I don't drink beer, but I do eat it.

 

 

When I visit a craft fair, I feel like a child (who has just been fed about 30 pixie sticks) that is allowed to run loose in a toy store. No matter how many fairs I attend, they are always simultaneously exciting and overwhelming. For memorial day, my mother and I visited Boalsburg, a quaint, historic Pennsylvania town that claims to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. Whether or not this is true, they sure do act like its a big deal. They have a parade, a carnival, a 5k, museum tours, music, and a beautiful craft fair on a street lined with lovely Victorian homes. Though the craft fair isn't particularly large, the diversity in the products is quite impressive. There is jam, jewelry, photography, clay, these really neat collapsible baskets... and, the most enticing part for my mother, a huge stand filled with pies selling for $2 a slice. The entire street is decorated with beautiful artwork and products and filled with excited people and cheerful music. The whole environment is the perfect unofficial welcome for a long, relaxing and joyful summer.

 

My favorite part of craft fairs is the variety of displays, as I alluded to above, but my second favorite part is that most of the stands selling food products offer free samples. Every food stand lays out their products like a miniature buffet table just tempting me as I try to discreetly pass by. Of course, most of the time I cannot avoid tasting the products (and REALLY it's just rude to pass by without tasting, right?).

 

One of the food stands this year was selling products from the Tastefully Simple line. Out of all the samples they had laid out, I chose to sample the beer bread (which is odd because I am 19 and know/care very little about beer). I am GLAD I chose to sample the beer bread though! It was dense and lightly sweet with a crunchy, buttery crust. If it was socially acceptable, I probably could have stood there and taken every single one of their beer bread samples.



 

During the two hour ride home, I decided to look on my phone for a copy cat recipe. I knew it had to be complicated. The recipe had to have some crazy ingredient ( like concentrated fairy dust) or  require some unusual technique (such as stir the bread while patting your stomach and spinning in circles) to be THAT delicious. Luckily, I was wrong.... It's such an easy recipe and process! It only requires 4 ingredients and about an hour and fifteen minutes total time from start to pulling that yummy loaf out of the oven. Depending on what type of beer you use, the flavor can be anything you want. ( I let my mom select the beer since I honestly couldn't tell you what a good beer tastes like) But, because there are so few ingredients, make sure you select a beer you really enjoy since the flavor is really exhibited.

 

*Note: My bread didn't taste exactly like the Tastefully Simple bread, but I actually liked it more. Since we chose a dark beer and brown sugar, the bread was dense and had a sweet, molasses flavor.

 

Unbelievably Easy Beer Bread

modified from Simply Fresh Cooking

 

• 3 cups self rising flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 12 ounces Beer (one that you really like- I used Dogfish Head as per my mother's request)
• 2 tbs. butter or benecol (benecol doesn't crisp like butter so the crust came out a little soft)

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Measure and sift the flour into a bowl.

3. Whisk the sugar into the flour until evenly distributed.

4. Pour beer into the mixture and stir until combined (the mixture should be a little lumpy).

5. Pour into a bread pan and place in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes.

6. Melt the butter and pour over the bread's crust. Bake for another 10 minutes.

*WARNING* the smell is amazing and WILL fill your entire house!

 

* My brother gets some credit for this bread. Even though he is working hard in medical school right now, he is the reason my mom found the Dogfish Head beer in the fridge. Wish I could send some of the bread to ya bro!



 

Bagels: Why I get out of bed in the morning....

 

Waking up in the morning is not a struggle for me. I have always been one of those people who is up with the sun. The problem, unfortunately, is the actual act of getting out of bed. My covers are always so warm and snuggly, and my pillow provides just the perfect amount of softness and support. Really, there is no logical reason to leave, right? Well, there is one. It waits for me in the kitchen every morning. It beckons to me with its crispy, tanned skin and its soft, delectable center. If it weren't for the promise of delicious bagels in the morning, I don't think my feet would ever leave the covers and touch the floor again.



My first experience with Dutch Crunch bagels was at Wegmans. Choosing a single bagel from the Wegmans bakery collection is akin to choosing one pair of shoes from an entire shoe section. Every one is unique and different, but every one is equally appealing. They have sweet bagels (like French toast, blueberry and cinnamon raisin). They have the classics (like egg, plain, and everything). They have the savory (like poppy seed, cheese, and THE marco polo). Despite the amazing display, I have to say that the Marco Polo bagel has emerged (after many, many trials) one of my favorites. Essentially, after some research online, Marco Polo is Wegmans' special name for Dutch Crunch. Their base bagel is soft and fluffy with a thin but chewy crust and, if you get there early in the morning, it is fresh and warm. The Dutch Crunch topping, a smooth combination of yeast and rice flour, browns ever so slightly in the oven and is marked with the unique cracks that provide the crumbly deliciousness. Wegmans only makes Marco Polo bagels on the weekend (I know, what a tease?!), but whenever my mom and I see them, we scope out the fluffiest bagels with the most topping and choose those for our morning treats. Then, we'll sit in the Wegmans café area, chewing on our slightly toasted bagels, drinking our morning caffeine, and chatting about the day to come. (I would say that's a pretty suifficient motivation for getting out of bed).

