BagelMania

When we moved in May, we sold all of our fancy kitchen gadgets- most of which we never used, anyhow- and have yet to regret life without them.  A KitchenAid blender?  I'd rather buy shoes.  A food processor?  That's what knives are for, silly.  Measuring spoons?  REAL SPOONS!  Rolling pin?  Wine bottle.  A can opener?  Who needs one when I can use a screwdriver and hammer*... Are you sensing a theme here?  Do you understand that I'm a bona-fide kitchen rebel?

With that in mind, you can understand why I've been reluctant to tackle something as seemingly difficult as bread baking.  Every recipe I read calls for a bread hook, a bread-maker, or some such cheater device that I do not have and have no desire in procuring, but last week, an intense craving for a proper, American-style bagel stirred me to action and I perused my friend Stephanie's blog for inspiration.  BAM, there it was, a recipe for New York Deli-Style Bagels that didn't call for anything more technologically advanced than a stove and oven.  I rolled up my sleeves, greased my elbows, and rattled around the kitchen until I found things** that would work well enough to get the job done.  Then, I started bagel-making.

Due to laziness and my own taste, I made a few minor adjustments to Stephanie's recipe:

1. Instead of using active dry yeast, I just used a packet of easy bake yeast.  It worked like a charm. 
2. I substituted white baking flour with wholemeal baking flour and used only a tiny sprinkling of sugar because I hate sugar and don't enjoy it in anything other than the occasional Old Fashioned.  (Next time, I'd cut out the sugar completely.  I'm all about savory 'round these parts.) 
3. Before putting the boiled bagels in the oven, I painted (literally, with a paintbrush) a liberal coating of rosemary, Maldon sea salt flakes, and olive oil on top.  

After a little bit of kneading and an almost tropical afternoon in my very warm kitchen, you'll be happy to know that my American-style bagel craving has been cured.  The bagels, they're delicious (just ask David, he'll tell you!).  They're wonderfully springy, toast well, and are perfect for bacon and egg breakfast sandwiches.  Now, I just need to find a recipe for homemade cream cheese and I'll be well on my way to paradise... suggestions are welcome!

* On second thought, maybe a can opener would be a sound investment?
** In lieu of a mixing bowl, I used a Le Creuset casserole thingy and instead of a slotted spoon, I used a slotted spaghetti spoon because I'm fancy.  (Please note: the spaghetti spoon will put holes in your bagels unless you're careful.  Halfway through, I swapped it for a spatula and the results were very successful.  Don't be afraid to get creative in your kitchen, you guys!)

On Color

I made a salad the other day with whatever I had in the fridge- radishes, tomatoes, pickled beet root, cheese- and as I was cutting the radishes I was arrested by their loveliness.  By their crisp, clean insides and vibrant skins that shined almost magenta in the sun.

It made me wish that I could bottle colors.  I'd display these bottles, small like spice jars, on a shelf in a sunny room and watch them change as the light moved throughout the day. What colors would I bottle?  The perfect off-white of a birch tree trunk, the deep purple of an Acer leaf, and the salmon-pink of flamingo feathers.  The inky black of a cobra's scales, the hot red of a chili still on the vine, and the stunning green of a fiddlehead.  All the colors of a peacock, and the warm brown of a buffalo hide.  There are so many arrestingly beautiful colors in the world and fashion, art, photography and words really do them no justice, which makes them all the more precious.  Notice the colors around you, dear reader, and live colorfully.

p.s. A couple months ago there was a really great RadioLab program about color called Why Isn't the Sky Blue. Listen to it.  It's amazing!

Lately

Good food, good weather, good friends, and rainbows.

Summer Soup

I usually wait until the weather is stifling to make gazpacho, but I've come to terms with the fact that it's never going to be stifling here in the UK, so I put on a sweater and made this yesterday.  Please note that I use the word 'recipe' lightly because making this soup is basically as easy as making toast and if you like chopping, you're going to loooove it.  Unless you hate tomatoes, in which case you're going to hate it.  For realz.

Okay.  What you really need to know is that you can add anything to this soup.  Do you want some chopped basil in there?  Go for it!  How about some fresh green beans?  SUPER!  Or maybe you want to garnish with some pine nuts or sesame seeds... Do it!  You guys, this is the easiest most fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants recipe on planet earth and I very much encourage you to play with it. 


Also: I usually add half a cup (not, like, a measuring cup, but half a cup of whatever cup I have closest to me) of water to this, too.  When I used to have homemade chili oil on hand (working on it....), I used to drizzle that on top and forget the Tabasco entirely.  It was yumtastic!  Actually, it still is yumtastic!  Oh, and make sure you chill this baby.  Like, cold.  And add some salt and pepper to taste, too (duh). 

And then, ENJOY!

