An (overdue) time for a change...

I struggled with the title to this post because I couldn't quite pinpoint the exact intent on my next move.  What do I mean by, "my next move"?  Well, I've been reflecting on what would make me happy to be doing everyday (as I tend to do from time to time).  And, I'm sure lots of people also do.  However, not a lot of people have the ability, freedom, courage, instinct, or know-how to choose a career that makes them truly happy.  I can't say that I regret every decision I've made up to this point but, I would have surely picked some different ones, if only I could go back.  After several hours, days, even years of contemplating on:
What should I do?,
What am I good at?,
and of course more importantly,
What do I have a passion for?
I have, with no doubt now, decided that I would really love to make a career out of my love of baking.

With that being said; I am going to shift the purpose of this blog to become one that showcases my journey into building a baking business.  Using baby-steps, I plan on practicing and perfecting recipes, researching the competition, reading and self-teaching myself about new cooking and baking techniques, as well as, finding ways to put myself out there.  I'll map out some of my goals and plans of exactly how I can accomplish these goals.  I'll, pretty openly, share my successes and failures along the way.

Realistically, with a new-born baby, a three year old son, and a husband that all rely on me for many different things, as well as, a part-time job; this journey will not be an easy one.  But, I'm pretty sure if it were easy then it might not be worth it.

I have already made a few steps into my journey that I will share with you on my next post.  I'll talk about how I dove head-first into my decision with the help of my husband.  I'll give away the ending it was my first "failure."  Although, really, with every defeat comes a learning experience.  So, I've looked back on it as just that.

I'll explain it soon...  Here are a couple of pictures of one of the recently baked products (and oh, there have been many).  I made authentic, classic almond biscotti.

Till next time,

Jerr

Oh, how time flies...

I can't say that an entire year has gone by and I have not thought about writing a post on my blog.  But, I can say an entire year has gone by and I have not actually written a post on my blog.  I actually have done a lot of bagel eating, as well as, baking myself over the last year.  I've baked batches of bagels, sweet breads, cookies, and pies.  I actually have a "bun in the oven" right now (ie: I'm expecting baby #2 in March).  Anyway,  I could make a list of excuses as to why I haven't sat down to write a post; but, why?  The truth is that I just didn't.  So, as we are here a few days into the new year of 2016, I guess I could say that a resolution of mine will be to continue on my mission of exploring the Philadelphia bagel scene.  And, since the scene is quite small, most likely expanding the content of this blog.  I will try to post on a regular basis; bagel related findings, experiments of my own, or any other new baking discoveries. 

Be talking to you soon,

Jerr

Knead to stop by...

I mentioned in my last post that I had tried a bagel from Knead but, needed to visit again to write my review.  I had stayed in the car last time and wanted to get the full experience of entering the bakery before I wrote my review. 

Fresh sausage was a plus, wish there was a little more seeds though.

 I say bakery, which wasn't quite my first impression when walking into the place.  I was looking forward to it being a warm and cozy shop, and smelling of freshly baked bagels.  It wasn't quite what I was expecting, it was busy and took me a minute to realize where the bagels were displayed.  They were up front and center, but just kind of lost behind the tables and guests garnishing their coffees.

Bacon, egg, and cheese.

The selection of non-traditional bagel flavors and spreads were pretty interesting like Moroccan Spiced Apricot and Pastrami Spiced.  But, I decided to go with the Black Sesame seed sandwich with sausage, egg, and cheese.  The egg sandwiches are made with their signature aioli sauce.  Which was very tasty!

Here are some notes on my review of Knead Bagels:

1- The look... I have to say, when I first pulled the bagels out of the bag, they sort of reminded me of mass produced bagels.  But, they did have a nice sheen.  I guess they were missing a deeper caramel color that I was expecting.  I would give the look a 2.5 out of 5 poppy seeds.

2- The crust... was quite firm and did have a bit of a crunch.  There was no need for us to toast the bagels the first time we had them and took them home.  The second experience was consistent with the first; the crust had a pleasant bite.  The crust gets a 5 out of 5 poppy seeds.

3- Inside Texture and Taste... I have to say the interior texture was pretty on par with what I would call a great bagel.  It was not overly doughy and certainly not dry.  The flavor was pretty balanced; I didn't get a sense of salty or sweet.  I'll rate this a 4.5 out of 5.  

