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!

Day # 17 (A Photo of my Family)

(The 30-day blog challenge continues... this is Day # 17; thirteen more to go!)

"A photo of my family."  Hmmmmm.  This proved a little more challenging than I first expected!  "My family", eh?

Well, which "arm" of my family?   My *first* family: mom and dad, sisters and me? 

Or my *own* family: me and my husband and our two kids? 

Or the "family reunion" kind of family -- you know, with ALL the rellies --aunts, uncles, cousins, halves, steps, in-laws, out-laws, ex's and friends??? 

And then that begs a further question: a recent photo or an older one ???  (Yes, I realize I am probably reeeeeally over-thinking this... I tend to do that!!!)

So basically I decided that NO ONE PHOTO can possibly meet ALL the potential criteria... so you will just have to bear with me through SEVERAL photos!

So, in (kinda, sorta) chronologic order...

1.  My "first" family:
This is my sister Lana (the blonde), and me (I was 12), and Dad and Mom.
Since my other (oldest) sister Laurel is not in this picture... I will have to find another with her in it!

Then, here's a picture of "my own" family, my husband Barry, me, and our 2 kids.  It's a LITTLE more recent than some of the other family photos I have posted during this blog challenge; Josh was 18, Kendra was 8.   Yes, I know... my hair was very dark and very short!  It was a phase.  And thankfully it didn't last toooo long!
(OH! FYI, I made my daughter's dress and hair bow... you can't really see it in this scan-of-a-picture-of-a-picture, but it was pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself!!!)















And one of my husband and me, Kendra and her husband on a cruise we took last year:

And OH, I don't wanna forget a picture of my beautiful sister Laurel:

And just because it makes me smile, here's one of the "3 Sisters", taken *cough* a FEW years ago!!!
Left to right:  Laurel, Lana, me. (Lana with her eyes closed again -- I  told you!!!)

And because it brings back such fun memories, here's a photo of SOME of us on a family vacation.
(Yeah, I know, same bad hair for me, but LOOK!  Lana's eyes are open!)

And for no reason other than I love it, a picture of Josh and Barry:























And no "family album" would be complete without a picture of Jerod, who is like a son to us:

And so NOW, to catch (almost) everyone else that hasn't yet been posted, here's a picture taken a couple of years ago at Kendra's wedding.  Presenting... The. Whole. Fam. Damily...

Ta DA...

(FYI: our side of the family on the left [can you tell who's who?!]; groom's family on the right.)
















*Whew!*  I hope this satisfies the "requirements" for a proper "Photo of My Family" post!  I gotta tell ya' -- it was touch-and-go there for awhile!!!  ;o)

**** TOMORROW:  "A Baby Photo".  OH YEAH, you GOTTA see this...

Day # 10 (A Photo of Me Taken Over Ten Years Ago)

(This is Day # 10 of my "30-day Blog Challenge"... please see post of August 31 for details!)

Whew, a third of the way there! This 30-Day Blog Challenge is proving to be, indeed, a "challenge"! Not a "chore" by any means (I love doing it!), but definitely a challenge to find the time each day to make these posts, and trying hard to keep them meaningful and fun.

(Are my faithful, loyal readers enjoying this???! I hope so!)

OK, so back to the post at hand.  "A photo taken OVER ten years ago", huh?  Well, this was taken in the 80's (again, I really am DATING myself here!) 

Our son was 10 and our daughter was 16 months old at the time.    (And, yes, yes, that is indeed duck upholstery on the couch, paneling on the walls, and the curtains... well, they speak for themselves!!!)

Anyway, it was certainly a quieter, simpler time.  And despite the long hours and downright plain *hard work* of raising two busy, active children and keeping up with a home and all of life's other responsibilities, I can remember so clearly how much I LOVED those days. They were indeed charming, magical days.  Both children were at such sweet ages... delightful, funny, and oh-so-innocent. 

There was a popular Billy Joel song out at that time called "This is the Time" (from his 1986 "The Bridge" album)... and part of it went like this:

This is the time to remember,
'Cause it will not last forever,
These are the days to hold onto,
'Cause we won't although we'll want to.
This is the time
The time is gonna change...

I always thought of our children when I'd hear that song.  I was well aware that those days then were indeed precious and fleeting, and I tried hard every day to appreciate the wonder and the joy of what I had. 

(You can hear the song here:   THIS IS THE TIME )

Cute PS:  There's another part of that song that says, "So stay with me, baby, I got plans for you..."  And I used to sing that to my daughter when she was very small, and when I got to that part, she would INEVITABLY look at me with a furrowed little brow and little jutted-out chin and say, "Got no plans for me!"   In our family we still quote her to this day!

******
Tomorrow: A photo of me taken recently.  And I'll give you a hint... there's someone else who's VERY, VERY CUTE in the picture with me!

Day # 7 (A Favorite Photo)

(NOTE:  This is Day # 7 of my 30-day "Blog Challenge"... 
see post of August 31 for details!)

A FAVORITE PHOTO...

There is such a cute story behind this picture.

Our daughter, Kendra, was 2, and in "in training" (potty training, that is!)    She has always had a bladder that we tease her must only be the size of a thimble, so during potty training, it was not unusual for her to wake up 3 or 4 times a night and call out to us, "Mooooooooommy!  Daaaaaaaaaaaaaddy!  I gotza go POTTY!" 

She wouldn't go alone (monsters, you know), so we would take turns getting up with her and accompanying her to the bathroom.  This one particular 2 a.m. was my husband's turn.  He got out of bed, sleepily calling to her, "Coming!" while I proceeded to roll over and go back to sleep.  I woke up about an hour later and noticed that he wasn't back in bed yet.  The clock now said 3 a.m.  I was perplexed and wondered what happened to him.  So I got up and stumbled to the bathroom, and this is what I saw!  I said to my sleeping daughter's still-patiently-waiting daddy, "Um, do you know she is asleep?!"  His groggy answer, "No, really?"   Yes --  really!!!

And do you believe that the camera was right there on the hamper, and I even had enough wherewithal (in my sleepy haze) to actually snap a picture --  and I am so glad I did, because I just LOVE this picture and the sweet memory behind it.

My Heart Belongs To Daddy!

Our darling daughter has always been a Daddy's girl -- through and through. And it's a mutual arrangement, I assure you -- he's pretty smitten with her, too! For most of her growing-up years, she proudly displayed a pillow on her bed that said, "My heart belongs to Daddy."

She's all grown up now and quite happily married, but she still likes to (frequently) get her dad's input and advice.

Today, she and her husband, and a friend and I were in the car. They were talking about remodeling their bathroom and my son-in-law stated his preference for a one-piece tub and shower surround. My daughter said, "No... my dad doesn't think that's the best idea."

My quick-witted son-in-law turned to his friend and said matter-of-factly, "I could tell her that her pants were on fire and she'd have to check with her dad first!"