Montreal-style Bagels

When we went to Montreal for the first time this past February, we found ourselves craving bagels as soon as we returned home.  But not just any bagels though, Montreal-style bagels.  I quickly did some research and found out what made these bagels so different from others I'd had.  Namely it's the addition of malt powder and egg, the lack of salt, the risen bagels are boiled in honey-water and then fired in a wood oven.  The wood-fire gives the outside this amazing, crusty texture and the malt powder and eggs brings a richness to the soft, chewy dough, while the honey bath makes them slightly sweet and unlike any bagel I've ever had before.  It's magic!

Well, I knew I couldn't recreate the wood-fire oven, not without a lot of money that is, but I could take care of the rest.  So I began searching for a recipe and quickly found this one, which had pretty good reviews.  Of course, I needed to get my hands on some malt powder first.  Not such an easy task!  I scoured grocery store shelves trying to find this elusive malt powder.  But Biggs didn't have it.  Kroger didn't have it.  I couldn't even find it at Jungle Jim's.  So in the end I got some from Amazon.  Now I was ready.  This past weekend I decided to make a half batch/test batch to see how they turned out.  The recipe was pretty easy, though a little time consuming...but I like making bread so I'm used to wasting a little time in the kitchen kneading and letting things rise (note: it's not nearly as time consuming as some of the breads I've made!).  A half batch makes 6 bagels.  I actually formed one of mine into a pretzel, so I ended up with five bagels and a pretzel.

 Each bagels gets a dip in the boiling honey water for 90 seconds before they get baked in the oven.  I was a little concerned because they didn't rise much before the bath, but then they plumped up while they were in the boiling honey-water, so no worries!

 As I said I made one pretzel with a little kosher salt on the top, which was tasty.  Then I made one plain, two cheese (using some sliced fontina we had), one cinnamon sugar, and one salt.  All were delicious!

I think the cinnamon-sugar and the salt were actually my favorite.  The dough is nice and chewy, and the honey-water gives it a great subtle sweetness.  

Since my best friend is coming into town this weekend (YAY!!!) so I'm going to give another batch a go.  I'll definitely be adding chocolate chips into the mix, since that's my favorite type of bagel!  Have you ever had Montreal-style bagels?

Favorite Moments (from Instagram)

Hi everyone!  Hope you had a great weekend!?  Mine was pretty relaxed, which was nice.  We finally saw Star Trek, it was fantastic!  The entire cast is just phenomenal and the movie felt like it was over in a flash!  Have you seen it?

The other day I was looking through my Instagram photos on my phone and I was struck by all the photos from this year so far and all the wonderful moments they brought to mind.  And how thankful I am for those moments and the great people (and furry creatures) in my life.  I thought I'd share some photos and reminisce a little with you since we're nearly halfway through what has been a great year so far.

My little furry babies make me so happy, even when they're driving me nuts!  Here's a photo of each of them being ridiculously cute and cuddly in bed.

I perfected my challah bread making skills around Christmas (using this recipe), so challah bread french toast was a delicious outcome.

This is from our trip to Montreal over my birthday.  We went to Fairmount Bagels and couldn't wait to try them out so we stopped by a bench and feasted on some in the freezing cold wind, it was heavenly.

 I adore it when Cheesy curls himself up into a little ball on cold nights.

A definite downside to this year was fracturing my ankle.  After a couple days in the house waiting for the swelling to go down so I could put I boot on I was going stir crazy, so Antoine took me to our favorite sushi spot.  I hobbled in on crutches and enjoyed some tasty sushi, but it tasted even better because I was out in the world and not stuck in the house.  Sushi never tasted so good. 

 Visits to Cleveland to see my best friend are always great!  But throw in a trip to Melt and I'm one happy lady!

I'm sure you haven't forgotten my slightly insane promise to myself that I would not miss the magnolias this year.  Well, it began with an extra long lunch from work to take as many magnolia photos as I could.  I fondly remember finding a little quiet spot in Spring Grove Cemetery and sitting in the sunshine, eating my lunch for a couple minutes in between taking pictures. 

Saturday mornings are for Guillermo.  It's his time to snuggle with me, while Antoine and the dog are still sleeping.  So sweet!

 I love weekends when Antoine and I have no plans and just run around town doing random errands and stopping at places here and there.  Like this time when we decided to drive all the way to Eastgate to look at plants and then we enjoyed some tasty soft serve in the sun together.  So simple, yet so lovely.

I think it's pretty well documented that ice cream is one of my favorite things about summer.  So are walks with my little family around our neighborhood.  Whether it's a short walk with Antoine and Cheese (Cheese gets tired easily and will just stop walking) or long walks with Antoine or my sister, it's always a good time.

