Done Since 2022-08-14

Crazy and chaotic week, and mostly not in a good way. Family health problems (not me), as a result of which I've spent most of the week up on Whidbey Island with the cats. Which is actually not a bad place for me right now. And I've been Getting Things Done, at least a little. I don't know why, five years after moving to Whidbey and 13 months after Colleen's death, I am finally finding the (energy? motivation? ????) to get some things re-started, but...

So over the last couple of weeks I've finally started making progress on the weeds (which I should have done four years ago), shelving both here and in Seattle, and triage (mainly in Colleen's leftover clothing). Almost all of the latter (three 13ga bags worth so far) is headed for donation; only a few things are so worn that they can't be donated (although I suspect that most will get tossed anyway). It helps that E and c have already picked over the clothing (E only), fabric, and cookbooks. It still isn't enough.

It doesn't help that I keep running across things in the closet that I really have no use or space for, but are so "Colleen" that I don't know what to do with them. Clothes. Hats. Stuffies. Unfinished sewing and needlepoint projects. Later, maybe? I don't know -- this is the "later" I was putting things off to a year ago. And four years ago. And ten years ago.

Have I mentioned low self-esteem lately? Have I mentioned my unfinished projects? Have I mentioned regrets? Being up here by myself is good for me, but that doesn't mean that it feels good to be me. Yeah, I know: grieving and recovering from burnout. Where should one draw the line between self-compassion and whinging?

Maybe I'll get to some of those questions later this week. See above about "later".

( Notes & links, as usual )

Recipe: bagels

The Whidbey Island Bagel Factory's Clinton location isn't selling retail anymore (due to lack of staff). And they've been on reduced hours for months until then. As a result, I haven't had bagels and lox in months. I'd been hoping to find them at the grocery store next door, which was supposed to have them, but no luck. So rather than waste two hours driving to Oak Harbor and back for bagels, I decided to make some myself.

The recipe is derived from Real Homemade Bagels Recipe | Allrecipes, with a few obvious mods:

1. I started with a sponge, in part to make kneading easier in the absence of a stand mixer.
2. Rather than dump all the (remaining) flour in at once, I saved the last half-cup to knead in. It may still have ended up a little under-kneaded.

So here you go:

sponge:
    1.25c _warm_ water
    3tbsp white sugar
    1tbsp instant yeast
    0.5c  bread flour
    * Stir water, sugar, and yeast together in a mixing bowl.  Verify that
      the yeast is alive, healthy, and blowing bubbles.  Add flour.  Stir.
    * cover with a towel and  allow the sponge to rise for 20m.
Then add:
    1tsp  salt
    2tbsp vegetable oil
    3.5c  bread flour.
    * stir in the bowl (I don't have a stand mixer) until it becomes
      stiff and not sticking; then
    * turn onto a floured work surface and knead, adding flour as neeeded,
      until the dough bounces back when you poke it.
    * Return to the bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise 2 hours.
Forming:
    * Punch down.  Turn out onto a floured work surface and divide into 6ths.
    * Roll each blob into a cylinder, then join the ends to shape into a torus.
    * Let rest 15min while bringing a large pot of water to a boil.
Boiling
    4qt water.
    1c  honey or malt syrup (optional. I just scraped the bottom of a jar of honey)
    * Bring water and sweetener to a boil; preheat oven to 425° F
    * boil 3 bagels at a time, until they float -- 30s - 1m/side.
    * prepare plates of toppings -- I used sea salt and sesame seeds
Baking
    * Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, or spread with cornmeal
      (which I would have done if I'd been able to find any)
    * Dip bagels in toppings while wet
    * Bake until brown, ~55-20m.

Note: the original recipe said to preheat the oven to 400 and bake for 35-40 minutes. Othere say to pre-heat the oven to 475 and bake for 15-20m. I decided to use 425; I checked at 15 minutes and they were done. The idea of baking on a piece of parchment paper at over 451° Fahrenheit seemed like it was asking for trouble.

I think the last time I baked anything other than cookies must have been several decades ago.