…because I need to get it all out of my head and onto the page.

1. I have become a first-rate procrastinator on certain things: Chem homework, test studying and article-writing. I blame Andrew for this.

2. I have my first Microbiology test this week and EVERYONE is freaked out. There is a ton of material and while the best way for me to study is to re-write my notes, I couldn’t bring myself to make a study sheet. I think all my note-writing from last semester burned me out.

3. I have been playing WAY TOO MUCH and not doing enough studying. I mean, do I still do more than the average student? Maybe, but it’s not nearly enough to keep me comfortable with the material, which is stressing me out. Big time. I had such good intentions going into this semester–that I would keep up with Chem–and alll I’ve done is put everything off to do other things.

4. “Other things” have included baking, cleaning, blogging, cooking, baking, exercising, walking the dog and more baking. Ever since I discovered what I’d been doing wrong this whole time, I just want to bake! Bread! Muffins! Cookies! Oatmeal! Yes, baked oatmeal–I have a recipe on the fridge that’s calling my name.

5. So, let’s just say this week is already stressing me out (a Micro test, two Chem homeworks due, all Stats due…) and it’s only Tuesday morning.

6. Add to that a new responsibility with the co-op (sending monthly emails to our member-owners–exciting, but there is a learning curve involved and the timing was such that it’s a bit more rushed than normal), prep for another article for the paper, our new Bible study started last night and we’re having friends over for dinner Thursday night. Whew!

7. Oh, and Andrew’s truck wouldn’t start yesterday. It took me to the gym and back (thankfully!) but pooped out on Andrew when he was warming it up. A friend of his brought him home last night and they think they diagnosed the problem–the fuel pump. FANTASTIC. Fuel pumps are expensive, and whether it’s a DIY or professional job, it isn’t going to be finished today, or tomorrow probably. The fact that the Layers happen to have an extra vehicle for Andrew to borrow is nothing short of miraculous–the thought of having to add “carting Andrew to and from work” to my schedule this week would send me for a tailspin.

8. I think I might start swimming again. Like, swimming for real, on a team. I’ve always known about Master’s swim teams–they’re usually run through gyms and universities and are for the 18+ crowd–and always kind of thought I’d eventually end up on one. They attract former high-school and college swimmers and while not terribly competitive, can be pretty hard-core, depending on the ages and abilities of the group. I joined one, briefly, in Ohio just after getting into the Air Force and was FLOORED by how fast some of the people were (it was a pretty young crowd) and how out of shape I felt in comparison. I didn’t end up doing much with the team (the practice time didn’t work well with my schedule), but it always nagged at me that I was secretly relieved to not have to push myself. Well, I think I’m ripe for a workout change and after seeing a flier for the Master’s team forming at the Y, I’m excited at the prospect of doing more swimming. I swim once a week for 30 minutes and do 1 mile (a 1650, or 66 laps), but I get bored easily and don’t vary the routine a lot. Swimming is kind of like riding a bike; you don’t “lose” your ability, and age doesn’t really change your performance as long as you’re continuing to work out. OK, this is getting long. Bottom line: I think I’m going to join the team (yay!), but that means I have to re-work my whole schedule to fit it all in (running, swimming, weights and some yoga/pilates) while allowing time for school, studying and walking the dog, and being the most efficient use of time and driving, which is seriously stressing me out. Thankfully, I don’t have to figure it out this week.

9. I have now moved past the “Oh, I’ll just throw a quick post together before studying” into “Crap! I’m running out of time to study!” because blogging is a form of procrastination. But, I can’t study with a million thoughts running through my head, either.

10. As I said, we started a new Bible Study last night. I don’t have enough time to go into it right now (got to study!), but I’m excited (I went solo since Andrew was working on his car) and can’t wait for our taco night next Monday! For now, check out what we’re doing at 40 Days in the Word.

homemade bagels

A couple months ago I found a recipe for “real bagels” in Cooking Light and immediately thought of my sweet hubby and his affinity for everything bagels. (I hate them; they may have a great savory flavor, but the onion and garlic are just way too strong!)

