Standing in line at Starbucks, my face began to flush. I looked at the menu, the calories neatly printed next to each caffeinated beverage, and I felt my stomach churn. Walking up and down the terminal at the Portland, Maine Jetport, I assured myself: you are going to be okay, you are going to be okay. But like anyone who has ever worshiped the “porcelain throne”, I knew that my assurances would only take me so far. Ryan presided over our bags. I wobbled back to him, clutching my stomach and a large iced tea. “I’m feeling sick, really sick,” I said. He gave me a hug, looked at the line of fellow passengers waiting to board our aircraft, and told me, “You are going to be just fine.”
But as I walked down the runway to our jet, all I felt was flushed and panicked. “I need a bag,” I whispered to Ryan, “because I’m about to puke on this tarmac.” As soon as our flight attendant, smiling with her bright red lips, saw me, she handed me a large plastic bag. “Just in case you get sick,” she said. Was my discomfort that obvious?
When we reached our seat, the waves of nausea were now breaking and cresting with unrelenting speed. “I can’t do this,” I cried, “I have to get off this plane." Ryan rubbed my shoulders as I hunched over my knees, breathing in the sickly sweet vapor of sanitized plastic. The flight attendant brought over a wet paper towel (she really was an angel through this ordeal).
But as I wrestled with the nausea, I thought about my sweet nephew, Ryan. We had just spent a week with my sister and her family, and while our days were relaxing, they were also heavy with the painful realization that our lives had been irreversibly changed. Before the accident this spring, where I lost my sister, Pam and nephew, Jeremy, my other sister’s family went through a similarly painful tragedy. Baby Ryan drowned in a backyard pool last October and though alive, he now lives with severe brain damage. He can’t eat or walk right now; he makes small progress, not the leaps and bounds we had initially hoped for.This past week, I fed baby Ryan through his Kangaroo Joey, a feeding device that moves liquid food directly into his stomach.
As the designated Moutrie baker, I am accustomed to feeding my family. I’m often in charge of Christmas and Thanksgiving; I’ve even been known to throw a few dinner parties in my day. But only in this past year have I seen so many members of my family unable to eat due to catastrophic accidents. Only this year have I prayed that my nephews, my sister, my brother-in-law could take just one normal bite.
So as I felt my stomach churn and clutched the side of my airplane seat yesterday, I thought of the struggle that baby Ryan faces each day. And I remembered how despite how awful that brown goop looks as it drips into his stomach, he continues to smile, to laugh, to take pleasure in life.
So as the airplane took off and as sweat covered my forehead, I prayed, smiled and even laughed at the humor of it all. After several minutes of intense nausea, I fell asleep, and I awoke to a descending plane and a much calmer stomach.
When I left the aircraft, I wanted a bagel (and to wrap my arms, yet again, around my family). A doughy piece of bread is always what I turn to after I feel sick. I made these garlic bagels a few weeks ago, and I wished I had one stored away in my carry-on.
This recipe is another adaptation of the Peter Reinhart bagel recipe that I love. Minced garlic and a light brush of melted butter makes this bagel perfect with a lightly fried egg or a smear of veggie cream cheese.
But before you get started...a few shots from Maine.
Halley (baby Ryan's big sister) and I made bagels in Maine. 
We also ate lobster. 
And walked along the rocky shore... Garlic Bagels1 TBSP honey
1 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup + 2 TBSP lukewarm water
3 1/2 unbleached bread flour
2 heaping TBSP of dried minced garlic
1 TBSP melted butter
Poaching liquid:
2 quarts water
1 TBSP baking soda
1 TBSP honey
1 tsp kosher salt
1. In a small bowl, stir the honey, the yeast and the salt into the lukewarm water. Place the flour into the bowl of a standing mixer (or any large bowl) and pour in the yeast mixture. Using a dough hook, or a large wooden spoon, and mix on low speed for 3 minutes. The dough should form a stiff, course ball and the flour should be fully hydrated.
2. Resume mixing on medium speed for 3-5 minutes, or knead dough on a lightly floured surface so that the gluten can begin to develop. The dough should be stiff and slightly tacky. It should have a smooth, satiny feel. If needed add more flour or water to achieve the desired consistency. Add the minced dried garlic during the last two minutes of kneading. Feel free to add more or less depending on your taste.
3. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and allow to rise at room temperature, for 60-90 minutes. After initial rise, divide the dough into 6 (4 1/2 ounce) pieces. Form the pieces into rolls.
4. Line 1 large sheet pan with baking parchment and mist lightly with spray oil. Poke a hole in a ball of bagel dough and gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it to approximately 2 1/2 inches in diameter for a large bagel, two inches for a regular one or just slightly more than one inch for a miniature. The dough should be as evenly stretched as possible.
5. Place each of the shaped pieces two inches apart on the pans. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator and allow to retard over night.
6. In the morning, remove your bagels from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours. After an hour, check to see if your bagels are ready for boiling. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be boiled when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. If they don't float, let them sit at room temperature for 30 more minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 500°F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large, wide pot of water to a boil, and add the baking soda and honey. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.
8. Gently drop the bagels into the water, boiling only a few at a time. After one minute, flip them over and boil for another minute. While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour. Remove the boiled bagels to a wire rack while finishing the remaining bagels.
9. When all the bagels have been boiled, place the pans on the middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately five minutes, then rotate the pans. After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450°F and continue baking for about 5 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown.
10. Remove the pans from the oven and brush with melted butter. Allow the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.
Always,
Monet
Anecdotes and Apple Cores
PS. Yahoo recently did something pretty cool...and I thought you should know about it.
Yahoo made a $20,000 commitment to Share our Strength, a non profit that works towards ending childhood hunger in America. There is a quick (30-second) way to commend Yahoo! for its partnership with this admirable organization.
To show its appreciation, Yahoo! has committed to donate $20,000 to Share Our Strength on behalf of US, the Foodbuzz community of publishers and readers.
In turn, you have the opportunity to show your support of this partnership by setting Yahoo! as your homepage by clicking on this link. Like what they’re doing? Let them know by changing your homepage.
Here are two things you can do raise awareness about this important cause:
1. Make Yahoo! your homepage now.
2. Share the campaign with your Facebook friends and Twitter followers.
Thanks for your support!
