I am not an afficianado of Montreal bagels, but here is a recipe that seems to replicate them. I proof them overnight in the fridge, not authentic but beneficial. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 cup lukewarm potato water (This is essentially the water left over from boiling potatoes. Covered, this will refrigerate for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 4 months. You can also dissolve 1½ tablespoons of potato flour in 1 cup of lukewarm water, but I havent tried this.) 1 envelope of yeast 1 tablespoon beaten egg 3 tablespoons canola oil 1 tablespoon malt syrup ~3 cups all-purpose flour 2 tbsp granulated sugar 1½ teaspoon Kosher salt Poaching Liquid 16 cups water 1/3 cup honey Glaze 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon water poppy or sesame seeds Instructions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a large bowl, dissolve 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar into the lukewarm potato water. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it stand for 10 minutes or until it gets frothy. Stir the tablespoon of beaten egg, canola oil and malt syrup into the yeast/water mixture. Stir together 1 cup of the flour, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and the kosher salt. Slowly beat these dry ingredients into the yeast mixture using an electric mixer until smooth. This should take about 2 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to gradually mix the remaining flour in to the mixture resulting in a soft sticky dough. On a lightly floured surface knead until the dough is smooth and stretchy. Make sure to get all the dry isolated flour spots worked out of the dough. This should take 5-10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, rotating the dough around the bowl so its outside is covered in the grease. Cover with plastic wrap (or wax paper with grease on it and a small towel). Allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1½ hours until the dough has doubled and you can poke your finger into it and leave a mark. Preheat your oven to 400 F. After rising, punch the dough down and knead it several times. Divide the dough into 10 pieces (the recipe originally called for 12 pieces, but my bagels were getting even too small for me. I may tweak the recipe to result in an even dozen). Keep the unformed dough and formed bagels covered when youre not directly shaping them. There are two methods for shaping a bagel. One is to make a ball (dont compress it too much) and poke your thumb through the center. You work your thumb (on the inside of the bagel) and your index finger (on the outside) all the way around the bagel until its formed. The other method which I prefer is to roll the dough into a long pipe and then wrap it horizontally around your hand using your fist as well as your other hand to seal it into a ring. The pipe of dough just barely wraps around my hand and I have to stretch it a bit. I like this method because the shapes end up more bagel-like, whereas for me, the first method results in more roll-like creations with small depressions in the middle. Place your bagels apart on a floured and covered baking sheet. Let them rise for 15 minutes. In the meantime, in a large pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the honey and stir. This is the poaching liquid. Gently slide your bagels into the water a few at a time into the water over a medium heat for 1 minute on each side. This is to proof them, they should be noticeably bigger than when they went into the water. Carefully remove the bagels onto parchment paper or a foil-lined greased baking sheet using a slotted spoon. Stir together the egg yolk and water and quickly brush over the bagels as they come out of the poaching liquid. Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds. Bake in the 400 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the tops are golden brown and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.

Yes, I used it in my hallway off the kitchen. I used Interactive Cream on the same color strip in my kitchen to go with my terra cotta tile floors. The hallway is off the kitchen and I wanted to use a similar color. In my house it definitely has some orange in it. I do think it has a medium tone to it. I think you will need to paint a swatch on the wall and look at it during different times of day. It can look different in natural vs light bulb lighting.

OK, I may be hooked. I'm giving up on getting my kitchen too much done-er than it is, and have spent a few days now actually cooking real food: it is so nice. Two years .... sigh. So this is great incentive to add in another thing. TR, could you please explain "the formulas from Wild Yeast"? Is this a website? Person ("Hers are all fool proof"). I've had middling success keeping starters fresh and active (yogurts, kefirs, breads), but I'm willing to try again. I've suspected my yogurt gets, basically, "tired" as a function of groddiness in the container so that's why I wonder about cleanliness. I've been all around on this issue and it may be a red herring; freshness may be the biggest factor, not entrapped bits. Do you find the cleanliness of the container matters? What flour do you use ... please don't tell me you grind your own! I'm not up to that yet. But I used to use massive quantities of Giusto's (may be west coast?) and liked it a lot. A baking snob once retorted that this was highly inferior: :( -- I have made some yummy stuff with it. But if you know another west-coast readily available company I'm very happy to learn of it. Thanks for your thoughts. I thought of your *blue* margarita the other day when I cracked out the blender at long-last. We used to have smoothies daily in days gone by. I'd been reticent to re-start for various reasons but I'm glad I dived back in. There's been a long hibernation involved with losing your kitchen for two years and re-entry is weirdly psychologically difficult. Who Knew?

I have a hinged plastic holder for slicing bagels. It works perfectly and takes up little space. It holds the bagel upright and can accommodate varying sizes. Sort of a clamshell affair with spikes to keep the bagels from slipping. Sadly, I tried searching, but I don't think the product is made any more.