rainy day bagels

Today was cold and rainy and I’d bought a giant amount of smoked salmon from Costco this week, so it was a natural choice to make bagels. Contrary to a recent article in the New York Times, I don’t think the West Coast has very good bagels. Those that come close are priced outrageously, sometimes costing up to $5.00 per bagel, plus extras for butter or cream cheese (to say nothing of smoked salmon!)! I used to use a recipe by the linguist and author Arika Okrent, but it was very labor intensive. I was pleased to discover Peter Reinhart’s recipe, which is much more manageable and makes delicious bagels worthy of any Bloomfield Hills deli. Pictured here from left to right are sesame (actually the top-left bagel reminds me of Montreal’s St. Viateur in its shape and coverage!), salt, poppy seed, and everything (poppy seed, sesame seed, garlic, onion, and salt). This morning, we ate them with smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill, capers, red onion, and tomato.