Makin' Bagels

It was a cold and blustery day in PA... a good day to be inside. My husband was out of town. It was a day off work for my dear daughter and me.   It was a perfect day to try our hand at... making bagels!

We LOVE Panera bagels, especially the Asiago ones and the cinnamon toast ones. But we don't live near a Panera. So unless we wanted to drive a distance (which we didn't), we would have to make our own.

We did a little research, read and compared recipes and finally decided on THIS ONE (Asiago) and THIS ONE (Cinnamon Crunch).

We convened at my house and got started:

Brody had his faced washed and was ready to get busy.

As usual, the cats were excited and involved...  #sarcasm

Double checking the recipes:

Beautiful new KitchenAid mixer did a wonderful job mixing up the dough.  

But nothing beats hand kneading!

Our dough raised beautifully!

Dough shaped into 13 rounds. Starting to look like bagels now!

Short break for a belly rub:

"Awww thanks Sissy! You know the BEST spots!"

Next the bagels got boiled for a few minutes...

Grating the cheese...

Ready for the oven now...

Sprinkled with the cheese and baking in the oven.

Smelled soooooo good!

TA DA! Beautiful finished Asiago bagels! #AsGoodAsPaneras #MaybeEvenBetter

Next up, the Cinnamon Crunch bagels. (We were pros by now!)

Then kitchen tidied up...

Two happy (and just-a-little-tired) bagel loving' girls:

We divided the bagels and darling daughter went home.

All told, about 4.5 hours, start to finish...

The cats were EXHAUSTED!

A Brand New Year...

I have such a love/hate relationship with a new year. On one hand, I always shake my head and wonder, "How can it be? Another whole year, gone!" I brood a little over how fast the years seem to fly by. Remember how loooooong a year seemed when we were children? I want that feeling back!

But... on the other hand... I really like the start of a new year. Although I tend to think more in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's... I  can't help but feeling like the new year stretching out ahead is full of promise and excitement.  Like a beautiful new book, just waiting to be opened and filled with new experiences and new memories, I can't wait to see what the year will hold.

I hope to continue to grow and learn. I hope to become wiser, kinder and more compassionate.  I hope to better show my family and friends that I love and adore them more than words can say.  And YES, I hope to lose five pounds!