m. 35 bagels

wow, a whole month has passed since our last post, little baby e has come into our world and she's so amazing, m's parents came for the birth and were able to spend a couple of weeks with us, we all cooked a lot of great things, but there was just not enough time to blog about things ... i did happen to catch m's dad's final triumph as a baker:

her dad spent every waking out depleting as much of our flour as humanly possible, everyday there were crackers or bread or granola being made, in every imaginable flavor, his birthday came and m and i bought him a copy of the river cottage handbook on bread (which he noted used no sugar in any of their bread recipes) and on his last night here he made these perfect bagels, easily the best that i have tasted in the uk ...

and to think that only a minute or two in a hot bath is what separates the average loaf of bread from the magical bagel!

the poppyseed gets another look: