Guest Blog! Baking Bagels for Busy Women (revised with yet another bagel baker/assistants!)

Elizabethanne took me right up on the Bagel Challenge and shares her report...

Assemble your ingredients and remove any rings:


Hire good help:


Make the dough by hand. It is an excellent upper body workout and allows one to work out the frustrations of the day. It looks like this after rising:


Make it into long things that some people call "snakes," but I can't call them that because a friend of mine told me that he has snakes getting into his Moab condo and hanging out in the guest bathroom and I would just as soon forget that he ever told me that. About the condo? I told him, "Sell it!"


Then I tried this cool move to attach the two ends together. I found it on YouTube:


While they rise, go get warmed up on your bike on the indoor trainer. Watch something motivational, like ski racing.


After rising, boil the bagels. Warning: They get REALLY big:


They have to boil for seven minutes, so you have time to train dogs. Work on some freestyle moves:


Put in the second batch to boil. Do a little herding practice. (Away to me!)


Put the ginormous boiled bagels on the cornmealed pan and put them in the oven. Note: I put cornmeal on the shopping list and Greg came back with "coarse" cornmeal. Manly cornmeal! I did not know there was more than one kind. Definitely use a fine ground corn meal. Otherwise, it's a lot like little rocks on the bottom of your bagel until you scrape them off into the sink with a knife.


Go ride your bike for a 30-minute steady state interval. Sweat profusely. Remember, the harder you ride, the more bagels you can eat!

Remove bagels from the oven and arrange them artfully on a plate, inspired by the last 30 minutes of cycling while watching the Food Network. Oooooh! Pretty!!!!


Serve with some green tea and a veggie omelet. Full disclosure, I did not make the omelet.


The bagels were delicious! So much better than the ones you can buy in Utah, and the cinnamon and raisins were a nice addition. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

With much appreciation from:


Mary-Ann again: Once I stopped laughing, I realized that I was suddenly VERY hungry for bagels!! Guess what I will be serving at my American Idol party this week? Well, only one person besides me comes so it is not exactly a party -- but I will be making and serving bagels, and now that you know that maybe we will have a crowd!!

Thanks, Elizabethanne! Not only is she Ace Puppy Namer, but I am sure you will agree that she is one clever baker!

Sunday Morning Addition!!!!

My goodness! We have started something! Just got these photos from my daughter, Nicole, who was inspired by the Poodle Bakery and made her own bagels -- she reports that they are "delicious and huge!"



She also shares a photo of her baking assistants -- looks like Noah has a new gig :)


Okay, who is next??? Send me your pictures and review :)