Bagel Heaven

Bagel Heaven

While staying in Venice Beach last year we discovered Café Collage close to our hotel.  It definitely took on the ambiance of the place.  It was full of colorful locals.  Usually a place frequented by locals is a good sign.

This year we stayed at a different hotel, a little further down, but still in walking distance to Cafe Collage.  I was looking forward to tasting their bagels again.  This year, being St. Patrick’s Day, there were green ones added to the mix.  I stayed with what I found so good last year – poppy seed.  Chris tried the onion bagels.  I would also put their chai at the top of the list as well.

Maybe it was partly the beach air but their bagels seemed to be the freshest I’ve ever eaten.  I also loved that they toasted them and spread on the cream cheese before serving them to you.  I’m not a big fan of plastic knives and little containers of cream cheese, which is the case in most establishments.

Cafe Collage Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gumption/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I was thus inspired to make my own bagels from scratch.  I found a recipe on line that didn’t look too complicated.http://hubpages.com/hub/Homemade_bagel_recipe_Make_great_nadrolled_water_bagels__its_as_easy_as_baking_a_loaf_of_bread

My first batch turned out pretty good.  I topped with poppy seeds.

I hope to experiment with

different toppings in the future.  I need some more work on joining the ends.

I’m thankful we were able to go again this year.