So, the overall rating for Knead is: 4.0 out of 5 Poppy Seeds = Very Good.  I will definitely go back, I'm tempted to try some of their non-traditional flavors.  Lemon Goat Cheese, yes please.

Till next time, 

Jerr

Just one more Pumpkin recipe...

Yes, stuffed with Nutella!?!

Another rainy day is upon us... I guess its better than snow.  Although, snow would make such a more beautiful sight.  My last post was about pumpkin and pumpkin flavored treats; well, here is one more recipe worth mentioning. 

 brown butter Nutella-stuffed pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (I know, its quite the mouth-full)

These are the Nutella rounds after coming out of the freezer.

This recipe calls to brown the butter before adding it into the batter.  I've been baking for years, let's just say the gift I wanted most as a young girl was an Easy Bake Oven.  Which incidentally is still available; check out the video, it will make you want one, too. 
Anyway, I can't believe that I never came across a recipe to brown the butter before using it.  (Or I may have, but decided not to choose that recipe because it sounded too complicated.)  This was not the case, it just took a little longer, but well worth it!  It gives a rich, deep, almost nutty flavor to the cookie.

Let butter melt slowly.

Stir frequently.

Continue stirring until the butter literally starts turning a caramel color.

Again, these cookies take a little longer than normal because there are a few extra steps to create them.  You have to prep the Nutella, just line a cookie tray with parchment paper and freeze small spoonfuls while you prepare the batter.  Then brown the butter, which can take a few minutes.

 Of course, another step is to "fill" the cookie.  So, you need to flatten the dough top with the frozen chocolate, and roll into a ball.

I only wish that I hadn't pressed down the tops of the cookies like the recipe said.

                                                                                                    

 These cookies turned out very good!  The pumpkin flavor/spices were not overwhelming.  If anything they got a little lost with all the chocolate.  I plan on using an interpretation of The Ambitious Kitchen's recipe for chocolate chip cookies from now on, because the brown butter is that good.  So, next time you make a chocolate chip cookie consider browning your butter first.




Oh, in case you were wondering, yes, I eventually did get the Easy Bake Oven.  But, truth-be-told, I got it after I had already been using the real kitchen oven.  So it was fun, but the real oven was way better.  The last pumpkin treat I will probably be making is a Mini Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cheesecake for Christmas Day.  Its been a few years since I've made it, but I'll post how it comes out for y'all.
Also, a quick note on bagels.  My husband and I did visit Knead Bagels last weekend.  I still haven't written about it because I wanted to visit one more time.  So, hopefully in the next week I will let you know my official review on that.  For now, let's just say they were quite good.

Take Care,

Jerr

Is it still Pumpkin season?

I know November is almost over and probably so is Pumpkin season, but maybe it doesn't have to be.  Once October hits and everything pumpkin flavor comes out, you usually get a mixed opinion from people- either they love it or they could care less and think its overkill.  Well, I'm on team pumpkin- but, of course I usually go for the homemade pumpkin goodies.  So, I've been meaning to post my recent baking successes with pumpkin.

Here is one recipe that came out really well, thanks to (what seems like) countless hours of searching pinterest for ideas.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake- This turned out to be probably the moistest cake I've ever made.

The recipe called for dark brown sugar for the inside and for the crumb topping, which gives a strong molasses taste.  So, I decided to use light brown sugar for the cake and dark brown for the topping.  Another note: I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil.

 This cake is great for breakfast, a mid-morning snack, or a late night snack.  Perfect if your having guests over and of course to bring with you to your next holiday party.

 

 

 

A trick I learned a while back, is to cut sweet cakes, brownies, and bars with a plastic knife to prevent the cake from sticking to your baked treat.  It makes things much neater.

Yum!

Till next time,

Jerr

New York vs. Montreal

When I had the idea to find the best bagels in Philadelphia I figured that I would be looking for the best New York style bagels.  I really didn't think there were other styles of bagels other than the N.Y. kind; except when I was researching bagel bakeries in Philadelphia and I found Spread Bagelry.
Intrigued, I wanted to take some time to distinguish the differences between probably the only two style of bagels out there.  I found this short article, at HuffingtonPost.com that will explain it in a little more detail.  But, basically New York Style bagels are boiled prior to baking and have a shiny crisp exterior with a chewy interior.  Montreal Style bagels are also boiled; however, in water sweetened with honey, then baked in a brick oven to make them extra crispy.  After visiting Spread, who offer the Montreal Style, I was able to first-hand compare them to the N.Y. style I am more familiar with.

