Valentine Bagels for Your Sweetheart?

When I was little, I loved to "help" bake in the kitchen. When I was 10 I started baby-sitting for neighbours, and so my mom decided I was also old enough to start to bake by myself. Later, in my teens, I was too busy to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. But as Valentine's day neared, I decided to use my mom's ingredients and bake my boyfriend a present. His favorite "snack" was salami and melted cheese on a bagel, so I made him a home-made bagel.

My family loved these bagels. But I never made them again as the process involved too much kneading (a homonym for the relationship.)

Here's the recipe I used, as I hand-copied it in my schoolgirl script, much neater than the scrawl I use now. The lined white notebook paper on which I wrote the recipe has actually yellowed with age! How can so much time have passed since I made these bagels at my mom's kitchen table?

(See the end of this story, below.)

VALENTINE BAGELS, circa 1974

Makes 11, plus one for a boyfriend.

• 4-1/4 to 4-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
• 3 Tbsps sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt

1. In a large mixer bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups of the flour and the yeast.
2. In another bowl, combine water, sugar and salt--add this to the flour and yeast mixture.
3. Beat with the mixer at low speed for 1 minute, scraping the sides of the bowl.
4. Then beat 3 minutes at high speed.
5. Remove the bowl from the mixer and by hand, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a somewhat stiff dough.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
7. Knead 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
8. Cover the dough with a dishtowel and let the dough rest in a warm place for 15 minutes.
9. Cut the dough into twelve portions.
10. Shape each portion into a smooth ball, and punch a hole in the centre with a floured finger.
11. Pull gently on the hole to enlarge it, then work each piece of dough into a nice bagel shape. If you are making a bagel for your sweetheart, think of him/her as you shape one into a heart. Warning-- it probably won't keep its heart-shape by the time it is finished!
12. Place the bagels on an ungreased cookie sheet, cover with a dishtowel, and let them rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, put a gallon of salted water in a big stock pot and bring the water to a boil on the stove.
14. If you want the bagels to have a glossy, smooth surface, adjust your oven rack 5 inches lower than your broiler element and put the cookie sheet of bagels under the broiler for 1-1/2 minutes each side before boiling.  I believe I skipped this step; you can just start to cook the bagels in the water.
15. Reduce the boiling water to a simmer.
16. Gently place 4-5 bagels at a time in the simmering water on the stove. Cook each bagel in the water for 7 minutes, turning once after 3-1/2 minutes.
17. Place on a wire rack to drain.
18. Place drained bagels on a greased baking sheet.
19.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven 30-35 minutes. If you broiled the bagels before cooking in the water, only bake them now for 25 minutes.

Giving a bagel made with love (and topped with a slice of salami and melted cheese) to the object of your affection might seem romantically cheesy, but will ensure his devotion...for a time. Sadly, as bagel magic doesn't seem to last, you might have to keep on periodically baking bagels to make sure he is "holey" yours....but perhaps you shouldn't "knead to."