bagels and lox

Thanks to alert reader, Diane, I am now aware that today is National Bagels and Lox day. So, why is this worthy of a post? I'll tell you. First,I grew up eating bagels and lox from the crib. When I was between the ages of 9-12, I spent my summers in the Catskill mountains at a Jewish summer camp; Camp Kewanee. Every Sunday morning, we were served fresh bagels and cream cheese and lox. I think because everyone made such a big deal out of what was such an everyday breakfast item, bagels became special to me at that point. When I was 21, I left New York for the plains of Nebraska and graduate school at the University of NE in Lincoln. To my horror, one could not buy fresh bagels (other than pitiful grocery store excuses for bagels) in Lincoln. How could this be??? For many years, my annual visits to New York meant filling half my suitcase with bagels to bring back to Lincoln. After about a decade in Lincoln, oh, blessed relief, a Brueggers bagel shop opened up here. Life has been more tolerable in the midwest since.

The other thing you need to know, to make this story more poignant, is that twice a year I buy one pound of lox and carefully divy it up into 26 individual portions, each placed lovingly into a baggy and placed in the freezer. I eat one bagel a week... on Sunday morning. (hmmm...I wonder why?) Every Saturday night, I take one baggy of lox and one bagel out of the freezer to thaw (the lox goes into the frig, the bagel, in its own baggy, onto the counter). Voila! My Sunday morning treat is ready to greet me upon awakening.

Finally...one last comment... I bought a pound of lox during my cancer treatment right before I could no longer eat food... that frozen lox sat waiting for a good six months until my ability to eat and my tastebuds were restored to some level of dignity. In some of my darkest hours of radiation/chemo misery, I would fantasize about eating New York Pizza and bagels, cream cheese and lox. Yes, indeed. I really did. I remember lying in bed and thinking on and on about how much I would enjoy those culinary delights again if and when my throat healed and my taste buds would finally awaken again. I will never take either for granted again. My favorite bagel? Poppy seed. My favorite Pizza? Veggie. (or just plain cheese if I'm in NY).

Don't take any of it for granted... what a wonderful blessing tastebuds are! You don't know till you completely lose them for awhile, (along with saliva), just how special they are.

So...forget the glycemic index for a day, and have yourself a doughy, chewy, tasty treat... celebrate with an "everything" bagel with cream cheese and lox! Mmmmmmmmm!

This video makes it look so simple that I might try my hand at making my own this weekend.