Snowbound! (with bagels)

I had a feeling this would happen. We get a few inches of snow and the entire city shuts down. No class today. Or tomorrow.

Today's snow day proved that I am an uncool, old lady for the following reasons:

• I did all of my homework last night even though I was 95% certain class was canceled.
• I woke up at 4:30 am and sat in bed wondering if class was canceled until I knew for sure.
• I got really excited about the snow day because it meant that I had time to clean my apartment, fold my laundry, and eat all of my vegetables before they all went bad (like they usually do).

Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my Metamucil. Heh. Heh.

Anyway, I saved a post from Thursday since I figured we wouldn't have class today. AND IT'S A GOOD ONE!!!! We made bagels.

Now, growing up in NJ, I consider myself somewhat of a bagel connoisseur (which basically means that I refuse to eat any "bagel" that is sold in NC). This may sound snobby, but it's just the facts. I was horrified to hear that 85% of my class had no idea what an everything bagel was... I mean, you haven't truly lived until your breakfast breath forces you to stand at least five feet away from other humans, am I right?

I have to say, though, the bagels that we made in class pass my taste test. Soft on the inside, kind of crispy on the outside, and not too bready or puffy. The other good news is that they are one of the few things in this class that I feel confident I could make at home (no crazy steam injections or obscure equipment required).

Now, for those of you who are accustomed to eating crappy bagels, I'll tell you that the secret to a NY style bagel: you need to boil it before baking it. The most popular bagelry here in Charlotte steams their bagels. Not cool, bagelry, not cool. We did it the legit way in class and they turned out great. My group made parmesan herb bagels.

Exhibit A: boiling bagels.

We use a mixture of water and honey, but you could probably play around with that.

I sampled an everything bagel, a chocolate chip bagel, and a cinnamon sugar bagel. Naturally, I was partial to my own, but they all were delicious. I had a serious bagel belly ache. But... I mean, how could you resist these puppies:

Exhibit B: Cheesy deliciousness.

We also made something ELSE delicious on Thursday, but - guess what, school is canceled again tomorrow, so I'm going to keep you in suspense until then.

In other news, I have no idea when I am going to take our practical exam or what class I'm actually supposed to attend on Wednesday (we are supposed to start a new one, but we haven't finished the breads class). Hopefully, someone at school will give us a heads-up before this snowy mess is cleared!