Mornings In Our Home

Mornings.  We don't really like mornings around here. 
Mornings = obnoxious alarm clocks
Mornings = the end of sleep
Mornings = exercise (which we actually really like.  We just don't like waking up for it) :)

Lester and I respond to mornings differently.  99.9% of the time I am the first one up.  Waking Lester up in the morning is like trying to raise the dead.  He sleeps hard; but once he is finally up, he is ready to go.  Me?  I may wake up first, but it still takes me an hour or so to comprehend and start interacting with the world around me.

This is where breakfast comes in.  I need breakfast.  It helps me to wake up and gives me the energy I need to start my day.  Plus, I almost always wake up hungry.  Lester hardly ever eats breakfast.  He can easily go until lunch without eating anything.  Combine Lester's lack of need for breakfast with my zombie morning state of mind and breakfasts around here aren't a big deal.  They need to be fast and simple - something that we (or, I) can eat on the go, since we are usually rushing out the door from waking up too late ;) 

Bagels are our favorite breakfast food.  They come in a variety of flavors and are a quick way for us to get in the most important meal of the day.  Recently, I've started making my own bagels.  It is cheaper for us than buying from bagel shops or grocery stores, and they taste much fresher.  Making your own bagels is not a hard process.  It does take a little bit of rising time, but you can get other responsibilities done while you wait.  Yesterday, I worked on loads and loads of laundry while I waited. :)  Let me share with you how it's done!

Bagel Recipe

adapted from http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/breads/plain-bagels/

  

Ingredients

2/3 cup warm water

1 1/2 tsp sugar                                

1 1/2 tsp yeast

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

3/4 tsp salt

In the bottom of your mixer bowl, combine the water, sugar, and yeast and let the yeast develop for about 5 minutes. Add in flour, vegetable oil, and salt and mix with a dough hook (or by hand) until the dough is elastic and tough. You may need to add in a bit of extra water (I added slightly less than 1/3 cup), but do it little by little. Let the dough sit and rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead. Cut into 6 equal pieces. Roll each individual piece into a “snake” long enough to wrap around your palm. Dip each end of the dough in water and press together in your palm, forming a circle. Place the formed bagels on a floured board and allow to rise another 30 minutes. 

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pot. When the water is gently boiling, place 2-3 bagels into the water for 1 minute and then flip to boil on the other side for another minute. Remove the bagels, place them on paper towels to take off excess moisture, then place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining bagels. Bake in the oven on 425ºF for 18 minutes, turning them over after 10 minutes. Enjoy! 

Variation: Brush hot bagels with melted butter and coat in cinnamon sugar mixture to create a crunchy cinnamon crust.