Baking with Kids - It's Bagel Time!

My daughter and I have a fascination with Montreal boiled bagels.  They aren't too easy to find in Prince Edward Island, except at Brighton Clover Farm, in Charlottetown.  One day, we decided to make our own.  

I found a recipe on the internet, but changed it around a little and added different types of flour that I like better than white pastry flour.  After we mixed all of the ingredients, it was time to knead the dough for about 8 minutes.

After kneading, we covered the dough and let it sit for about 15 minutes.  Then it was time to cut the dough into small portions, shape it into balls and roll the balls into long snakey shapes.

Then, loop the two ends together into a circle shape, pinching the ends together.

Next we worked the dough slightly to form our bagel shapes.

And placed them onto trays with parchment so they wouldn't stick together.

We decided we wanted sesame bagels, so we poured sesame seeds out onto a tray and Lily did some seed artwork designs.

Next, it was time to boil the bagels (on simmer) in a pot of water with a little sugar added, for about 7 minutes, turning them once.  They don't look very appetizing at the moment, while being boiled, but just wait until they are baked...

After the bagels are boiled, it's time to cover them with the sesame seeds.  Yum! 

And bake them at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. 

They turned out really well and what a great way to spend some fun time with your kids!

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Making Valentines

Instead of buying Valentine cards to give out to her classmates, my daughter decided to make her own.  She set up a little production table and got to work.  She used easy-to-find materials including: plain white paper, a glue stick, scissors, stamps, watersoluble pastels, a paint brush and a bowl of water.




We use this set of water-soluble wax pastels a lot.  They are made in Switzerland by a company called, Caran d'Ache.  We have a tin of 30 colours and it's great because there are different shades of the same colour.  The way these pastels work is like magic for children!  You draw on a surface as you would with a crayon and then paint over your drawing with a wet paint brush and it turns to watercolour.  You can also draw on wet paper with really cool results.




Watersoluble Wax Pastels by Caran d'Ache

  

We also use this Fairy Stamp Set by Djeco quite often.  It comes with lots of really beautiful fairy-inspired stamps, a stamp pad and a book for stamping.

Lily painted her sheets of paper, set them to dry by the fireplace and then cut them into heart shapes.

We used the scraps of paper from the big hearts to make little hearts to decorate with after.  I helped cut out the little hearts.  Some really pretty patterns come out just by chance when using the scraps of leftovers.

Later, she folded the hearts in half and then addressed each to the friends in her class.

And here are the finished Valentine Cards that Lily made for her class.  Each is unique.  What a fun way to spend an afternoon!

Fairy Stamp Set by Djecohttp://www.owlshollow.com/shop/by_brand.cfm?brand=143