Under a Blue Moon

 

Everyone should be able to look out their kitchen window and see chickens, don't you think?

 

When we lived in Turkey we used to buy Simits from street vendors that would carry a huge stack of them on a pole.  They are kind of a mix between a sesame bagel and soft pretzel only better.

I've been talking about making them for years and finally, today, I did.

They are kind of labor intensive and, to be honest, I don't think I'll try them again.  My version didn't taste as good as I remember them tasting. 

 

It's a basic bread recipe.  I used a recipe from here (scroll down to see the recipe) after doing some research (i.e. Googling) and seeing that most recipes were very similar. 

You knead the dough and then let it rise for a couple of hours.  Then knead it again and divide it into eight equal pieces.  Let them rise.  Then roll it into long logs, twist and form into circles.  Let them rise.  Then you dip them in a water/molassas mixture and then dredge them in sesame seeds.   Let them rise again.

It's all day process.

Personally I think I'd rather just get on a plane and go to Turkey and buy an authentic one from an authentic street vendor. 

There is a Turkish patisserie nearby.  That might be a better/closer option.

 

 

It is January.  January always just d r a a a a a a g s on forever, doesn't it?  It's dreary and cold and there aren't any fairy lights to add a little sparkle (Okay confession – my lights are still up on the deck and I'm still turning them on.  I can't decide if it is charming or tacky).

To top things off I have a cold and general feeling of malaise.  Like I have no energy and  my limbs are all noodly.

It's not helping that when I look out the window everything is grey.  This is what it looks like out my office window right now. 

 

Admittedly there is a bit of green but still.  Grey grey grey. 

What do you do to get out of the January doldrums?  Head to some tropical paradise?  Peruse gardening catalogs and dream of Spring?  Or look blearily out the window and think that it will never warm up and be sunny?

Edited to add: