This weekend, Jesse's cousin and wife stopped in to visit on the way up to their new home in Seattle, WA. It was great having them all to ourselves, since our visits are usually confined to a couple of hours during a quick visit to California. They arrived around dinner time on Friday and stayed until the late afternoon on Saturday. Since they had been in the car for hours on end, all they wanted to do was walk around and explore.
Friday afternoon, we walked around the Pearl and grabbed dinner at Bridgeport Brewery. After a hearty breakfast at Biscuits Cafe, we headed up to Washington Park and the Rose Garden. This weekend happened to be the Portland Rose Festival, so there were large groups of rose admirers milling around. All of the flowers were in bloom and fragrant, so I was incredibly excited to go row by row and smell each variety. I found a plant that I thought might be perfect for Jesse's mom's garden, but when I pulled out my camera, I found that I had left the memory card at home in my laptop. Sadly, I managed to go on another outing without taking a single photo.
After the Rose Garden, we walked up the hill to the Japanese Garden where I found a spectacular exhibit on textiles of the Aniu of Hokkaido, Japan and the Tlingit of the Pacific Northwest. Due to my lack of memory card, I'm borrowing images from the Japanese Garden's online exhibit, Parallel Worlds. I'd really like to go back before the end of the month to take a little more time to read through all of the exhibit and maybe snap a few photos of the textiles that are not featured online. However, I don't think a photo could do justice to the real thing. They are truly works of art.
The exhibit did an interesting job of examining the handmade ceremonial robes of two native cultures on both sides of the northern Pacific Ocean. Each piece displayed beautiful, rich colors applied in distinctive geometric patterns, yet called to mind similar motifs. The Japanese textiles were intricately appliqued with hand embroidery, while the Pacific Northwest textiles were primarily woven. I think I was most taken with the Aniu ceremonial robes because the technique used is most familiar to me. I was able to fully appreciate the time and skill it takes to hand applique and embroider.
Of course, anytime I see a beautiful fabric creation the wheels in my head start turning. I'm currently scheming to find a way to take some inspiration from these ceremonial robes and apply it to quilting. I got the graph paper out this morning and doodled a bit. It might take a while to plan, but I think it could be really beautiful!
Jesse and I got up around 7:30am today, because his cousin, Jeremiah, and his wife are coming into town. Naturally, we didn't really get inspired to clean the apartment until the very last minute. Also, I had delicious bagels resting in the fridge. I couldn't wait to get started (after my morning coffee kicked in).
It is hard to capture boiling, steaming bagels in a photograph. Despite my best efforts, they all came out a little fuzzy. In case you're wondering, that's a 9-quart dutch oven. Those suckers are big!
After boiling, Jesse expertly topped the bagels with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and half with salt. Then, I put them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes to crisp up. They turned out to be exactly what I was going for when I first looked for bagel recipes -- New York deli style. They're shiny and crisp, yet chewy on the outside, and the inside is dense, moist, and perfect. They're not bready at all, unlike the other recipe I tried.
I truly feel that if they were a little more uniformly shaped, I could throw them in a nondescript brown paper bag and nobody would know that they didn't come from an authentic NY bagelry. Hands down, the Bread Baker's Apprentice nailed this recipe. I have a feeling that this book might be a keeper.
I spent most of the morning reading through the first few chapters of the Bread Baker's Apprentice that I checked out of the library last week. I love this book because it literally has 100 pages of reading material on the process of making bread before the recipes are even revealed. Sure, it may sound tedious (especially if you want to jump right in), but I thoroughly enjoyed learning about bread classifications and stages.
After my crash course on the mechanics of bread making, I decided to try the bagel recipe first. Since I had such success with my first batch of bagels, I thought I'd give them another try with a recipe that promises to produce a "bagel for the ages." In my mind, that's a tall order. I hope I don't mess it up! Apparently, the secret to making bagels that are so close to New York deli-style is the proofing overnight in the fridge. Personally, I like the idea of this recipe for no other reason than the fact that I can do a bulk of the dough work the day before I actually want to serve the bagels. This means that we could potentially eat them for breakfast instead of brunch.
Around noon, I whipped together the first step: The Sponge. According to Peter Reinhart, the sponge is a wet pre-ferment that prolongs fermentation time, thereby necessitating a smaller amount of yeast and maximizing the grain flavor. The sponge for my bagels looks like a thick pancake batter. In about two hours, I should have a foamy, bubbly goop that has doubled in size. It's a little cool today, so I'm thinking that it may take a little longer, but who knows! This is an experiment.
Afternoon Update: The Dough
Shortly after mixing up the sponge, Jesse and I headed out to a concert. I thought it was going to be finished by 3pm (just enough time for the 2-hour rise), but the band showed up late (naturally) and we didn't get in until 4:30. So, my sponge percolated for about 3.5 hours instead of 2, but it didn't seem to be a problem. Oops. After about 20 minutes of kneading, the dough was ready to form into rolls. 
