Today I made my second batch of bagels using a recipe from Rose Leky Beranbaum’s book The Bread Bible. The first time I tried to make bagels was more than 5 years ago and was a dismal failure. This time they turned out pretty decent. While Beranbaum’s recipes are fairly time consuming to make, they always seem to turn out well. If I were to make them again, I think I would boil them for a little less time (I boiled them for the maximum amount of time she suggested) and use tin foil instead of wax paper. In spite of my success with bagels this time, I probably won’t be making them again. Bagels at bakery shops are just as good (or better) than these and take much less time

My next experiment from Beranbaum’s book will be rye bread. I ended up with enough money last week to buy a couple of extra things that weren’t on my list. So, I went ahead and bought most of the ingredients for Veggie Reuben Sandwiches except for the rye bread. Assuming no great bread disasters, I’m planning to have Reubens for supper tomorrow night.