On my mind

Bagels anyone?

I made bagels for breakfast and they turned out lovely! They were melt in the mouth soft. Light and airy. I am realtively new to baking and the few times I have made buns/rolls, they have come out "ok". Not great or super. Nothing to rave about.

But these bagels....Out of this world...

So I thought I would share the recipe. It is from a book called Breads and Baking edited by Gina Stear. (Quick and easy, proven recipes)

Bagels:

450g plain flour

2tbsp sunflower oil (I used olive oil)

1 1/2tsp salt
250ml tepid water

2tsp easy blend yeast
2 medium eggs

1tsp clear honey (I used bee's honey)

To finish: 1tbsp castor sugar, a beaten egg

Pre heat oven to 200 Celcius degrees 15minutes before baking.

Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Stir in yeast, make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs with honey and oil and add to the dry ingredients along with the tepid water and mix to form a soft dough (I used a little less water)

Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 10minutes until smooth and elastic.

Put dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place till doubled in size (about 45mins)

Briefly knead dough to knock out air. Divide into 12 (I divided into 16), form each into 20.5cm/8inch rolls, curve into a ring and pinch edges to seal (do this properly otherwise the ring breaks in the next steps)

Put rings on oiled baking sheets and cover with oiled plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for about 20 mins or till puffy.

Here are mine, rising in the morning sun:

Add castor sugar to a large saucepan of water. Bring to boil, drop bagels, one at a time and poach for 15 SECONDS. (This is where if you have not sealed your rings properly, they come away and they cannot be sealed afterwards. Happened to me, but it does not detract from their heavenly softness)

Lift out with a slotted spoon and return to baking tray.

Brush the bagels with a beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds (I sprinkled sugar).

Bake in a pre heated oven for about 12-15 minutes or till golden brown. Transfer to wire rack and serve when cool (we ate it hot from the oven with a dollop of butter....)

Mine are ready to come out of oven:

My soft soft bagels...

We had these for breakfast. I started getting the ingredients around 6.30am and the bagels were ready to eat by 8am. The poaching bit takes extra effort but it is totally worth it. I don't think I'll make bread rolls again. Bagels it will be..

Linking with Rhonda at Down to Earth.

Handy Medicine tote

So You Think You Can Sew?

I thought I would enter in this online competition that Mommy by day and crafter by night is hosting. I actually stumbled upon this competition after reading about it in Pleased as Punch blog. So I thank Rachel from the bottom of my heart for enlightening us.

I am an ardent crafter and I love sewing very much. I am a working mother of a two and a half year old son and while I work , both sets of grandparents take turns caring for him. So I do a lot of traveling and needed a bag to take his and my medicines/ creams etc from place to place. I googled a pattern but couldn't find one to my satisfaction and so decided to create one from scratch. This is the result:

This is the inside of the bag. It has a place to slip my son's thermometer in, on the under side of the lid. And a pocket which carries vitamin supplements, Oral Rehydration Solutions etc.

It measures a handy 14cm x 21cm with a height of 21cm. I have been using this for about 6months now and wonder how I ever managed without it.

Hope my creation is crafty enough to enter the competition!