Today, despite it being a chilly, rainy and down right miserable day, I decided I would drive my son and myself to try-out these new kind of freshly baked bagels.  Before I even left for my outing I said to myself, "I'm going to actually get a sandwich made there this time."
After finally finding a parking spot, I walk through the rain with umbrella in one hand and toddler in the other and make my way into Spread.  It felt so nice to walk into the warm and cozy bakery.  I was first impressed with the beautiful marble counter top, and as I scan the place I notice the fire burning in the brick oven.  Just below the oven are a pair of baskets full of bagels.
I try to pick out a sandwich from the handwritten chalk menu above; however, after seeing the prices, I decide to just stick with some un-garnished bagels.  Just to give you an idea, the bagels are $2.00 each and the sandwiches start at $6.50 up to $13.00 each.  

Here are some pictures of the bagels I took home:

Wheat Bagel

Poppy Seed

I was a little surprised with the amount of extra flour that was on the bottom of the bagel.  Also, they didn't seem to have a nice sheen that I'm used to with the N.Y. style.

  

Underside of wheat bagel.

I seem to not be able to pass up a whole-wheat everything bagel.  So, that was my choice for my sandwich today.

I decided to make myself a sandwich with some ingredients I had at home.  I had made some fresh hummus the other day; I love bagels with hummus.  A couple of our tomato plants are still producing, so I had an heirloom tomato on hand.  I also added cucumber and parsley.

A little salt and pepper on any sandwich can make all the difference.

Homemade hummus, heirloom tomato, cucumber, and parsley sandwich on whole-wheat everything bagel.

 Here is how I would rate these bagels:

The Look - {3.5} I didn't rate the look any higher than a three because they didn't have the sheen that I normally look for in a good bagel.  I think the extra flour around the bagel may have affected the shine.

The Crust - {3} I was pretty surprised that the crust didn't have a real crisp to it, especially coming out of a brick oven.  It appeared like it would crack when you broke into it; however, that was not the case with the plain whole-wheat.  The poppy seed did have more of a crunch to the outer layer though.

Inside Texture and Taste - {4} The texture of the center was soft and doughy.  A little more bread-like than a typical N.Y. bagel.  The best part of these bagels was the taste; they were flavorful and sweet.  Definitely much more sweet than other bagels I've had.

Overall, I would rate these bagels a {3.5} out of 5 poppy seeds.  I did enjoy my sandwich.  If only the crust was crispier.  The drive, hassle of parking in center city, and the cost of the bagels kind of put a damper on the already damp day. 

Until next time,

Jerr

My hiatus is ending...

Why has it been a couple of weeks since my last post?  Well, I unintentionally had somewhat abandoned my bagel mission because I was trying to eat clean over the last couple of weeks; including cutting out bread.  How did I do...?  Well, let's just say there were good days and bad.  I can say with certainty that my discipline is not what it was when I was in my twenties.  Of course, my priorities were not the same as they are now.  And even though I'm now "a stay at home mom" I had a good routine to my life, it seems like, more than I do now.  What am I getting at?  Well, when I first started this blog it was to focus on bagels and where to get a good one and maybe write about some of my highlights, challenges, and fun in baking and cooking.  I had received some [unsolicited] advise from some friends and family to write a blog about being a new mom and talking about some of my everyday life challenges as well as my crafting and cooking.  However, I decided to stream line the focus of this blog and stick to one main topic.  I might add a couple of pages on some other topics down the road, but for now I need to finish my mission.
As a reminder, my mission is to seek out all the bagels Philadelphia (and perhaps a few surrounding towns) has to offer and write reviews on them.  I still have a bunch more places to make it to and a few more places yet to find.  
I'll also put it out there, that I intend on going on a "bagel crawl" with a trip to New York City, hopefully before the year ends.  I'll be putting together a list of can't miss go-to places.  If anyone has any bagel shops in mind that I should try please feel free to leave a comment and let me know.
Also, I was thinking it might be fun to get a group to come with me.  So, if anyone is interested in spending a day in NYC to do some bagel eating, let me know!  We could all meet in Chinatown and take the super cheap bus into the City.

To quote the late-great Eric the Actor, "Bye for now".

-Jerr