I’ve been craving sourdough bagels so I made some.

I changed the recipe a little — whey instead of dried milk powder, half the wheat gluten, molasses instead of barley malt syrup. To one batch I added cinnamon and raisins; the other batch I made into plain and everything. I’d forgotten how simple the recipe is, which was a nice surprise. Bonus: they made the whole family very happy.

So on the off-chance you’re looking for a weekend baking project, there you go.

***

I’ve never worked in a restaurant kitchen, but I’ve heard, according to people who have, that this show is about as real as it gets. 

And then I watched it and was like, Seriously? Kitchens are like that? So I asked one of my fellow bakers who’s had a bunch of kitchen jobs and she was like, Oh, it’s real all right. I used to cry almost every day after work. What the heck?! (Thank goodness Magpie — diner and kitchen — is definitely not that sort of restaurant.) Anyway, my husband and I tore through the show and now he says “behind” when he crosses behind me in the kitchen. 

***

Not a fun thing (but it could be . . . because readers might leave lots of good comments and then you’d get ideas, too): I need a good book.

So I can lose myself like this kid does.

Help me out?

***

I first saw these mesh food covers on Gavin’s YouTube channel. I thought they’d be too clunky, or else they’d float away in the slightest breeze, but then the flies started getting to me and I decided to give them a try. 

Turns out, they’re pretty darn wonderful! I use them to cover my cheeses while they’re air drying, but I also plop them down on anything else that needs protection: pies, bread, a plate of food set aside for a working child. My pack came with six — I keep two accessible in the kitchen (they cumple-fold like umbrellas) and store the remaining ones as backup for when these eventually break, or to share with friends. Because you never know when someone might need a food umbrella.

***

If you haven’t yet seen it, check out this 8-minute NYTimes opinion video piece about journalist and author John Hendrickson and his disability: stuttering. 

Take the time to watch it.

***

One of my friends shared this story (Katie the Prefect by Joe Posnanski) on his Facebook page, saying, “I have used this specific piece of writing for many years in my nonfiction unit in ninth grade English. It is very much worth the time!” I don’t usually read recommended-on-Facebook articles, but I’d just made myself a cup of coffee so I decided to give it a go. Maybe it’d be good?

And it was good. Very, very good.

***

I watched this little clip about making croissants the French way, curious to see how it differed from our method at Magpie.

Turns out, our method is actually quite similar, though we brush on the egg wash, not spray it, and we have to pound out our butter blocks by hand. (Oh, to have access to ready-made, flat rectangles of butter!)

***

Happy weekend, friends!

P.S. This weekend, my husband and I are hitting the theater hard. First up, opening night for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in Winchester. I loved the book (I’ve never seen the show), and my co-star from Outside Mullingar is playing the father, hip-hip! And then the next night, we’re going to the opening production of Give Us Good at Silk Moth Stage. Some of our friends are meeting us there, and I’m taking cheese and wine for the pre-show live music/picnic time.

Can’t wait!

This same time, years previous: some big news, has anyone made grape liqueur?, a hernia, hip-hip!, home again, the proper procedure for toweling off after a shower, outside eating, calf wrangling, regretful wishing.

It’s been a long week, and yes, I realize it’s only Wednesday (or was, when I started writing this post), but my latest cheesemaking project is defeating me (going entirely to hell in its not-yet-blue handbasket), I’m still dealing with my ongoing existential angst (just because I don’t write about it doesn’t mean it’s not happening), and then, to top things off, I made a lime ice cream that tastes like vomit.

Thank goodness I’ve figured out how to make a mean mint-chip ice cream.

At least there’s that. 

A few things about this ice cream.

The Mint: Don’t put too much in, but don’t put in too little, either. The first couple times around, I used only 4-6 drops of peppermint oil. This last time I used more like, oh…20? Start with 8 drops and taste your way to perfection. (For more details, see the note at the start of the recipe below.)

