Slowly But Surely

Well, a quick progress report on my project list: I"m getting there. Slowly. But it's happening. Since that blog post, I have finished the 2010 slide show, and finsihed reading the book I got for Christmas. So, two things done!!! But, I've been rather busy since Saturday, and haven't had a ton of time to work on them. However, tomorrow I will start again!

Also, just to fill this post up a tad more, I found some time last week to make Apple Cinnamon Bagels......and let me say, they were AMAZING! I seriously did not expect them to turn out as well as they did, because I meshed together two different recipes and my own ideas to create these:

Yummm!!!! It's a pretty awesome thing to be able to experiment in the kitchen and actually have the product turn out well! On that note, the recipe:

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
* 1 small apple, finally chopped
* Cinnamon

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 - this is important; make sure you actually knead it for this long). Cover, let rest for 15 minutes.
3) Knead in the cinnamon and apples. The dough will be kind of sticky now, and not all the apple will stay in the dough. Just leave the extra apple pieces on the counter.
4) Cut into 12 (I might have done 10....depends on what size you want) portions. Here is where you can mix some more apples into each individual ball. You will probably need some flour on the counter for this: Roll each ball into a "snake" slightly longer than the width of your hands together. Join the ends of the snake and squish them together well. Put them on a cookie sheet (again, some flour on here will help). Cover, let rise 20 minutes.
5) Meanwhile, start a gallon of water boiling. Put 1 tablespoon of sugar in it, mix it around a bit. Reduce to simmering.
6) 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, brush the tops with beaten egg and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes.

 Enjoy!!!!