It's Time to Make the Bagels!

Okay, forgive me for this self-indulgent trip down memory lane (those who grew up with Dunkin Donuts know the reference). Last week, we had two snow days, which left me with plenty of time to scheme what I would bring to our weekly brunch that we have with neighbors. I've conquered cinnamon rolls, gone down the fritata and quiche route before and made an amazing banana french toast. Hmmm. I wanted something satisfying. Something really not virtuous at all. I was stumped. Then, I browsed over to Smitten Kitchen. Where all of my good dieting and exercising intentions go straight to hell.

And I saw this. Homemade bagels. Time consuming, but exactly what I wanted to eat. It was on. I had nothing but time.

Homemade Bagels

Part 1- Make the Sponge:

1 tsp active, dry yeast (from a packet, reserve the other tsp.)

4 c. flour (I used all-purpose, because it was all I had and I wasn't about to go out in a blizzard to get bread flour)

2 1/2 c. warm, not hot water

Mix together the yeast and flour in a large bowl. Add the water and mix well. Our mixture was really thick, although the original recipe says it should be like pancake batter. It still rose well, so don't worry.

Cover with saran wrap and leave to rise for 2 hours. We left ours in the oven, since our kitchen is cold and drafty. Lucky us.

Part Two- Make the Dough:

1 tsp. active, dry yeast (reserved from original package)

3 c. flour

3 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. agave nectar, honey or brown sugar (original recipe calls for malt powder)

The dough should be well-risen (ours was just about doubled). Tap the bowl a few times on the countertop to deflate it. Transfer to the bowl of your stand mixer and fit your mixer with the dough hook. Add 1 tsp. yeast (reserved), 3 c. of flour, salt and malt powder (we used Agave nectar, which worked fine.) Stir until ingredients form a ball. The original recipe calls for an additional 3/4 c. of flour, but we didn't need it. Our dough was super stiff at this point.

Transfer to a floured counter top and knead until dough becomes really smooth and elastic. This takes some muscle so be prepared.  We kneaded for about 10 minutes.

Prepare your baking sheets. We used a total of four (4) half-sheet pans. Spray them with non-stick spray (Pam) and then top with a sheet of parchment.

Begin breaking off pieces of dough. It's best if you have a food scale so you can make sure they 're uniform in size and will bake evenly. We made our bagels 2.5 ounces each.

Roll into little balls and cover all of your dough with damp paper towel. Rest for 20 minutes (we again rested in the oven).

Part 3- Form the Bagels:

After 20 minutes or so, take them out and form into your bagel shape. We did this by poking a hole in the middle of each little ball and gently stretching the dough into a 2 1/2-inch ring. Spray your parchment lined baking sheets with a little spray oil and place each bagel about 2 inches apart on the sheets. You want to leave plenty of space around each bagel.



Cover with saran wrap and let the bagels sit for another 20 minutes at room temperature.

Fill a wide bowl with room-temperature water. Take a bagel and plunk it into the water. If it floats, you're ready to refrigerate the bagels. If not, let them continue to sit at room temperature and check back after another 10 minutes. Dry your test bagel off, wrap the sheets really well with plastic wrap and slide into the fridge. You'll leave them there overnight, or for up to two days.

Part 4- Bake the Bagels!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees f. Take your widest pot (we used a cast-iron Dutch oven) and fill it with a few inches of water. Place it over high heat and bring to a boil. Add a tablespoon of baking soda. We also added a tablespoon of agave nectar to give the bagels some color.



When water is boiling, add in a few bagels- they shouldn't be crowded into the pot. While the bagels are boiling, spread out some cornmeal on your baking sheets.  After two minutes, flip each bagel and boil for an additional two minutes (We use a chopstick for easy flipping!). Remove the bagels back to the cornmeal lined baking sheet (if you want to top with anything, now is the time!) and place into the oven.



You'll need to do this in batches, but it's easier to just have a system where you can boil, bake, rotate and remove.



Bake for 5 minutes, then rotate your pan and bake for 5 minutes more. Bagels should be browned on top. Remove from pan onto a cooling rack or large platter.



Et voila! Bagels, from your very own kitchen. They were chewy, bready and delicous. Exactly what the doctor ordered on a snowy, icky New England weekend. Oh and they cost about $2 to make two dozen bagels. Score one for the Tiny Wallet!!!!!

Quickie Dinner- Mike's Shepherd's Pie

Ally's note: Oh man, I love it when Mike cooks. He always make something spicy, comforting and quick. It's the perfect dinner, everytime. Hmm...why don't I have him cook more often?

Anyway, this is one of our favorite recipes. Try it and I promise, you'll love it.

Spicy Shepherd's Pie

Preheat the oven to 350f.

Peel, cube and boil 3 potatoes or sweet potatoes. Drain and mash. You can add milk or butter, we like to add low-fat cream cheese. Set aside.



In a frying pan, add one chopped onion, two cloves of chopped garlic and 1 lb. of ground beef or turkey. Cook until it's brown. Drain, if there is any liquid. Season with some cumin, chili powder, garlic powder- whatever spices you like. Or you could add half of a package of taco seasoning in there. Move to a bowl and add 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of flour to the pan. Stir until it's combined and add cup of chicken broth. Make sure you stir this really good or else it will get lumpy. When it's thickened, add meat back in. Now put in some frozen corn, peppers or whatever else you like.



Pour into a baking pan and top with the potatoes and some grated cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is nice and melted.



We top this with salsa or pico de gallo (recipe here) and some sour cream.

Conquering Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Mike and I have offered to host a casual brunch tomorrow at our house. Pot-luck, bring what you want, etc. How nice, you might say. Yes, nice indeed, until you get to the part about me offering to make homemade cinnamon rolls for said brunch. After reading the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls 101, I've been slighty obsessed with making them. Reality time: I'm an unabashed carbohydrate addict. Give me bread, fresh from the oven and slather it in a creamy sugar frosting for good measure. It's my Kryptonite.  But, having had many previous yeast bread disasters, I assumed that cinnamon rolls from scratch was out of my culinary repertoire.

Well, lovely and loyal readers, Tiny Wallet Style is about to blow your mind.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

We love a good taco. Living in a neighborhood that has a huge immigrant population, we are lucky enough to try foods from all over Latin America. But we always come back to the humble taco. Not the Americanized, ground-beef, cheese-covered, crunchy shell kind of taco either. These babies are stuffed with tender chicken, homemade guacamole and pico de gallo, hot sauce and fresh cilantro all nestled inside a warm, soft corn tortilla. Oh my. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Tiny Holidays: Perfectly Easy Dinner Rolls

If you are like us, you become a carb-glutton on Thanksgiving. The more carbs, the better. So in addition to stuffing, potatoes and everything else, I made homemade rosemary rolls at 10pm this evening. Insane? I think so. Delicious? I also think so. Here is the recipe- they are easy enough to whip up tomorrow morning, if you so desire.

Tiny Holidays: Easy Cranberry Sauce

This recipe is super quick and super simple. If you have time, refrigerate overnight. It lets the berries gel a little more and we like to serve it cold at the Thanksgiving meal, anyway. Enjoy!!

Cranberry Sauce

Tiny Holidays: PW's Pecan Pie

This is my first pecan pie, and I must say that it seems...terrifying bad for you. Which obviously means that it tastes fantastic. This recipe comes from the Pioneer Woman, who is an evil genius. Evil, evil, evil. But still a genius.  I'm not quite sure this pie is going to make it till the morning. If not, don't tell my family- okay? You can check out PW's recipe here.

Quickie Dinners: The Perfect Fall/Winter Salad

This salad is ridiculous. It's literally the most perfect combination of flavors I could ever think of. Creamy, salty, sweet, crunchy, tangy. It has it all.

Every year, I yearn for some salad on the Thanksgiving table, and this salad will do the trick. I'm sure that it would be great to bring to a potluck (dress at the last minute) and it works as an awesome fall dinner on it's own.

(I think we need a bigger boat...er...pan).

Tiny-Budget Entertaining: Infused Vodka

One of the few things we love more than saving money or hosting some of our friends for a mid-week dinner party is drinking hard liquor!

While that's a joke, we do love a cocktail every now and then, and one of our favorite ways to make a delicious cocktail and save some money, is to use cheap/er Vodka and then infuse it with some fruits or herbs.  You can even filter your own cheap Vodka at home, using a water filter to remove some impurities.

But here's how we roll!

Step One-- Vodka buying time

Tiny-Budget Entertaining: Southern Comfort

Friends and neighbors, it's been a busy few days in the Tiny Wallet headquarters! We have hosted dinner parties both Friday and Monday nights- phew! Hosting a dinner after a full day of work is daunting- especially for those of us who go on a maniacal cleaning spree pre-guests. Luckily, Mike was home to cover the cleaning duties, leaving me to figure out what to make that would be: 1) cheapy cheap, of course 2) deliciously comforting after a rainy day and 3) super quick- our guests were arriving just about an hour after I got home from work.

Tiny Holidays: Gobble Gobble Edition

Exciting news here at Tiny Wallet Style!!! Mike and I are cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for his family this year! This is particularly exciting because we've never cooked a whole Turkey Day meal before- only bits and pieces that we've brought to someone else's feast. Naturally, I've been planning and reading food blogs and trying to figure out what the most epic menu will be.

Merely Lovely: Thanksgiving Edition

We loooooove Thanksgiving. Not just because of the food, either. It's an amazing day filled with people who love each other gathering around a table and celebrating the things that they are thankful for. The chilly fall air, the piles of red and yellow leaves, the noise of happy conversations (and a football game or two!), and the wonderful, soul-satisfying smells of a meal that's been cooking all day.

The Goods- Feeding a Crowd for Pennies

When you're faced with a big group heading your way for dinner, it's easy to go overboard with your menu- you don't want people to go hungry, after all. If you want to stay on budget, though, you need to reach for a crowd pleasing recipe that is tasty, filling and cheap to make. Veggie chili, lasagna and pot pies are all entertaining staples in our house, but we wanted to mix it up for this autumnal celebratory meal.

The Goods- Festive Fall Decor

So Mike didn't really want his birthday celebration to scream "birthday" and nixed the usual streamers and balloons. Instead, we went with a festive fall upgrade to our dinner table which usually looks like this:



(To be fair- this was  right after we got home from grocery shopping! It doesn't usually look this terrifyingly disorganized.)

With a few cheapy cheapy additions, it ended up looking like this:

A Tiny History

A little history lesson about us here at Tiny Wallet Style!

We are renters who are so close to owning their own home (but thanks to the cautionary tale that was the 2008-present economy, we are entering the housing market armed with research and a sound budget). Renting means that we have very little power to change our digs- sticking us with dropped ceilings, lots of linoleum and....sponge painting! (Did I just hear someone faint?)