The Dairy: I don’t really measure (sorry). I aim for 3-4 cups total, generally 2 parts cream to 1 part milk, but you can do whatever you want: a mashup of evaporated milk, some half-and-half, yogurt or sour cream, etc. Your fridge is the limit.

The Green: You gotta color the ice cream base. I tried it without the green food coloring and it wasn’t right. Don’t argue. Do it.

The Chocolate: I’ve been putting in larger shards of chocolate but my younger daughter just bought some Turkey Hill Mint Chip and check out how pebbled their ice cream is:

Next time I’m a-gonna chop that chocolate up fine.

While this ice cream base is more complicated than some, keep in mind that once you make it a couple times it will become almost second nature (as does any recipe, if you make it often enough). I’ve been making so much ice cream recently that, except for the sugar and cornstarch, I no longer measure any of the ingredients. My theory is: use enough cream and it’ll turn out fine. (Unless you use old cream and ruin an entire cheese, or add too much lime concentrate and turn the ice cream into a pile of cold vomit. In those cases, no amount of cream will fix things.)

Mint Chip Ice Cream That’s Almost Exactly Like Turkey Hill’s!

I recently posted a video of me making this ice cream base, if watching cooking videos is your jam. (In the video, I used the base to make a blueberry swirl ice cream.)  

Peppermint extracts and oils vary wildly! I use this one — LorAnn Oils: Peppermint Oil — and after a ridiculous amount of trial and error, I have finally locked in the exact amount: 8-9 drops. (And yes, I use a dropper. Precision is imperative.)

2 cups cream (half-full quart jar)
1 cup milk (raise the level in the jar to three-quarters full)
⅔ cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup (a brief pour)
1½ ounces cream cheese (a lump)
⅛ teaspoon salt (2 pinches)
4 teaspoons cornstarch in a couple tablespoons of milk
peppermint oil or extract, to taste
a few drops green food coloring
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (several fistfuls)
2-3 teaspoons coconut oil (a blob)

Put the cream, milk, sugar, and corn syrup into a kettle, heat until boiling, and then let simmer-bubble for 4 minutes. 

Whisk the cornstarch with a little milk and add it to the hot cream-milk mixture. Boil for another minute and then remove the kettle from the heat.

Put the salt and cream cheese in a small bowl. Add a little scoop of the hot milk and whisk until smooth. Add the creamy cream cheese mixture back to the pot. Add the peppermint oil, tasting until it’s the right amount of minty. Add the green food coloring until it’s as green as you want it.

Chill the base for 5-8 hours (if you want to speed things up, set it in a pan filled with cold water and ice), or overnight.

Right before churning the ice cream, put the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a double boiler and heat until melted, stirring frequently. Spread the chocolate on a piece of parchment and then transfer to the fridge to chill. 

Churn the ice cream. When it’s almost done, chop the chocolate into bits (or break into shards) and add about half of the chocolate to the maker while it’s running. When the ice cream is done churning, transfer it to a container, layering in the remaining chocolate as you go.

Freeze the ice cream for 3-5 hours to firm up, and then dig in!

This same time, years previous: Southern sweet tea, blueberry muffins, the quotidian (9.1.14), caramelized oat topping, why I don’t teach my kids science.

On this particular day, my younger son came home from work at noon because he had an early afternoon follow-up doctor appointment. This was what he fixed for himself to eat.

Sandwich Number One:

Sweet Lebanon Balogna with lettuce and tomato, mayo, and tons of mustard (always tons of mustard) on an oatmeal sandwich bread that I’d test-baked for the bakery.

Sandwich Number Two:

Leftover bacon cheeseburger from the night before, with garden stuff and condiments.

Sandwich Number Three:

A single piece of bread stuffed with balogna, ham, etc.

And then we went to his follow-up doctor appointment where we learned he weighed five-pounds less than he did the week prior and he’s now 6 foot 4.

This same time, years previous: the quotidian (8.31.20), at home, crunch week, the quotidian (8.31.15), the new bakery, walking the line, my mornings.