This is my greenhouse when it was brand new. Several years have gone by and it has proved to be a wonderful addition to my farm. The glossy clean windows are covered with green SOMETHING~  I suppose dried algae but a bleach wash on a warm day will take care of that.May has been very unkind to us, Very low temps during blossoming season and an unseasonal snow flurry frost  hit us last night. My tomato plants, started 2 months ago in the house, had been transferred to the greenhouse in the hopes that all would be well, as with other years. OH NOOOO !!!    NO SPRING FOR YOU !!!

We anticipated the worst and put an electric heater in the greenhouse hoping to improve the temps. But they still took a hit and were partially wilted but maintained their nice green color.  Hopefully 

things will perk up. Praying for sunshine !

While we are all shut up in our houses with the Corona pandemic many people occupy their time painting the bedroom or kitchen walls or doing handyman projects, Not me . I just cook. I try to learn to do something new every year that I didn't know how to do before. I had made bagels in the long ago past but didn't think they came out that  good. 

I finally found a bagel recipe that is most excellent.It is the best recipe in the world. Everybody agrees, ( Just ask Trump) I found it on the Smitten Kitchen web site where profoundly wondrous recipes are to be yours with just a click,  https://smittenkitchen.com/2007/09/bronx-worthy-bagels/    You start with a bowl,,,, the BIG BOWL!!    Bagel dough is more dense than the dough for your average loaf of bread, If you have an electric mixer with a dough hook it's better to use that than hand kneading.Just get it started in the big bowl. It has to come out with a satiny non tacky or sticky finish , No leftover flour flakes. I won't discuss the recipe details here.... that's why I posted her site so that if you are interested in making your own bagels you got the SECRET RECIPE !!!!    However, once the electric mixer has gotten about 3/4's of the way done you will realize this is a heavy dough. Therefore ~  divide the dough in half. When you get to the part where the last 3/4 of a cup of bread flour is done, add half of it to the first half of the dough then the last half of it to the last half of the dough. DO you follow me?

 Now you need another BIG POT but for boiling water with a TB of baking soda.  Bagels are boiled before baking.But the process goes very fast. 1 minute on one side then 1 minute on the other side, NO MORE, Remove from water with a slotted spoon. I have one of those basket ladles which works perfect.

 Remove from water. Brush an egg white wash over the top and dip in toppings, We love Everything bagels so mix sesame seed, poppy seed, Kosher salt together. First I have a little bowl of rehydrated onion flakes ( takes a couple of minutes in hot water) that I spread over the bagels with a butter knife. Then I dip the top of the bagel in the sesame, poppy seed ,salt bowl and put on a parchment paper covered baking sheet to bake them Follow Smitten Kitchen's directions,

 To keep the holes from closing up during the overnight refrigeration process I rolled little cylinders of card stock and stuck them in the holes. when the dough starts to rise it closes up the holes otherwise.

 Then my parchment paper ran out so I cut the cardboard roll in sections to use for next time.

 Mine baked for about 12 min total.

 They were SOOOOO   YUMMY !!!    No preservatives but they freeze well. Bagels come out best if you let them thaw naturally to room temp.

It was pouring rain yesterday so I annihilated the gloom by making rye bread. 

This is by far the most delicious recipe for rye bread I have ever tasted. I have been through years of trying to find that one great Jewish deli rye bread with the crispy crust but had failed to find it. Then one day.... THERE IT WAS  !!!    Here is the web site.    https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/01/new-york-deli-rye-bread/           While the recipe is given, let me walk you through it with pictures so that it makes sense and is easier if you have never tried this method before. You can buy rye flour online if you can't find a store that sells it. I got mine on a WalMart website. They mailed it to me but I had to buy a few bags, You can also buy bread flour online too or anykind of flour for that matter.

FIRST  you must make a sponge .  A sponge is a batter and is used as your base. Check out the website given for the recipe,  The sponge contains the secret wonderful ingredient that gives it the unique taste. That ingredient is MALT  that is used in beer brewing. You can bye it online or at a local place that sells beer brewing and wine making supplies and ingredients, This is NOT the same malt used to make ice cream malts, shakes & malted milk that you get in the grocery store.Once you open the bag store in in a zip lock bag and press the air out.You only need 1/2 TB so bye a small bag. It will last you FOREVER !

Next , mix the secondary flour mixture in a separate bowl and then gently cover the top of the sponge with the flour mixture,  DON'T MIX IT IN. Cover bowl with a plate and wait about an hour or so until the sponge starts to bubble up through the flour mixture. Also DO NOT ADD THE OIL YET,  That gets added during the kneading process.

You can see the sponge bubbling through the flour in the picture below.

I  use my mixer with the dough hook. Add the oil to the mixing bowl then dump the sponge and flour mixture into the mixing bowl. 

Let the mixer do the kneading and let it keep going until all the caraway seeds and little bits of loose flour are well mixed in but if you don't have a mixer with a dough hook just check out Youtube on how the knead bread dough. Rub a little oil onto your hands to keep the dough from sticking. I learned that from making pasta.I use olive oil. (  Rub it on your face too. It gets rid of dry skin fast and is better than anything.) While this is mixing wash out your bowl and dribble a little oil around the side walls of the bowl. About 1 TB  more. Take the dough and put it in the bowl to rise.Flip it over ( the dough, not the bowl) so that the oil in the bowl coats the outside of the dough. This keeps it moist  and adds the perfect amount of oil to the recipe. If you don't have a warm area you can heat your oven to 170F  and SHUT IT OFF then place your dough in the warmed oven and let it rise.  

I cover the bowl with a plate while it rises. It takes about an hour or so. The bowl will probably be filled with the risen dough when ready. It will be moist when you dump it out on a floured board. Knead it into a loaf shape ,sprinkle corn meal lightly on baking sheet (ungreased) and let it rise on the baking sheet. I place warm bottles or containers of hot water on the sides of the loaf to keep it from spreading out sideways. The warmth also helps the loaves rise faster.I want it to rise vertically to make nice size loafs for sandwiches. 

The recipe calls for 450 F  for the first 15 min. but mine started to burn. I just bake my loaves on 

400 F the whole time for about 45 Min.  Put an egg white wash over the loaves and make 2-3 superficial  slices across the top of the loaf before you put it in the oven, I make the dough the day before I bake it because I make a lot at one time. This way it doesn't take up my whole day.  You can put it in the refrigerator overnight .   I made 6 loaves yesterday, cut them in half and froze them in zip lock bags, That will last me a long time.

SO  GOOOOOD  !!!!!  My husband woke up for a nap and said, "It smells like a Jewish bakery  down here ".   (:> He always says the right thing.