One of my favorite things of this year so far has been our trip to Seattle and Olympic National Park, and of that trip Lake Crescent stands out.  The stillness of the lake and the beauty of it made me so thankful to be there with Antoine and share that with him.

I'm so looking forward to the rest of the year, making more memories with the people I'm crazy about!

Using Pinterest to Plan Trips

Let's face it, Pinterest is just plain addictive!  Everyone warns you before you get on it, but really they can never properly prepare you for how much it'll suck you in.  I think what makes it so appealing is that it can be used in so many different ways.  There are those who pin every silly DIY and/or crazy shortcut post that ever existed.  Then there are those who create endless fashion and outfit boards (my cousin).  Then there are those like me, who love to find new recipes or pin old favorites.  Besides for recipes and crochet patterns, I love to use Pinterest as my own personal trip planner.

When it comes to planning travel there are generally two types of people, those that leave it to the experts (aka travel agents) and those that enjoy the planning almost as much as the trip itself.  I, of course, fall into the latter category.  I contribute 50% of this to my love of making lists and 50% to my sister, who is a phenomenal travel agent.  My sis took me on several trips in my teens, most notably a stellar 10 day trip to the UK.  It was so beautifully planned and organized.  We flew into Edinburgh, rented a car and drove down to the mid-lands where we visited friends, went to Liverpool and Stratford-Upon-Avon, and then we took a train to London where we spent the last couple nights.  It was an outstanding trip, and it showed me what good travel is all about.  To this day, I almost always run my trip ideas past my sister, you know, since she does it for a living and she's been almost everywhere.  But once I get the thumbs-up from my sis, then I begin researching.

My research is generally just Google-based.  Usually I'll check tripadvisor to see if there's anything I've missed, but generally the top "things to do" on their list aren't usually activities or sights that interest me.  Plus, the ratings and reviews are so subjective.  Though, sometimes tripadvisor will surprise me!  I constantly turn to Google maps to map out and route the trip, especially near the end of planning when I'm deciding on a specific day-by-day agenda.  For our last couple trips and our next one coming up (Vancouver, Montreal, and Seattle, respectively) I used Pinterest to compile ideas, from places to stay, things to see, restaurants to check out and little helpful tidbits that I've discovered and don't want to risk losing.   

This is my board for our next trip Olympic National Park and Seattle, which is coming up in May. [Click to see the full board]

I'll make notes in the pin description, mainly how much it costs, what it is close to and when it might fit best into the trip.  Then I can constantly share the board with Antoine (and my sister) to get feedback and bounce around ideas.  Plus, just looking at the board makes excited for the trip, which can be kind of torturous...especially if it's months and months away, like Seattle!  Another advantage to using Pinterest inn this way is since I have it on my phone, if I need an address, directions or hours while we're on our trip I can just go to my board instead of spending time searching for it online. It's all-around awesome and now I can't imagine planning a trip without it.  I encourage you to try using Pinterest the next time you plan a trip!

Now if Pinterest could only make it so that you could rearrange your pins within a board I would be in seventh heaven! 

Montreal: Notre-Dame Basilica

I'm not a religious person, but I enjoy visiting old, beautiful churches.  It's solely for the architecture, design , and history rather than anything else.  Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica is definitely a place of beauty.

Look at those stairs!  I'd love to have those in my house, minus the cherubs and old bearded dudes.

 I bet that organ sounds amazing!

Montreal: the Biodome

Whew, what a great birthday weekend in Montreal!  It was snowy and gorgeous, but not too difficult to wander around.  We ate some tasty food: fresh ramen, poutine and frites.  Oh, and AMAZING Montreal-style bagels from Fairmount Bagel.  I didn't even know that Montreal bagels were a thing!  But I'm making sure I tell every person I know about them because they are awesome!  The dough is slightly sweet and chewy with this fantastic crust...so good!

We started off my birthday with a trip to the Biodome.  It's a little ways north of downtown but right next to a Metro stop, so super convenient!  It's basically four or so mini-ecosystems in one building, which means whether rain or shine you get to observe all different kinds of creatures.  They were experiencing technical difficulties with their ticketing that morning, but staff was super friendly (even to us non-French speakers) and eventually they ended up letting us in for free.  Happy birthday to me!

Cananda Lynx

Creepy fish

So cute! I swear, it was like he was posing for me.

I have no idea what kind of duck this is, but I love its coloring.

Porcupine

River otter cuteness.  They were so close you could have touched them.

Military Macaw

They also had a sloth there, but he was hiding way up in a tree and you could barely see him.  Bummer!

I'm super excited for this weekend, not only do I get my air boot so I can actually move around without crutches, but also because my best friend and her boyfriend are coming to Cincinnati for the weekend!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!