Weekend Baker: Homemade Bagels

Okay, so I love baked goods. Breads, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, all of the above! I'm not a huge baker, because my sixteen-year-old son and ten-year-old daughter have taken over the cookie-making on Sundays.

But a few weeks ago, we decided to make something out of the ordinary. My husband is the real baker in the family, having done artisan breads and such. But we worked together as a team to make these delicious, simple homemade bagels. I mixed the dough and he did everything else, but that's still teamwork, right?

The best part of these is their somewhat crunchy outside combined with their delicious, chewy inside. The trick is boiling them first. I wish it were the weekend so I could bake up another batch of these beauties! And the best part? I had everything in my pantry, and I bet you do too!

Bagels:

2 tsp. dry yeast
1 1/2 T. sugar
1 1/4 c. water
3 1/2 c. flour, plus extra for kneading
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
1. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar into 1/2 c. water. Leave for 5 minutes; stir to dissolve. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in the dissolved yeast.

2. Pour in half of the remaining water and mix. Stir in the rest of the water, as needed to form a firm, moist dough.

3. Turn the dough onto a well floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Work in extra flour -- this dough should be firm and stiff.

4. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a dish towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about an hour. Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes.

5. Cut the dough into eight equal pieces. Shape into a ball, and make a ring by inserting your finger through the center and working the dough until the hole is about 1/3 of the bagel's diameter. (You can see ours aren't like this. They don't have to be perfect!)

6. Place the bagels on a lightly oiled baking sheet and cover. Let rest for 10 minutes. (Dough resting is important! Don't skip this step. It's a weekend recipe!)

7. Bring a large pan of water to a boil, then reduce heat to keep the water at a simmer. Carefully lower the bagels into the water in batches of 2 or 3. Boil, uncovered, until the bagels rise to the surface, about 1 minute. Turn them once.

8. Transfer the drained bagels to a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake* at 425 for 20 minutes, until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

*You can use steam in the oven if you'd like. Put a pan of ice cubes in the oven as it preheats, and put the bagels in before the ice has all melted. When the cubes have all melted, remove the pan. You can also use a sprayer. After the oven is at temperature and you've put in the bagels, mist the sides of the oven 8-10 times. Close the oven quickly. Repeat after 2 minutes, and again after 2 more. Be careful not to spray the oven light, heating coils, or oven fan.

Enjoy!

A Busy Mom's Weekday Dinner

Okay, so I work outside the home. And with a busy sixteen-year-old son, and a ten-year-old daughter who dances competitively, I need to get dinner on the table, fast. I like to cook, don't get me wrong, but for a weekday dinner, I want something that takes me less than 30 minutes in the kitchen. And the fewer the ingredients, the better.

Many of you know I lost 60 pounds last year. That would've been impossible eating bland, flavorless food. So here's a recipe I grew up with that packs in the flavor, but not the calories.

Soy Sprite Chicken -- BONUS! This recipe only have 4 ingredients, and one of those is the chicken! I should get, like, an award or something like that.

 I get home from teaching about 2:15. I whip up this marinade and get it going then. I try to have dinner on the table about 5:00 - 5:30, so it's a quick marinade that doesn't take hours or overnight, though you certainly could do that.

If you follow my life saga (and it's a saga!) on Facebook, you'll see why I recommend this next step. I mean, no one wants a huge, oily, soyly mess in their kitchen, right?

So use a tupperware or bowl, and use your friend, the ziplock bag. It maximizes coverage.

After a few hours in the fridge, you're ready to grill! I am a habitual over-cooker of poultry! I've never been able to get it right. So I started timing, and then taking the meat off even when I think it's not done. And you know what? It usually is done!

Since I'm a take-all-the-help-I-can-get-from-the-grocery-store type of cook, I whip out my bagged salad to go with this. I actually get angry if I have to eat salad for every meal when I'm dieting, but this chicken is so good, I don't mind it here. And there are a ton of different bagged salad choices now to also up the flavor. (Bonus: this one has my favorite food: BACON!!)

