Tag: food

I made some Bagels!

Hey, look! I made some bagels! I was a bit intimidated by this one, but I’ve made those pretzel buns a few times now so these were not too different from those.

I got 8 bagels, just around 100 grams each, which seems a little smaller than the ones we’d get from a bagel shop.

The boiling water had barley malt syrup in it, instead of baking soda which I use for the pretzel buns.

The topping I used were “everything bagel seasoning” and kosher salt. I did a poor job here. I learned that when you buy bagel seasoning to sprinkle on top of things, well that’s the wrong thing to use for this…

The seasoning has garlic and onion pieces that are too small, and tend to burn. So you need to make your own. Also, “bagel boards” are a thing, which are cedar board with “food grade” burlap attached and then soaked to prevent seasonings from burning.

The ones on the right side were weird ones where I just sprinkled on things like Old Bay, and other random seasonings from the cabinet. They didn’t add much, but hey… it was an experiment! Toppings are the most difficult part of this process. (I would love to do asiago parmesan bagels!)

So… yeah. Here’s what happened when I tried to hold one in my hand to slice it. I did not use an egg wash and press the bagels into a seasoning bowl. So more things to try next time.

There are a few of the recipes I looked at. I tend to read a bunch of recipes and use bits and pieces from each.

I just made another batch today, but I think with practice it’ll become easier and I’ll get the hang of it. I’d also like to try a long(er) fermentation time with less yeast like I do for pizza dough.

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Tags bagels, food

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Dining with a Baby

This is a short post about something that happened, which is in no way remarkable, but I thought it was important to write down and share.

Last week my wife Dana and I went out to eat. After we were sat a man showed up with a stroller and a small child. He got the child out of the stroller, folded it up, and stowed it out of the way. (It’s a restaurant without a lot of space.)

A height chair appeared and the child was sat in it. And then I realized this guy was on his own. I thought perhaps his wife would join him and three people would have dinner.

Did you catch all the wrong assumptions I made?

I’ll also note the child was very well behaved, and pretty cute! She gave Dana and I a few stares and we waved back at her. I don’t think the man said anything to the child. (At least not anything loud enough for us to hear.)

I said to Dana it seemed weird to see a man (probably a father?) going out to eat with a toddler. At one point the guy took the child out of the height chair and put them on his lap. He was eating, making sure the child was eating, and seemed to just go about his business all on his own.

She said “You probably see it all the time, but it’s a woman, and you either don’t notice, or though nothing of it.” And damn… she was (probably) right! She continued with a bit about the unseen labor of women, and how men should not be praised for doing the bare minimum or for caring for their own children. (I know these things, and agree with them, but sometimes a reminder is helpful.)

Later, after thinking about it again I said “I think maybe I sort of identified with the guy since he was, (A) a man, and (B) had a child with him. It’s been decades since my kids were small, and I remember going out to eat with them, but only when they were a bit older, or at least along their mother. Maybe I felt it wasn’t something I could handle on my own?

Of course the stroller could have been a clue… maybe they lived in the neighborhood and it was easy to walk there for dinner. And the child was very well behaved.

I also felt like we mostly made meals at home when the kid(s) were little, as money was always tight.

It seems wild I put that much thought into the whole thing but… here we are.

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Tags food, kids

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Hey, it’s Bread!

After making a small loaf of bread I made this massive loaf of bread. I’m kidding of course, though this bread is twice the size of the last one. (Laser-cut banana for scale.)

Here’s the ingredients list:

240 grams flour (bread flour or all-purpose flour)
6 grams kosher salt
2 grams instant dried yeast
200 grams cool water

You can see it fills out the 2 quart Dutch oven a bit more. This is probably a good size to make in the little pot. I could probably go a little larger but then I’d need to do some real math and I’m not a fan of that.

But honestly, this might be the appropriate size for our household. In the past when I’d suggest to Dana we get a loaf of bread for grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup we’d grab a loaf from the grocery store and it seemed like we could never get one the right size, or the right shape, or just a loaf that seemed to fit our modest needs.

This was a great sized loaf that lasted just over two days and was enough for two good-sized sandwiches and some left over for a couple of pieces of toast.

Obviously I need to start making a bread like this the night before (or perhaps first thing in the morning) but I’d prefer making my own bread—with just four simple ingredients—over buying a loaf at the store.

When I make it at home I know exactly what goes into it and how it was made… and that’s worth something to me.

Tags bread, food

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Aldi Cast Iron Dutch Oven

Post author By Pete Prodoehl
Post date 2026-04-03
No Comments on Aldi Cast Iron Dutch Oven

I picked up this little 2 quart cast iron Dutch oven from Aldi. I think I saw this blog post and knowing how expensive high quality cast iron Dutch ovens are, I figured for $20 USD I’d give it a try. I made this Small Batch Crusty Bread because it was the smallest loaf I could find. (And I was too lazy to do baker’s math for other loafs.)

I’m not big on many of the meat recipes you find for a Dutch oven, but I have been making a lot of bread lately, so I thought I would give that a try.

(Note: I did bake in on/in parchment paper, though I pulled it out for the photo.)

Tiny loaf! This only used 120 grams (1 cup) of flour. I let it rise overnight, about 12 hours, and it’s one of those “no knead” recipes. It turned out pretty good! I may try to double the size for the second attempt.

I was pleased with the crumb on this loaf. I ended up eating the whole thing in one day, not surprising I guess. I toasted up two pieces for a sandwich at lunch and damn, it was good! I look forward to making more bread and possibly exploring other recipes with this thing.

Tags bread, food, tools

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Pretzel Buns

One of the ways I’ve been dealing with the pain is by spending time in the kitchen baking when I am able to. It often helps me focus on something besides the pain my body is in. And it keeps me vertical and moving around instead of just lying down.

I’ve made soft pretzels in the past but always skipped the boiling part, and wow, it makes quite the difference. I’m comfortable now with it, though I still make quite a mess, but that’s sort of my style.

The recipe for these is Pretzel Buns from King Arthur. I’ve become a fan of many of their recipes, party due to the fact it’s not some recipe web site with a very long story and dozens of advertisements.

Seriously though, I absolutely love these buns! I’ve had them toasted with just a bunch of cheese, with an egg, with some cheese and leftover taco meat (surprisingly good!) and even with cream cheese. I plan to make more of these. They also freeze pretty well.

I know what you’re saying, what about the beloved Pretzilla from Miller Baking in Milwaukee? Well, those are/were my go-to for many years, and I do like to support Milwaukee companies. My niece even used to work there, but in 2020 they sold out to a private equity firm, and of course any store-bought bread-based product is going to have additives and preservatives.

One of the reasons I am trying to make/bake more at home is because I want control of what goes into things. Flour, water, yeast, and salt (and sometimes olive oil or butter) is pretty much all you need for most dough. Be it pizza, bread, pretzels, or bagels. No additional ingredients are needed if it’s not going to sit on a store shelf. (Though honestly Pretzilla is probably better than most others, and is Non-GMO, Vegan, and Kosher.)

(Apologies for the vastly different color temperatures of the photos in this post. Our kitchen lighting is weird.)

Tags food