Author: Micki Paugh

Book Review: Royal Harlot

| Micki Paugh

This was a good in-between more dense reads for me. One of the many books that I finished last week, I feel that it was more of a palate cleanser than anything else. “Royal Harlot” was a good, fun, and raunchy romp through the world of the Restoration Monarchy in the 17th century. The story is based off the life of Barbara Villiers, the first royal mistress of Charles the Second of England. A surprisingly sympathetic look at one of the most vilified women in English history, I appreciated both the nuance of the story and the incredibly racy sections. I would absolutely not recommend this for children but I did find it a good summer read for fans of historical fiction.

A note about where I got this book: I found this book while perusing the aisles of Beach Town Books in San Clemente, a lovely second-hand bookstore. While I love the scent of a new book, there are so many older books that need a good home and are much cheaper to buy the second time round. I really like the website Thrift Books because of the vast selection but there are an abundance of local second-hand bookstores that need your support! My favorites include Beach Town Books in San Clemente and the Book Escape in Baltimore. It’s also much nicer to your pocketbook in the long run so go and find a second hand bookshop near you!

Book Review: Kingdom of the Blind

| Micki Paugh

I finished reading this several days ago and the more time that I’ve had to ponder the book, the more I’ve enjoyed it. Penny creates a lovable but morally questionable character in Inspector Armand Gamache and I thoroughly loved him and the rest of the crazy cast of characters. However, one mistake that I made with this novel was thinking that it was a stand-alone. I asked for it for Christmas and finally got around to it while sheltering at home and quickly realized that it was the third of a trilogy…..big oof. Despite it being the third book, Penny took care to introduce the entire cast of characters once again for the errant reader such as myself, who have stumbled upon her series a little late.

Penny creates quite a story and it gets a little difficult to keep track of all the action at certain points. The novel follows Gamache on a tale of two storylines, one where he is called upon to be the executor of the will of a mystery woman known as the Baroness, and the other where Gamache seeks redemption for his drug bust gone terribly wrong. To me, the drug bust storyline was the more interesting part of the novel especially as it featured a young woman, written in the style of Lisbeth Salander of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, in the title role. As someone who is also learning French, I found the little Quebecois phrases and quirks inserted into the book to be especially endearing. I also found a favorite character in Ruth, the grizzled and extremely boozy poet laureate of Three Pines. Ruth’s poetry was also woven throughout the novel in a very nice touch. I would recommend this book but I would definitely advise the reader to start with the first two novels in the series, “A Great Reckoning” and “Glass Houses”.

Book Review: How Long ‘Til Black Future Month

| Micki Paugh

I straight up LOVED this book! I got this a few months ago from my Big in my sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, and have been waiting to read it. I love N.K Jemisin, her Broken Earth trilogy is absolutely out of this world. This book is much different than the other novels of hers that I’ve read because it is a collection of short stories. Jemisin was told to start writing using short stories and this book is a collection of stories. I really love the vividness of the worlds that she creates and this book is no exception. One part of Jemisin’s writings that I adore is her imagination and representation. Not only is she able to create an entire new world of experiences for her readers, she also showcases bodies and attitudes that have been left out of much of the more traditional science fiction literature.

I do love a brave protagonist but I also really appreciate reading a story with a main character who is on the chubbier side or has hair that is beautiful but not part of the mainstream idea of beauty. Jemisin writes characters with nuance and love and it’s hard for me to describe just how much I treasure her novels. Jemisin also has a new book out, “The Cities that We Became” but I haven’t had the chance to get my hands on it yet. This book is an absolute treat and I had to slow myself down to fully appreciate each of her short stories. I found that it was best to read each story individually rather than racing through the book but it’s more of a personal preference. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!

Sourdough Discard Bagels

| Micki Paugh

My very first post inspired by these lovely beauties! Yesterday, I was able to formulate a recipe on my own for the first time. I’ve baked loads and have branched out into cooking but I’ve always felt too nervous to try and invent my own recipe but here it is! I’ve been working a lot with sourdough the past few months, it seems like its the theme for my whole experience in quarantine because I’ve been caring for it so freaking much! I had some idea of how much time goes into maintaining your sourdough starter but I hadn’t realized that this time commitment also applies to every single bake you make from your mother or starter. With resources (specifically flour) having been very scarce in some parts of the country recently, I’ve felt that it was a tremendous waste to throw my discard down the sink. I’ve also been working on food sustainability research and this has further underlined the need to commit to less wasteful lives. So with this all in mind, I’ve been trying to make my sourdough discard go further and this is one way to do it.

I also took inspiration from the Washington Post’s article on Sourdough Discard (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2020/05/22/heres-how-to-use-your-sourdough-discard-in-everyday-baking/) and this was my first successful attempt to incorporate my discard into a baked good without following a recipe from another baker. Without further ado, here are photos of my darling bagels and the recipe is below!

Sourdough Discard Bagel Recipe

For the Bagel Dough

  • 2 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 134 grams sourdough discard (unfed)
  • 380 grams lukewarm water
  • 35 grams malted milk powder (This can be found in the cereal aisle of the grocery store or you can use non-diastatic malt powder if you have it. Do not use diastatic malt powder because it will react with the sour in the discard and your bagels will taste funny)
  • 25 grams granulated sugar
  • 14 grams kosher salt
  • 630 grams All-Purpose flour

For the Water Bath

  • Medium or Large Saucepan (Use a shallow pan but one large enough to hold all the water)
  • 2 quarts water (8 cups for people like me that have a hard time with measuring things)
  • 2 tablespoons malted milk powder
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Instructions

  1. Mix all the ingredients together and knead until smooth and elastic. You may need to add in a small amount of flour if the discard that you are using is more on the liquid side. If you decide to add in flavoring such as fresh or powdered herbs, now is the time to do so.
  2. Roll into a ball and place into a greased bowl. Let prove for 1 hour up to 1 1/2 hours. I test my dough to see if it’s done proofing by sticking my finger in and seeing if the impression stays put or springs back. If it springs back, the dough can continue to prove for a little longer.
  3. Preheat oven to 425F and line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper. Mix ingredients for the bagel bath and add to a saucepan, bringing it to a boil.
  4. Turn out dough from greased bowl and divide into 16 for small bagels or 12 for larger bagels.
  5. To shape the dough, roll it into a ball. Stick two fingers into flour then poke them into the center of your dough ball. Make sure they come out the other side of the bagel and you can sort of twirl the dough ball around your floured fingers to enlarge the center hole. Alternatively, you can use the older method for bagel shaping where you roll the divided dough sections into logs and you bring the ends together like you are making a wreath. This is slightly more complicated and if you take this method, you may need to practice on a few before it starts to look right. I’ve found the poking and twirling method to be the most fool-proof although the holes are usually smaller by the end.
  6. Place your shaped dough onto parchment and bring the whole sheet over to the stove top. Turn the boiling bagel bath down to a simmer and place your bagels in the water. You should let your bagel sit in the bath for about a minute each, 30 seconds per side. Place only 3-4 bagels in the bath at a time to prevent crowding.
  7. Once bathed, remove the bagels to the parchment and season as you like. I use Everything seasoning but you can really go nuts here, my only recommendation is that you use a dry seasoning.
  8. Once bathed and seasoned, put the bagels into the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. I find that my bagels take anywhere from 20-30 minutes depending on how happy my oven is that day.
  9. Let cool on a wire rack and enjoy! I find that they last several days in an airtight container or can be frozen to be enjoyed later.