Tuesday w/Moi II

I bought this book at a used bookstore last week because I just can't turn down Hemingway.  I love him! Why? Because Hotchner describes him of having a fear of the telephone, because he always wore an old Nazi belt which was too wide for his belt loops, so he wore it over them, and because he said incredibly wise things very simply, such as, 'Never confuse movement with action.'  Also, Hemingway is basically synonymous with 'badass' and I like that, too.  And he was a great writer.

 

During my years working in a salon, I became very particular about the products I use to keep my hair healthy and gorgeous (no really, I love my hair, though it's in desperate need of a color soon).  Every ten days or so, I use Rene Furterer Complex 5 on my scalp and Karite Oil on my follicle to keep my head moisturized and healthy.  These plant extract oils have the added bonus of smelling heavenly, making them a morning indulgence that I look forward to between treatments.  Yesterday was one of those special mornings and I lit a candle to celebrate (sidenote: I prefer candlelight when I'm showering, it makes everything so soft and lovely!).

It was a long time coming, but I finally got around to hanging my earring rack and kimono yesterday.  Slowly but surely this apartment is coming together to become a home.

Made a shopping list.  We needed a lot of soap!

In town, I found a little street paved with rocks that reminded me of the surface of an oyster shell.  It made my heart ache for the ocean.

I didn't end up buying any flowers on my shopping trip, but I did buy a mint plant which is almost as good!  I'm definitely going to make a pitcher of minty lemon fizzy water this afternoon.

Skyping with my Dad.  He's in Australia right now.  Our family is a time-zone nightmare!

The English don't call French Presses French Presses, they call them Cafetieres.  Weird.  Also, I miss my Moccamaster so so so much!  We fried the motor when we plugged it into our UK outlet (with an adapter, mind you) and it's sadly beyond repair.  As is my heart.

Checking-in on Le Chat.  She has the best life ever, no?

David came home!  I still get excited when I see him after a day spent apart.

I made Aperol cocktails with prosecco and soda water.  Like an Aperol Spritz, minus the ice.  More on this later in the week...

Cowboy dinner.

Got lost in my work and forgot to take a picture at 21:00, OOPS!

I like to think that Lula and Samantha House Jewelry are going to be good friends.  Girl of my dreams, indeed! 

Thank you for sharing my Tuesday with me, friends!  I think I need to get over my penchant for left-leaning paper-goods, no?  It's so painfully obvious that I'm right-handed! 

xoxo

Pasta Party

Last Saturday, our dear friends Skye and Scott invited us to a Pasta Party to recreate the otherworldly delights that we learned how to prepare last September on a trip we took to Italy together.  It was so special to again gather with our amazing friends, reminisce about the trip, and relive the flavors of freshly prepared pasta and Cupano Brunello.  It was a wonderful evening and a great way to say hello and, sadly, goodbye to our friends who we love so much.  I can't thank Skye and Scott enough for hosting and I can't communicate how much I want to bear hug everyone who came!

xox

Urban Survival

I'm currently playing a game of Urban Survival* and was forced to create this adorable toast torte with local honey and fresh blueberries for breakfast yesterday (I know, woe is me).  I usually eat a banana with oats and almond milk, but David bought whack-a-doodle things at the grocery store this week and I'm having to actually cook to feed myself most meals.   It's amazing how much deliciousness you can whip up in a kitchen when you push yourself to try things outside your normal food routine (for me that means turning on the stove).  So here I am, being domestic and making lots of delicious things, but none as beautiful as my toast torte. 

*Urban Survival is a game I invented in college when I got snowed-in right before I was supposed to fly home for Christmas.  If you remember back to college, you will probably recall the painstaking process of getting rid of all your perishable food before you and your roommates went away for winter vacation.  Our apartment's refrigerator was essentially bare and I spent three days living off whatever bizarre food was laying around my little Beacon Hill kitchen.   I drank a lot of gin in those three days and ate an astounding number of expired Pop Tarts and stale Halloween candy.  But I survived, and that's what's important.  

Lethargy & Toast

I'm feeling really lethargic and weird today.  I called into work and told them I'd work from home, which I promise to do as soon as my mind finds focus and stops jumping forward two (2!) months in an attempt to imagine what my life in England will be like.

Kate, you cannot predict the future.  Just let it come.  

On days like today, when I'm melancholic and distracted, I often find something bizarre to feel romantic about.  Today I feel romantic about hot lemon water and toast.  Toast with honey, toast with foie gras, toast with salted butter, cinnamon, and sugar.  I just want to sit and eat toast with David and snuggle.  No talking, just toast eating and snuggling.

Before I turn into the most pathetic person on earth, I should probably get out of my pajamas and go for a walk.  Yes, a walk would do me a world of good... And then I have to start (and really commit to finishing) my visa application so I can move to the UK in two (2!) months.  And whilst I fill it out, maybe I'll eat more toast.