Time to make the...bagels.

Earlier I said I would post pictures if I made some bagels. I DID make them...and the result was a very hot kitchen! And a couple more bagels to add to my stash for Brayden's birthday brunch coming up in a few weekends :-)

Meet my kitchen-aid mixer. As you can see, it is not new or fancy. As a matter of fact, this is old. It has spots on it that don't come off no matter how hard I scrub, and it is even heavier than the ones that you buy in the stores today. I love this kitchen-aid because it belonged to my great grandmother, and to know the woman is to love the woman. I think of her every time I use it, so there is an extra pinch of love in everything that it mixes. :-)

Here it is, mixing up the bagel dough...see it forming a nice little ball?

Dough made and kneaded...nice and smooth and round, ready to be divided. From this dough, I made 8 bagels...obviously, you can make more or less depending on their size.

Once the dough is divided into balls, you let it rise for a while...then you make the actual bagels and let them rise again. Here's what they look like before they rise...they definitely look homemade...but I think if you're hand rolling them, they should, right? They get a little bit better each time I make them :-) I'm thinking that this will be part of a home bakery's charm...things are clearly homemade...hmmm....don't you think? I mean...don't you hate when you buy cookies or cupcakes that are so perfect that you KNOW they were made on some machine and you have to wonder if human hands touched them?

Here they are...yep, in boiling water.

Post-boiling...ready for baking....

oooooh...can you smell them? They smell soooooo good! And they're just the plain ones...when cinnamon bagels are baking, I just want to dive in the oven with them! :-)

Finished Product...check 'em out! They're what we call "GBD"...golden brown and delicious!

YUM! Happy Friday night, everyone!