Weekend!

This weekend I'm going to Penn State to visit some friends and eat at a State College eatery: Irving's. They serve bagels and good coffee. It's like a Panera Bread but I don't think it's a chain and I don't hate myself as much by entering the place. They also have a nice venue to sit, eat, and read your paper. Down the street there's a hippie bookstore named Webster's which probably sells cookbooks on the cheap so I'm going to check that out and hopefully find some deals. They also serve tea and biscuits, but I primarily go for the tea.

Besides having a good football and academic program, Penn State is known for its creamery. People, this is where the magic happens: ice cream, milk shakes, milk, chocolate milk, and CREAM CHEESE. They offer different kinds of cheeses but since cream cheese pertains directly to bagels it had to be capitalized. I plan to bring some home on Sunday and enjoy with a fresh batch of bagels hopefully that night. I made dough yesterday and it's currently rising in the fridge. Hopefully it's not used over the weekend.

As for bagel experimentation, I think it's important to nail down a perfectly shaped bagel and reduce the doughiness flavor of our first batch. Doing this will require hard work and concentration... and probably following directions to a tee. Once our bagel fundamentals are set in place, I'm confident we can develop a good and original bagel.

Email Ted sent me after we tried to make bagels for the first time.

From: "Theodore Villacorta"

Date: September 17, 2008 8:42:12 AM EDT

To: "Sam Wachs"

I don't know why we didn't think of this but we should buy a cookbook.
--
Theodore Villacorta

First Batch

Well, the first batch is under our belts, and they definitely tasted like bagels. They're a little small, and a little doughy, but they're definitely bagel-esque. And edible. So, considering we went in with zero knowledge and took a couple of short cuts, I'm pretty happy with the results.

Some mistakes we made/shortcuts we took:

1) Due to a late start, we only let the dough rise for an hour instead of two.
2) After shaping the bagels, we boiled them after 10 minutes instead of letting them rise overnight.
3) I think we either boiled them too long or not long enough, leading to a very doughy product.
4) They were really small. Pizza Bagels small.*
5) We boiled multiple bagels simultaneously, a strict no-no according to wikihow.com

Another major problem: This batch tasted much better with butter and jam than cream cheese. My friend Jeff says that this is probably because they're a little too salty.

We did, however, divide the batch in half and let that other half rise overnight. This morning, I made the second half of the bagels, strictly adhering to the recipe. The results? About the same. Maybe one or two got to about 3/4 bagel size, but they were still doughy, small, but tasty.

Did I mention we took pictures? Also, for Ted: What should we be working on for the next batch?


Byeeeeeeee.


*At first, I was worried that this was because we didn't let the dough rise, resulting in a heavy product. Not the case. I had one of my bagels for breakfast this morning, and it was in no way filling. I think the recipe makes a smaller bagel.

MNF Football: Eagles vs. Dallas

First of all: E-A-G-L-E-S! I'm actually not a true eagles fan, but I like to be when it's convenient. Tonight is a big game so I'm down.

Anyways..

The first obstacle, at least for this week, is baking in one of our [parent's] kitchens. We can't bake in my house yet because it's newly renovated and the kitchen "stuff" isn't set up. It'll be sweet once it's filled with cool kitchenware.

To make bagels we need:

1. Flour
2. Yeast
3. Corn meal
4. Sugar
5. Sesame seeds or garlic chips

.. and a bunch of other food items that should be in any regular kitchen. I don't know why we need sesame seed or garlic chips because I wanted to start off plain. I'm guessing we need a large pot to boil the bagels and I think we throw it into the oven afterwards. It's weird because the recipe I looked up only uses an oven and doesn't mention the boiling.

Tonight I'm in the mood to make some bagels, but because of the Game, we're going to postpone the FIRST EVER BAGEL BAKE.

It's time to watch some football.

Cheers.

First Bagel Blog

Hello. The other week, Ted and I were talking, and we decided to open a bagel shop. Why? I think it's fair to say that we're both bagel enthusiasts and that both of us are distraught by our lack of bagel options in the greater Philadelphia area. Other people, we've reasoned, are probably on the same page as us. Basically, we think there's a good market for it.

Other than the cost of opening an eatery, here are our major obstacles: A) We don't know how to make bagels. B) I insist on selling homemade cream cheese. C) We don't know how to make cream cheese.

That's where this blog comes in. Ted had the idea to document our progress (or lack thereof), so until we're far enough along that an official website is in order, "Ted and Sam's Bagel Blog" will have to do. In addition to our semi-regular blog posts, we'll upload photos and videos of our attempts to master the art of bagel making.*

If you're reading this blog and you have a great bagel recipe or know of a great bagel place, please drop us a line. Do you have anything to add, Ted?

Byeeeeeeeeee.


*Did you know that you're supposed to boil them?! Me either.