Bagel Making

Neil and I both love to cook and after I posted the pic of the everything bagel the other day Neil suggested we have a go last night.

We used a variation on the recipe I linked previous which you can see in it's altered form below as there were a few things that we didn't have in the cupboard.  This recipe makes 6 bagels and if you can get through them as quickly as us, I would recommend doubling up!

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1/4 ounce active dry yeast (1/4 oz package envelope)
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups plain flour, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Nob of butter, melted
Toasted chopped onion & 3 garlic cloves

Directions:
Prep Time: 2 1/2 hrs
Total Time: 3 1/4 hrs

1. Combine the warm water, yeast, and the 1.5 Tablespoons of granulated sugar in a mixer with a dough hook. Let stand 5 minutes until the yeast activates and the mixture becomes foamy.

2. Gradually add 2 cups of the flour and the salt and mix with dough hook until combined.

3. Slowly add the additional 1/2 cup flour while working with your hands. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and continue to knead until smooth and no longer sticky (add up to 1/2 cup more flour if necessary).

4 Grease a large bowl with 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil and roll the dough ball to cover all sides. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for about an hour (or until almost double in size).

5. After an hour, punch the dough down and divide into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 6" log and combine the ends with a little moisture (make sure they are joined or you will end up with cresents).

6. Place the bagels on a greased baking sheet, cover, and let rise again for 20 to 30 minutes (no longer).

7. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

8. Bring a large pot of water, flavored with the 1.5 teaspoon of sugar, to a boil. Drop the bagels into the water and boil for aprox 30 seconds on each side.

9. Upon removal from the boiling water, place the bagels onto an oiled baking sheet. Place into a preheated 200 degree Celsius oven.

10. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove and brush with an egg yolk. Top with desired toppings and put back into the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn oven down to 135 degrees Celsius. Remove when golden brown and hollow sounding.

11. Cool on a wire rack or if like us gobble immediately.

Boiling the bagels

Preparing for the first bake

Buttering them up before the final bake

Baking nicely in the oven

Boho summer style

Today I'm drooling over...

• Dress from ModCloth
• Fossil Glasses from TK Maxx
• Scarf from TK Maxx
• Rocket Dog shoes from Tk Maxx

To do: felt roof

So, over the last few days I've had some time to do a few odd jobs around the house but there are still so many to do.

The biggest job we have to do is repairing the felt roof on our downstairs bathroom.  We were lucky enough to get some felt roof stuff off Freecycle but I'm waiting for a time when Neil isn't revising so we can do it together.  The repair has needed to be done since we first bought the house last year, it was brought up on our house survey as you can see it's tatty from the window of the back bedroom.  Amazingly, there aren't any signs of a visible leak inside the bathroom but it's definitely looking a little worse for wear externally!

I think the main difficulty when doing the roof is going to be the awkwardness of where it's situated.  The toilet is the same length of the garden and creates the dividing wall between our garden and next doors.  So there will be some very interesting ladder balancing and I fear another situation where I'll be sitting on a very precarious roof. (I've previously repaired my mums shed on numerous occasions (none of which seemed to stop the leak).  Maybe this time I'll create a leak by getting involved... I sure hope not!

Thankfully I've found a few places to help with develop my skills -

• DIY-extra
• DIYdata
• B&Q video

We're missing New York

So we took Neils parents to Bodean's in Clapham:

Pulled pork? Yes Please! Key Lime Pie for dessert? Of course!

I am craving!

An everything bagel from NYC! (Maybe I'll give this a go!)

Upcycled pine TV stand - Before and After

Ever since Neil and I were first gifted a pine TV stand when my dad arrived with a van load of belongings from his cow shed, I've been meaning to sand and whitewash it.  This was in the hope of making it look less like a hand me down and more like a priceless style icon (haha). But as procrastination hit new levels on Tuesday afternoon I decided to go for it, threw everything neatly placed upon it, onto the floor and carted it out to the garden for a re-vamp.

At first I thought it would take all afternoon to sand it down but then I got the paint out and thought after all the sanding, mixing up paint would be like the silver lining of furniture decoration!

So here we are ready to begin - TV stand in sight, Neil's Christmas present sander in hand.

And we were off, hand juddering away as we stripped what felt like 10 layers of varnish! (With sunglasses on to protect my eyes from the dust)

I think in total all of the sanding took about an hour on and off.  It was really difficult to do all the edges and the inside of the shelves.  Therefore on the protruding surfaces I sanded diligently, but I have to admit I didn't work so hard to do the internal bits (praying the paint would just cover anyway...)

 So once I was at this stage it was time to mix up the paint.  I have to admit that I am very lucky to have stumbled across exactly what I was looking for by chance, in an amazing shop on our honeymoon, The Brooklyn General Store.  They sell the gorgeous Old Fashioned Milk Paint and we decided to go for Oyster White and got enough  to use on both the tv cabinet and a pine sideboard we also want to recreate.  Here I am mixing it up. It says to add water and powder in equal parts but when I started to apply it I realised it was far too thick so just added some more water to get the washed effect I was after.

Once mixed it was really easy to apply and even covered the parts I hadn't sanded down very well. But it was clear that it was drying quicker and with a nicer finish to the bits I took more time on.  So, where I only needed one coat on the top and sides I needed two on the insides.

And here we are with the finished product, awaiting a slight retouch which I've just done today. (Needed to get it in place to surprise Neil when he got home from work so please ignore the messiness!)

And to top it all off, Gemma even fit in some sun bathing!

Ginger Bisquite Etsy shop goes live!

It was my friend who writes for The Ruckuss' birthday last week.  Knowing that she likes anything moustache related I thought I'd finish off her handmade photo frame with a moustache gift tag.

However, fate was against us, first Neil and I left the present on the last carriage of the our train as we arrived at Charing Cross.  Then, after Neil managed to run to the end of the track and back and pick it up before the train left, the tag fell off as he made his way back. Doh!

That said it got me thinking that it might be something other people would like and here we are selling tags on Etsy!

There will be more to come and you'll be able to find anything I make here.