I always add extra croutons! They're pretty much the only bread I get, and yeah. Bring on the croutons!

You can simply slice this and eat it with your salad on the side, or put it ON your salad for a whole new meal! 

Enjoy!

Soy Sprite Chicken:
2 chicken breasts, pounded to uniform thickness, all fat trimmed
1/2 c. Sprite (can use Sprite Zero, or Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew)
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. soy sauce

1. Measure the ingredients -- and let the kids help! My daughter makes this marinade while I trim and pound the chicken. Nothing better than cooking with kids!

2. Put the chicken in a ziplock bag, and put the bag inside the bowl or tupperware. DO THIS FIRST, so you don't end up like me with marinade all over your floor, and boots, and yeah.

3. Pour the marinade into the bag, which is securely held in the bowl. Again, kids can do this.

4. Squeeze out all the air, zip tight, and put chicken + marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours.

5. Heat the grill on high -- until it reaches about 400 degrees.

6. Grill chicken on the first side for 5 minutes. Flip. Grill for another 3 minutes, depending on thickness. Discard extra marinade.

7. Remove to plate and let sit for a few minutes while you open your salad and add those extra croutons! You can also add anything else you want, it just requires chopping. Some nights I feel like tomatoes, and some nights I don't.

8. Enjoy!

Dietary Information: I count calories, so that's what I'm looking at here. I don't know about fat and protein and stuff. But I'm sure I could Google it...
1/2 chicken breast: 250
Salad -- read package nutritional information.

I'm looking at a quick, easy, delicious weekday meal that's under 500 calories and done in less than 20 minutes. How much easier can it get? 

What's your favorite, quick, weekday meal? I might need to steal it from you.

What Defines Success?

This can go anywhere, don't you think? Are you dying to see where I'm going with this? Ha ha! I bet you are. *snarf*

Success: the achievement of something desired, planned or attempted.

That's a pretty good definition.

So in publishing what defines success?

Getting an agent?

A book deal?

Making the NYT bestseller list?

Where do you aim? Some of my best friends, Suzette and Bethany, have this on their blog. It inspires me greatly.

"Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal." ~Pamela Vaull Starr

So combining my life and writing worlds together, this is how I define success:

• Not eating that girl scout cookie. Okay, not eating the whole box.
• Writing THE END. Finally.
• Reading good books. Lotsa good books.
• Curling up with a blanket and the DVR.
• Walking in the park. With sun, please.
• Feeding the ducks. Even with all the crazy-quacking and my heart pounding with the fear that I'm going to have to kick them off my kid and wondering how bad it might hurt to be bitten by a freaking duck.
• Arriving on time.
• Signing that agency contract.
• Reading amazing blogs.
• Emailing good friends for epic lunch dates.
• Phone conversations with my DH on the way home.
• Saying "I love you" and meaning it.
• Saying "I'm sorry" and meaning it.
• Not answering the phone when I don't recognize the number. Or even when I do.
• Listening to my favorite song (Nothing from Chorus Line) on Pandora. And then turning it up real loud.
• Hearing someone playing the piano in my house.
• Meeting authors.
• Merely walking through Barnes & Noble, with that smell of pages and pages of wonder.
• Sharing this blog with all of you.

And yes, getting that book deal. Landing that agent. Running my fingers over my name on the cover of my book.

Do you think there's an end to success? And you tell me: In your world, what defines success?

Life As We Know It, Is Over

Now that it's fall, my regular life is over. I am now morphing into my I'm-smiling-but-I-wish-this-game-had-ended-an-hour-ago self.

I have a love/hate relationship with fall. Here's why:

Love:
The weather
The fall foliage (ooh, nice word choice!)

Hate:
School starting
How early it gets dark
How my whole life is interrupted by college football.

See, I live with a fan. That's not even strong enough for what my DH is. He should've been born in like, Texas or something. I think he sweats footballs. Or face paint. Thus, every weekend, our house is overrun with rabid football fans. Hungry men. Shouting fanatics. Complete depression if "we" lose.

