Delicious bagels

These bagels are just about the best I've had (even better than those we got in NY where they can get away with selling any bagel as "the best New York bagels). Perfectly soft and moist on the inside, with the hard glossy outside making for the best bite!

My bagels didn't necessarily rise to ideal height, I think I may have over molded them during the tossing process.

Maybe this tip left by a reviewer on the recipe could help: "I let the yeast rest with the salt and sugar in the hot water for a few moments before adding it to the other dry ingredients - years of making dough has taught me this is the way I get them to rise better."

Ingredients

• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions

1. In large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour and yeast. Mix water, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt together, and add to the dry ingredients. Beat with a mixer for half a minute at a low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl clean. Beat at a higher speed for 3 minutes. Then, by hand, mix in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough.
2. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Cover, let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Cut into 12 portions, shape into smooth balls. Poke a hole in the center with your finger, and gently enlarge the hole while working the bagel into a uniform shape. Cover, let rise 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, start a gallon of water boiling. Put 1 tablespoon of sugar in it, mix it around a bit. Reduce to simmering.
5. When the bagels are ready, put 4 or 5 bagels into the water, and cook 7 minutes, turning once. Drain them. Place on a greased baking sheet, and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven, eat hot or cold.
6. Broiling option: For a glossier surface, place raised bagels on an ungreased baking sheet prior to boiling them. Broil them five inches from heat for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes on each side. Then put them into the hot water to be boiled as above. Note: do not bake broiled bagels as long as non-broiled ones, 25 minutes should be long enough.

These yield about 7-9 large bagels, and 12 or more smaller bagels.

I added toppings: cinnamon and cloves, granola and brown sugar, poppyseed, jalapeno, there are so many options!

(the granola and brown sugar was DELICIOUS)

Do not fear these! They're so simple!

And Mom/Laura, we'll make them in a few days!

Squash infused vodka

I read about a cocktail using pumpkin infused vodka - a winter csa.  It looked tasty.  The vodka should be ready in two weeks!  In the meantime I'm looking for ginger syrup.

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/03/behind-the-bar-morris-kitchens-winter-csa.html

Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil [Spaghetti al Limone]

I found this on smitten kitchen this morning and think I will try it for supper tonite.  Empty larder.  Parsley in the garden.  Hoping I have lemons.  Probably skipping the cream.
Rach it should be cheap, too!

This is one of those recipes that are almost better off without one — every ingredient can be adjusted to taste and the technique is just tossing everything about. I consulted a bunch of recipes but ended up being lured in by Cook’s Illustrated’s January 2011 version, as it had so much less heavy cream and olive oil than the others and the threat of bathing suits was a mere 48 hours away! But, I ended up not using the recipe as more than an outline; I didn’t think shallots belonged in the dish, I wanted more lemon juice and I didn’t care for their resting technique — the cheese just glued itself to the pot and not the noodles when I did this — the “toss, toss, toss!” method I used in last year’s Cacio e Pepe does a better, quicker job.
1 pound spaghetti or linguine
Salt
3 lemons
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil , plus additional for serving
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup), plus additional for serving
Ground black pepper
Small handful fresh basil or arugula (what I used, deliciously, in a pinch) leaves, shredded
Cook linguine or spaghetti in well-salted water to your al dente tastes in a large, wide-bottomed pot. (You’ll have fewer dishes to wash if you use this pot to assemble the dish as well.)
While pasta is cooking, zest lemons until you have a little shy of a tablespoon of zest. Juice lemons — you’ll have anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 cup lemon juice.
Drain pasta, reserving 1 1/2 cups of pasta cooking water. Dry out your pot, then boil the olive oil, cream, zest and 1 cup of the reserved pasta water together for two minutes over high heat. Return pasta to pot and stir until coated. Add the cheese and 1/4 cup lemon juice and toss, toss, toss everything together. Add more pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, if you’d like your dish a little looser. Quickly taste a strand of pasta and see if you want to add the remaining lemon juice (we did). Stir in basil or arugula and season generously with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately, drizzling individual portions with a bit of extra olive oil and sprinkling with extra Parmesan. cheese.