New York Bagel Date

Last winter, my friend Jake went to New York City for work and when he came back home, he brought a bunch of genuine NYC bagels back home with him. Everyone knows that the bagels from NYC are the best bagels in the world. I heard about this impressive and important bagel stash from Jake's wifey, Alana - and she and I quickly hatched a plan for a bagel date. The only thing is - we were both busy, and by the time we checked in again, I received the grim news that Jake had already eaten all the bagels. You snooze, you lose! ha ha. Fair enough. I like Jake, so I forgave him.

Anyway, they went to NY again - this time for actual fun! - and brought home more bagels. Phew! I knew I had to seize the moment (carpe bagelium!). So, we made plans for a fun breakfast bagel date!

the guests of honor

Step One: procure the amazing bagels. All three of us decided on "everything" bagels, and we also all wanted our bagels to be toasted. Meanwhile, Jake made me an excellent cup of hot coffee - much appreciated! I brought along two tubs of Kite Hill Cream Cheese - one tub of their plain/original flavor, and one tub of their chive flavor. If you haven't tried these yet, I highly recommend them. I actually am planning to do a whole blog post about my love for this vegan cream cheese!

bagels bagels bagels! 

Bagel fixin's and supplements. 

Alana prepared an excellent spread of bagel topping possibilities: sliced tomatoes, sprouted microgreens, fresh dill, red onion, pimiento green olives, and capers. So much yum! How would I decide how to proceed with this one special NYC bagel moment??

She also made one of the world's most yummiest salads ever. I was extremely in love with this salad -- little baby greens, hundreds of cucumbers, and a bounty of chopped fresh herbs, and some kind of super delish vinaigrette dressing with capers in it. I just wanted to eat it alllllll.

I brought strawberries because I cannot have a breakfast-ish party without some yummy fruit.

my final choices

It was very hard to decide what to do with my magical bagel experience. In the end, I put plain cream cheese on one half and topped it with tomatoes, red onion, fresh dill, and micro greens. On the other, I put on some unadulterated chive cream cheese. I'm always torn between the emotional reliability of a simple classic, and the emotional thrill of new things. This way I got them both! Plus, salad. I think I had three servings of that special salad.

difficult bagel decisions

Our breakfast bagel date was so lovely and it was great to catch up with them and their son and their not-so-new dog! We had a nice leisurely bagel feast - and I was filled with the special satisfaction that an excellent bagel provides.

After breakfast we went for a great little walk and then looked for lizards in the garden (we saw two!), looked at the fruit trees in their amazing yard, and just had a nice time together. It was pretty great to spend quality time with them.  Believe it or not, those amazing bagels weren't even the best part of our bagel date after all!