And you know what? I love it.

That's why I have a love/hate relationship with fall--and why I have my own version of the "game face."

How are your relationships? Do they make as much sense as mine? Yeah, probably not. Have a great weekend!

B.L.O.G - What Does It Stand For?

So my boy kidlet and I were chatting the other night. We were talking about my blog (which he and my DH don't understand, like at all). He said, "What does blog stand for anyway?"

I'm thinking, Hmm...

So he goes, "Biological... (cuz, that's really logical. But I guess that's where an 11-year-old mind goes.)...League... (who doesn't need a league? I've always wanted to be in a league. Like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Except I'm not a man. But you get the idea.)...Of... ... ... ... Goons."

Commence hyena laughing.

That is all.

(BTW, he was totally offended when I typed this post and called him a kidlet. He prefers "tween" just FYI.)

(BTW x 2: He said, "NO. Mature tween." Pshaw. And humph. You should see his room. Mature? I think not.)

(BTW x 3: He was next to me during the writing of this post. He is a fan-freaking-tastic kid. He is not offended I said his room was a mess. He knows it is.)

(BTW x 4: What do you think blog stands for?)

In It To Win It

Last week, I pondered on the worth of writing. So many of you shared your feelings with me, and that led to some personal thinkage time.

This is what I came up with: Are you in it to win it?

I rarely do anything I don't plan on succeeding (winning) in. That's a weird sentence. Anyway, since I love word math:

Elana = competitive

Elana = driven

Elana = willing to learn

Competitive + Driven + Willing to Learn = In It To Win It

So by the transitive property (yes, I majored in math in college, in fact, I have a math minor), Elana = In It To Win It

The reason I thought of all this is that my son was playing soccer last week. He's a great kid, really. But he did a lot of standing around. Now, those of you who've met me in real life wouldn't think that I could run. But I can. If there are dogs behind me.

But back when I was younger, I played competitive soccer. I was the defensive sweeper, which means I had to run. A lot. Maybe that's why I hate running now. Anyway, my son was doing some standing around, and we were talking about it at home.

And my DH said, "Mom's a hard worker. You wouldn't see her standing around on the field."

He was right. Because when I do something, I do it. In fact, when my husband and I were first engaged (man, today is personal story day! You like it. You know you do), we were playing basketball with his brothers. That's right. Me. With his three brothers. I'm sure you can imagine all kinds of scenarios for how this might end.

Me = competitve.

Me = playing with four grown men.

Me = cracked skull.

In fact, it was a piece of my eyebrow bone that was chipped off. I can still feel it under my skin. No joke. Not only that, but it was my fiancee that elbowed me in the face! And yes, I still married him.

And now I can't remember why I was telling you that story. Oh! When I do something, I do it. Including playing basketball to the death (if need be). Or soccer. Or crafting. Or teaching. Or driving fast.

When I do something, I do it.

So it is with this writing and publishing journey. I can't help it. It's in my genes. Yeah, I'm blaming the 'rents for this competitive streak that somehow keeps me going down in this winding road toward publication.

What about you? Are you in it to win it? Whatever "it" may be.

The Funniest Story Ev. Er.

Okay, so I went out of town last week. That's not the funny part. No, really, stick with me and you'll be horse laughing for days. Well, I was, and I realize that not everyone laughs as much as I do. I do the hyena thing. Seriously. It's not pretty. Well, sometimes...okay, on to the story.

It's my mom. So I was staying with her before my freezing cold jaunt where-I-almost-died-it-was-so-freezing-cold to Yellowstone National Park.

She paints gourds. Don't know what that is? It's basically like this. It's pretty cool; my mom is talented.

And, uh...funny.

So she collects stuff to use in decorating said gourds. Feathers. Pine needles. Even deer antlers. No, I'm not to the funny part yet.

One of the things she uses is porcupine quills. She has bought them on e-bay before. I guess that just shows that you really can buy anything on e-bay.

