Today I made bagels for the first time. Cinnamon bagels, to be exact. Was it fun? Yes. Was I successful? Well, let's just say I could barely taste the cinnamon in the finished product and I also managed to burn myself somewhere along the way (on the inside of my wrist, a very sensitive spot!). The texture of the bagels wasn't bad though, so it was not a complete failure. With a bit more practice and tweaking, I think I'll be turning out bagels better than Sara Lee!
Speaking of baking, I'm inclined to mention that over the past few months I've had an unprecedented interest in all things food-and-kitchen-related. If you had told me...oh say, 2 years ago...that someday I would be making bagels from scratch for fun, I would have laughed out loud. Two years ago I was afraid to boil water. Okay, well maybe I wasn't that bad, but I was definitely wary of my ability to cook anything--probably because I'd never really tried before. I was raised in a household that ate microwaved dinners night after night, and when we ran out of those it was time to go out to a restaurant. Making something "from scratch" was considered punishment; my family just wasn't into cooking. I've felt the absence of this beautiful passion, and recently it has led me to seek a solution for all those missed years of cooking. What's more beautiful than making something entirely from nothing? And then getting to eat it! I'm saddened that my family never understood the joy of cooking.
I don't wish to be misinterpreted, however; though I do greatly enjoy cooking/baking, I don't pretend to be great at it. In fact, I know very little about it. As you can probably guess, no one ever taught me how, so I basically get by on what I've seen on the Food Network. Oh and if I want to know how to do something...like boil water (ha, just kidding)..then I Google it and voila! But the most important thing is that, while my cooking skills may not be anything exceptional, they are certainly good enough for me. And there's definitely something to be said for the sense of pride I get after concocting something all by myself--and I think that makes my food taste even better :).
One show I ABSOLUTELY adore now is Top Chef. It is so fantastic, I just can't even explain. It comes on Bravo on Wednesday nights at 9, and you should definitely check it out! Although Season 5 just ended last week, so you'll have to wait until the new season starts. The people on that show are just insanely good cooks and it's a lot of fun to watch them use their creativity and talent to create amazing dishes (I'm assuming their amazing. They certainly look and sound amazing!).
Well, that's it for tonight. By the way, this is my very first blog so Yay Me! Was it too long? Did I talk about myself too much? Oh wait... :)
