I’ll be a better baker in 2006. Some people resolve to lose weight over the New Year, or clean out the garage, or be more financially responsible. I’m going to bake good bagels.

I’m also going to bake good baguettes, croissants, and maybe even pastries. The sweets don’t interest me as much as the bread side of the baking world, but I’ll dabble with it here and there. I’ve been making a pretty mean pizza for ten years now, and I’m overdue for learning about other kinds of breads. So I’ll be baking something three or four times a week, over the course of next year. If practice doesn’t make perfect, at least the family won’t starve.

The home made pizzas came about because I got sick of eating half assed pizza in California. My definition of good pizza, like everyone else’s, goes back to the pizza of my youth. If you’re from Chicago or New Haven, you have certain criteria that defines good from dreck. I grew up near New York City. That also explains my bagel mission. I’m not gonna be an East coast bagel whiner. I will control my own bagel destiny, mwaaa ha ha ha….. ha!!

[Insert sound of crickets chirping]

Sooo… that’s a really high bar to set for myself. But I’m off to a decent start. I’ve been using Peter Reinhart’s Crust and Crumb for guidance. The crust didn’t come out as crisp as I wanted, nor did I get thousands of tiny blisters on the surface. I shaped these too tall to start with, but that’s an easy problem to fix. The interior had a nice, toothy pull and chewed with a firm resistance from the high gluten flour I used. This was an ok first attempt, but can I ever nail it, with no stand mixer, and a crappy gas oven in a rental home? It might never happen, but I’m gonna keep tilting at windmills.

Call me Don Quixote de la Bagel.

Salt bagel

Onion and sesame bagels