Anyway, so we're standing in her studio and she's showing me some of her pieces. And she gets out this Altoids tin and opens and proceeds to tell me that she has obtained these porcupine quills and they are au natural. Like she plucked them from the dead carcass of a porcupine herself.

Yup, you read that right. Go ahead. Read it again if you need to. There is the word "carcass" in there.

Now, you might think this sad fellow had perished in the wilderness near her home. Um, not so much. More like it was ran over.

That's right, folks. My dear mother plucked porcupine quills from road kill!

I could not stop laughing.

And it gets better. She didn't just do this once. Oh, no. She got home and "sterilized" the quills she'd taken from the desecrated corpse. I don't know what all that entails, but I could see like, follicles on the tips. Sterilized? I think not.

Anyway, so the second day, she's putzing around her art studio, and she can't stop thinking about the dead porcupine. So she goes back and gets some more quills!

She's insane. And my dad, dear soul that he is, stood guard for her on the highway so she could pluck more quills from the beast! She said it really stunk the second day.

Um, ya think?

By this time, I was doubled over in laughter. She didn't help matters when she shook the Altoids tin with the non-sterilzed quills in it and said, "This is like, $50 worth of quills!" like it's crack or something and she's really saved a lot by kneeling next to road kill with a pair of tweezers and leather gloves.

I'm still laughing as I type this. My mom is crazy. Love her, but yeah.

So seriously, someone somewhere has to work this quirk into a book. Like the crazy cat lady, my mom is the crazy gourd lady and she plucks quills from dead animals on the side of the road. I think I've said I use real people and my observations of real life in my writing. Yeah, I have. Click here if you're so inclined.

What real life situations or stories have you managed to work into a novel? Character quirks? Anything really. Maybe you just have a funny story you wanna share. I need another good laugh.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So today is the last day to wrap up the things I'm thankful for. In case you missed it, I ran out of things yesterday. So I put out a lame post asking you what you were thankful for.

I was trying to stay away from the sappy stuff, but here goes. It is Thanksgiving Day after all. I am most thankful for my family. Here are my kiddos on Halloween. You'd think that a 10-year-old and a 3-year-old wouldn't fight so much. You'd be wrong.

But I love 'em anyway. And if you can tell what my daughter is, you should get a prize. I have no prizes, but that would be awesome if I did.

I am thankful for my health. I believe I gave a rather detailed and disgusting post about a recent sickness here. I'm glad I don't exist like that every day.

I am thankful to be alive. I try to have a nature moment every single day. Something that reminds me that I'm not alone in this world, that there are things worth living for, and that it's acutally wonderful to be alive. There is so much despair in our world, that it's easy to lose sight of the joy of living. I hope I never lose that.

11 Minutes Until Writing Time

Status of my Life: I've spent the last week out of town, borrowing bandwidth from neighbors, and then in a lodge in Park City on a family reunion. It's a good thing everyone goes to bed early around here. I still get my late-night writing (ahem, Internet-surfing) time. I'm down to ten minutes until it's time to write. Yikes!


Okay, so I had fun with the blog chain. It was exciting to read what other people had to say about their writing methods. I was totally justified by downloading that last iTunes song because of Leah's post. Thank you! Distractions do work.

I'm glad I've still been getting my writing time. Yesterday I wrote 1300 words between 11 and midnight. And then I got up and made breakfast for 30 people and went on a hike that had sweat dripping down my back well after I returned. So not fun. Hiking and Elana don't usually go in the same sentence, just so you know. Neither do Heights and Elana, but there I was, riding the chair lift to the bottom of the mountain. *sigh*

I've been reading a manuscript for a guy in my crit group. (Here's lookin' at you, Jeff!) It's wonderful! Sometimes I wonder if my stories will ever be as good as some that I read. Published ones as well as unpublished ones. I'm hoping they will be, and that someone will think they are too. I guess I'll never know unless I keep trying.

Dang, only six minutes left. I still have a couple blogs to check, a link to find for this post, and I need a drink. So...later!

Reading: MAXIMUM RIDE: SCHOOL'S OUT--FOREVER by James Patterson