Hot, Fresh Bagels!

Get your hot, fresh bagels!!!! Smells so nice. You'll be getting a full photo essay post tomorrow. For now I just have to tell you about the smell. Mmmmm. And, they look so yummy. Some got cooked upside down, so the flat side's on top instead of rounded one, but it's all the same in my mouth, doncha know?

And, you'll never believe what happened. The Jewish cuisine gods were apparently smiling down on me today (and not one of those learing smirks, either, but the good kind). After I had already started preparing the bagels, I took a little trip to the grocery store. We were in need of veggies, but I thought I'd grab up the cheese that most closely resembles cream cheese while I was there. And, what did I find?! Not just something that resembles cream cheese, but the real McCoy. No kidding. It's not a brand I was familiar with (comes from Holland, instead of Philly), but it tastes right. Can you believe I actually tasted a spoonful of it immediately upon arriving home just to be sure? Maybe it turned into two spoonfuls, but I left plenty for tomorrow's breakfast (and for tonight's midnight snack - I won't eat a whole one, but who can resist them fresh out of the oven?).

Funny how easy the recipe seemed now that I'm used to making bread all the time. Didn't even seem as time-consuming as I remembered it. Like most yeast breads, you need to plan ahead a little, but it doesn't really take that much hands-on time. No worse that baking and icing a cake, really. You do it in steps that are all reasonably short, so doesn't feel like you've spent all day slaving over a hot stove.

Okay, time for the taste test... Oh... Mmmm. I'm in heaven, which coincidentally brings us around to the film I watched this evening. It was called Heaven, and it was excellent. I've long been an admirer of Giovanni Ribisi's talent. You may not recognize the name, but you'd know his face immediately. I'm so used to him playing such crazy characters that I never thought about him actually being remotely good looking. And, what do know? Stick him in an Italian civil guard uniform and make him speak Italian, and you've somehow made the man hot. Of course, I've long been teased for having a thing for European men. Maybe there's something to that, after all. Anyway, that's not the reason to watch this film. Watch it because it's beautiful. The acting is beautiful. The music is beautiful. The cinematography is beautiful. It's just a beautiful film all around. It's even got a beautifully complex plot and characters.

Well, good-night. I'm off to dream of bagels slathered with cream cheese....