Today, our instructor decided to take it a little easier on us seeing as he had us rolling bread dough the other day for five hours. So, we made pretzels and bagels! I was really looking forward to making these recipes because I have attempted to make both before and I was curious about how much better they would turn out this time. We made both doughs, both were fairly basic. After letting both rise, we divided the bagels into 140g portions and rolled them into tubes. Once all the tubes were even in width and length, we wet the ends a little and rolled both ends ensuring they stuck together. The pretzels were similar; we cut the dough into equal sized portions, rolled them into thin and long tubes, and shaped them into pretzels. Both the doughs rested for a little while. Once the bagels were ready, we placed them into boiling water for just a few seconds. You're actually supposed to let them boil until they float to the top, however THIS IS A LIE! It's a lie because they can always float. All the recipes I have ever followed, including todays, says to wait until they float. This is frustrating to me because I had no indicator for when they were done baking... so I basically guessed. Once they had all boiled, we topped them with whatever we wanted (in my case sesame seeds mixed with poppy seeds, and cinnamon sugar) and baked them until golden. They looked fantastic, if I say so myself! For the pretzels, the next step was the strangest. Once the dough had almost doubled in size, we dipped them in a lye solution. This was a little frightening because this is a very corrosive acid and if it touches your skin, it will burn you severely. We had to wear protective goggles and gloves. This was a first for me! The reason why you must dip them in this solution is because this is what will give them their dark brown colour. Some people forgot to dip some of their pretzels and once they had baked, the difference in colours was dramatic! I also think that this is what gives them their "pretzely" flavour. These then got a good dusting of salt and baked them until golden. I was very happy with how both of these recipes turned out, and I had a bagel for dinner and it was delicious!