I attempted for the first time to make bagels from scratch. I love a good bagel and cream cheese and have been craving them lately. Was it worth two hours and all the work? You bet. They don't look great, but they taste like a real genuine bagel from a bakery (not Lenders frozen kind). We thawed out our cream cheese and have eaten them for breakfast every day. (we have enough for four more days). Just fyi, When you freeze cream cheese and then thaw it it is very crumbly and must be mixed really well to regain its smoother texture. I ran into a few snags that probably had to do with baking in a toaster oven and a dark pan. The Bagels stuck and didn't seem to be getting real done, but I made some adjustments and overall super yummy!
David allowed me to spoil myself a little with a joint Christmas/ birthday gift and order some things from pampered chef. Everything arrived (thanks Cokers) two days ago, and I LOVE it and have already used many things. One of which was a big deep dish stone, which fits perfect in our 'oven' which is really a large toaster oven. I then made a Chicken Brocolli Braid (a pampered chef recipe altered by K and given to me, thanks again). It turned out really well and the stone did its magic. No burning!
here's our oven.