With very tired arms, I used the technique to make dough rolls with the palm of my hand and it worked perfectly! Jesse helped out because my arms were literally approaching muscle failure. Who needs running when you make a batch of homemade bagels over the weekend?! Calorie burning with carbs. I love it.After rising for 20 minutes, I shaped the rolls into bagels and popped them in the fridge for their overnight rest. Stay tuned tomorrow for the final results....will they live up to our expectations? I certainly hope so!
Eric alerted me to the fact that today is National Running Day. I felt obliged to participate (partially because I ate a lot of cake this past weekend and satisfied a rather large ice cream craving last night).
The run started out at a nice steady pace and I managed to keep it up for 15 minutes. I probably would have gone a little longer, but I reached the point in my route where I am confronted by a giant hill (one that makes me huff and puff just walking, much less running). After walking up the astoundingly steep, yet short hill, I decided to run again on flat ground. I was marveling at all of the roses in bloom in our neighborhood and how wonderful they smelled in the hot afternoon sun. Then, I hit a wall.
Around minute 9 of my second stretch of running, my legs turned to lead and my lungs shriveled up into raisins. So, I stopped, walked it off, and stretched a little. I tried running again and after only 2 minutes, I was halted by a wave of nausea (from hunger, not exhaustion). I had run completely out of fuel and my body was plotting to digest my legs. Thankfully, I was only about a half mile away from home. With engine lights flashing and my gas tank on empty, I dragged myself up the three flights of stairs and downed a glass of water, a grapefruit Juice Squeeze, and some leftover pasta from last night.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I felt like Old Mother Hubbard this morning when I opened the fridge, so I made a grocery list and purchased an entire cart full of produce and basics like oatmeal, crackers, and milk. Apparently, I went on vacation a week early and managed to not buy an ounce of food before we left for Santa Cruz. While out, I also picked up another window fan, which is working overtime in our living room. Today peaked at 90 degrees, but was very tolerable inside. Thank you Holmes for manufacturing a cheap, yet effective way of not melting in the summer.
You know what is still on vacation (besides my brain)? My camera. I have yet to pull it out of the suitcase. What kind of blogger have I become? In lieu of a photo of all of the roses that were in bloom on my run today, here is a photo of a lovely flower at the Japanese Garden in May. It isn't a rose, and didn't really smell like anything, so you'll have to use your imagination.
Thursday morning we were up before the sun and on the way to the airport. This was the first time we've flown down to Santa Cruz in the morning and thought it would be a nice change. However, getting up at 3:30am for our 6:30am flight had the same effect as when we would fly all day across the country and arrive in California tired, grumpy, and jet-lagged. We dragged along most of the afternoon and then I finally relented and passed out for an extended nap. The rest of the weekend was awesome though (hence my lack of posting). I took my vacation time so seriously that I only took three photographs -- two at Daphne & Ben's wedding and one of Jesse's eye that became swollen and red from allergies on Sunday night. He's better now, but it was fun to joke that I had socked him in the eye, causing it to nearly swell shut.
We saw lots of friends while we were in town, including Larson & Serena. It was great to catch up, especially since I haven't seen either of them since we found out that they are going to have a baby. Serena is an adorable pregnant lady with just a little bulge in front. We all marveled at her appetite, wondering how on earth such a small person could manage to eat so much! She must be doing something right, because she's healthy and happy and glowing. I finally got the chance to give them the baby quilt that has been sitting in the closet, taunting me for several weeks now.
As for today, I'm planning on getting back into a normal routine again. I have a few errands to run and some new projects to plan. One of my favorite food blogs, Pinch My Salt, has embarked on a mission to bake every type of bread in the Bread Baker's Apprentice. I've been following the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge for a couple of weeks now. I picked up the book at the library, just to have a look, but I think I'm going to try a recipe or two before I have to return it. I'm particularly intrigued by the bagel recipe, which is slightly different than the one I tried a few weeks ago. I also would like to try the marbled rye. New baking projects will certainly mean a more regular blogging schedule again!
After the Rose Garden, we walked up the hill to the Japanese Garden where I found a spectacular exhibit on textiles of the Aniu of Hokkaido, Japan and the Tlingit of the Pacific Northwest. Due to my lack of memory card, I'm borrowing images from the Japanese Garden's online exhibit, Parallel Worlds. I'd really like to go back before the end of the month to take a little more time to read through all of the exhibit and maybe snap a few photos of the textiles that are not featured online. However, I don't think a photo could do justice to the real thing. They are truly works of art.
The exhibit did an interesting job of examining the handmade ceremonial robes of two native cultures on both sides of the northern Pacific Ocean. Each piece displayed beautiful, rich colors applied in distinctive geometric patterns, yet called to mind similar motifs. The Japanese textiles were intricately appliqued with hand embroidery, while the Pacific Northwest textiles were primarily woven. I think I was most taken with the Aniu ceremonial robes because the technique used is most familiar to me. I was able to fully appreciate the time and skill it takes to hand applique and embroider.