 

Though I cannot replicate the Wegmans bagel perfection, I knew I had to try my own take on the Marco Polo (or for non-wegmans-enthusiasts, Dutch Crunch). I prepared the dough. the night before with a little wheat and bread flour and boiled and coated them in the morning, so they would come out of the oven fresh and hot (hopefully, approaching the fresh taste of Wegmans). Because my mom and I love the topping SO much, I added a little more topping than the typical Wegmans bagel has. It was delicious! Even after breakfast that morning, we enjoyed them in various ways (like as a base for a delicious PBJ or covered in tzaziki). Because the flavor is neutral (its all about the texture), they work perfectly for various preparations.



Base Bagel Recipe

 

·         2 ½ cups bread flour

·         1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

·         1 ½ cups warm water

·         2 Tbs. brown sugar

·         2 ¼ tsp. yeast

 

Method

1.      Combine yeast, sugar and water and allow to sit for 5-7 minutes until foamy.

2.      Combine flours. Incorporate yeast mixture, adjusting flour until a smooth ball comes together.

3.      Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover, leaving it in a warm place. Allow to rise until it doubles in size, roughly 1 – 1 ½ hours.

4.      Once risen, use a scale to evenly divide the dough into 8-12 pieces.

5.      Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

6.      Roll the bagels, either by making ropes and pinching them together or by poking a hole in the center and stretching it by hand. The holes should be fairly large because they will shrink when they are boiled and baked.

7.      Cover the bagels with oiled plastic wrap and allow to rest in the fridge overnight.

8.      In the morning, fill a large pot with 4 quarts of water. Add a tbs. of honey. Bring to a boil.

9.      Preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the bagels from the fridge and prepare them for boiling.

10.  Drop the bagels in the water (3-4 at a time) and boil for 30 seconds. Flip them and boil for another 30 seconds. Remove from the water and place on a clean paper towel. Once all the bagels are boiled, sprinkle cornmeal on baking trays lined with parchment paper. Lay the bagels on the baking tray.

11.  Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

 

Dutch Crunch Topping

from Laura's Sweet Spot

1 cup warm water (105-115º F)

2 tablespoons  sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I only used one because I wanted it thicker)

½ teaspoon  salt

1½ cups  rice flour

1. Combine all ingredients and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

2. After boiling the bagels, coat them generously in topping.

3. Allow to rest with topping for a few minutes before baking.

 



Twenty is the new twelve, right?

 

My Human Development class this year spent a decent amount of time discussing the fairly recent concept of Emerging Adulthood. As children grow up and pursue higher education, they are delaying their development into full blown adults by allowing themselves more time for identity discovery. As my professor informed us about this fascinating new life stage, he reminded us that we are all in the throes of this very stage of development. And BANG... it hit me. I am approaching that scary, intimidating period of my life called adulthood. The very thought of it made me want to fly back to Neverneverland and never ever leave!

 

As it turns out, I wasn't the only one of my friends who felt the pressure of adulthood. My best friend recently turned 20 (yep, she kissed those teenage years goodbye, whether or not she was ready to leave them). Though I wished her Happy Birthday (via text, facebook and of course, the classic hallmark card), she still expressed a hint of sadness over the feeling of.. well... feeling OLD.

 

With May being the month of birthdays amongst my friends, I've had a lot of time to think about turning 20 (though, thankfully I still have more than two months to fully accept it). I told my mom that I was concerned and she said, "What?! Your twenties are great! I just turned 50!" So I guess when you put it into perspective, the twenties aren't so bad. You're young, adventurous and you bring that youth and excitement into the adult world. It's not adulthood that changes you, it's your youthful perspective that changes modern adulthood. So, let us emerge, strong, proud, and maybe a little awkward from our teenage years and embrace being adults.

 



 

As I mentioned, my best friend turned 20 a few days ago. And when I say best friend, I mean it. We bonded over crayons in kindergarten and have been inseparable ever since. I was worried that as we went off to college, we would begin to grow apart, finding different interests, different lives. Luckily, though we have found different interests, we have lots of similarities to bind us together. We both have found solace in religion, we love to play Frisbee and we even enjoy snacking on cereal. Another thing we both love is the classic peanut butter and chocolate combination. To remind her of our past and future friendship, I decided to bake some decadent peanut butter and chocolate cake balls for a birthday treat.

 

I didn't realize the cake ball process was so time intensive. I baked the cake, crumbled it, made the icing, mixed the icing and cake, rolled the cake balls and froze them all the day before. 

 Then came the dipping... The chocolate looks so deliciously innocent obediently dripping off that spatula, doesn't it? Well, its totally faking. By the time I was done dipping the cake balls, there was chocolate splattered everywhere. I used about 20 toothpicks trying to coax the chocolate neatly onto the balls. In my attempt to smooth out the chocolate, I added half and half and the whole mixture congealed! Ha, chocolate, innocent, SWEET, ha... LIES!

Luckily, they came out well and I hope my best friend enjoyed them! Peanut butter and chocolate is not only the perfect treat, but the perfect analogy for our friendship. She's sweet and smooth, I'm a little nutty, and, together, we make an awesome pair!