Obviously, this was a weekend activity, so I pencilled it in for two weekends ago. Well, that weekend came and went without the making of any bagels, so I was even more determined to cross it off this weekend!

I had intended this to be a pseudo-together project with Andrew; I was, after all, making them mainly for him. I like a good bagel as much as the next person, but try to limit my intake of simple carbs that come in the form of GIANT breads. Rule of thumb: go halfsies. NO EXCEPTIONS.

It being a Sunday afternoon, Andrew was all but passing out on the couch when I called to him in need of his photography skills… (I might have guilted him, a little.) The truth is, our kitchen right now just isn’t really big enough for two to be working, and I’ll be honest, I like to be the only cook in the kitchen. It’s my territory. Hands off!

(Plus, Andrew is a way better picture-taker than I am; with our atrocious lighting situation here in the kitchen and dining room, it’s all I can do to take a decent picture, let alone one that actually shows the real color of my subject.)

I halved the recipe (how in the world would the two of us be able to eat 12 bagels before they got stale?) and put the ingredients into the bowl of my mixer.

The recipe calls for barley malt syrup, which is a natural sweetener found in lots of bread recipes. It’s similar to thins like agave nectar, brown rice syrup and maple syrup and it is more mild, so it doesn’t raise your blood sugar as quickly as other sweeteners. I couldn’t find it anywhere in Ohio (it’s the kind of thing you find in the ‘crunchiest’ of natural grocery stores) and had to purchase it when Andrew and I were at King Arthur Flour during the fall of 2010. I have, however, seen it in the ‘nature’s marketplace’ at Wegmans–hurray!

After a 6-minute go-around in the mixer, you knead the dough by hand for just a minute or two.

(Seriously, how to food bloggers do it?? I would never be able to photograph and work with messy hands; I’m way too much of a neat-freak and OCD about equipment. Andrew would KILL me if I got food on his camera! That, and I’d never get anywhere since it would take twice as long to make everything if I was taking pictures, and it already takes me a long time since I’m so fastidious about cleaning as I go and measuring and things.)

After a 30-minute rise, you divide the dough into equal portions…

…and, using your fingers, poke a hole through them and stretch it out a little. They rise again for a few minutes on a tray while you get your water boiling.

I’m a HUGE King Arthur Flour fan and order WAY too much from them (they have such cool stuff!) and one of the things I got last time was this bag of everything bagel topping. Andrew was in heaven when we saw it.

Traditional bagels are boiled before being baked, which creates a ‘doughy’ texture, and is what the recipe calls for. We’ve had bagels in Montreal (which are only baked) and NYC (which are boiled) and you can really tell a good bagel from a mediocre one. I love Panera as much as the next person, but their bagels are NOTHING compared to a fresh, puffy, boiled bagel from a Jewish hole-in-the-wall place in the city.

Side note: Andrew’s favorite place to get bagels, interestingly enough, is a place called Buck’s Bagels, located just down the road from my parents’ house outside Philadelphia. I guess the interesting (and sad) part is that my family didn’t really ever frequent the establishment much! We had no idea such a gem was just a mile away! I remember my dad going there a couple times, but that was it. So, so, SO sad.

Side-side note: That is one of my dreams: to be a ‘regular’ somewhere. I think it stems from such a transient childhood; all I want now is to have a home and be known there and have a routine and be an actual ‘part’ of the community. (I have to admit, between being involved in the co-op and writing for the paper, I think I’m on my way!)

After a 30-second boil (I wasn’t clear on whether or not you were supposed to flip them or not), you place them on a grate to drain and sprinkle with topping, if desired.

I made four everything and kept two plain, for me.

(BTW, I’m eating half of one of my plain bagels RIGHT NOW for breakfast!)

I joke that Andrew is so picky that I can pull a hot cookie out of the oven for him and he’d refuse it (no lie, but in his defense, he isn’t very big on chocolate-chip); not so with bagels! It was all he could do to wait until they were cool enough to touch after baking before grabbing one of his everything bagels and chomping it down!

I, of course, wasn’t about to inhale one of mine (we had dinner plans with friends in just a few short hours!), but I wanted to taste my creation so I had a bite of his, with a little butter. YUM! Absolutely perfect texture!

I know I’m a little ambitious in the ‘make-everything-from-scratch’ category, but these really are pretty simple. With their short rise and boil times, you could feasibly make these on a Saturday morning and enjoy hot bagels for breakfast–not something you can say about cinnamon rolls without a TON of prep the night before.

Speaking of making things from scratch… I hinted at my weekend projects in yesterday morning’s post; be looking for that soon, too! Also, I’ve done TWO blogs for the co-op recently: kale and grapefruit! Next up: a promo for an upcoming event and more citrus! After that, I’m looking forward to non-produce posts, like yogurt-making and baking (it is winter, after all), which will include my banana bread! Stay tuned!

a list

1. I start school tomorrow. I’m uncharacteristically nonchalant about this. I’m prepared and ready to go back, but not nervous in the slightest. Have I, dare I say it, grown up?

2. I made a friend today! Actually, one of Andrew’s friends. Is that weird? One of Andrew’s friends from high school found me on Facebook, started reading my blog (yay!), then emailed me. We really hit it off and met for coffee today, then the BOGO shoe sale at the local running store. She and I are very similar (which makes sense, I suppose, since Andrew and she were good friends) and are looking forward to a dinner date with our respective spouses.

3. Speaking of running shoes… I bought two pairs for what I paid last summer in Carmel for one. Sheesh. Good running shoes, for me, are akin to air, water and peanut butter, so at the end of the day, I’ll pay a pretty penny if I have to. But, scoring a good deal for your pair of choice online isn’t always easy, so I was jazzed that the shoe sale today yielded another pair of my current style and a trail runner with support for me to wear in the snow. SWEET!

4. All I wanted to do this winter break was cook and bake, but with three trips in as many weeks, I didn’t exactly have the free time I’d anticipated. However, I’ve been making up for lost time these last couple days! I’ve made two loaves of sourdough, a giant batch of sourdough waffles to freeze, pumpkin granola, ham stock with the leftover Thanksgiving ham bone (destined for ham bone soup tomorrow), pumpkin-cranberry rolls and a menu for the week chock full of new recipes, to include cod and mung beans (not together). I. CANNOT. WAIT.

5. I made the best kale ever tonight–Andrew said it was a ‘Top 10,’ which is saying something since he’s so picky. It’s a recipe I replicated from something I got at Earth Fare this past week in Ohio. I’m blogging about kale this week for the co-op, so be sure to check it out there for my recipe!

6. I also made some great cauliflower (Andrew said “he’d eat it again”) tonight using a recipe a gal we met while in Canandaigua sent me. It’s a Cook’s Illustrated recipe. In terms of cauliflower, it was fantastic.

7. I was reading the Jan/Feb issue of Cooking Light on the elliptical this morning. Mistake. EVERYTHING in there is awesome. (Except that I can’t make half of it due to Andrew’s dislike of cheese.) Sad.

8. This month’s Cuisine at Home is also a winner. Between the two of them, I found recipes for Pad Thai and Tom Kha Gai soup–my two favorite things to order when we go out for Thai food.

9. I’m trying to figure out a new gym schedule for next semester that includes a yoga class… All the good ones are at times I’m unavailable! It’s either going at night (not my first choice) or cutting it close between the gym and class. Decisions, decisions.

10. There is a pair of boots I’ve been drooling over since before Christmas, and I’ve been itching to order them ever since. Theoretically, I have the fun money to do it, but after all Hadrian’s trips to the vet, our traveling (gas, food, Starbucks…), random impulse buys (ahem, the shoe sale and those $20 LOFT pants that fit like a glove), I feel like I need to keep waiting. Again, I ask, does this mean I’ve grown up? (No, probably not, since I’m also daydreaming about this awesome J.Crew dress I found to wear to not one, but TWO occasions this year…)