The UPS man pulled up to our front door this morning, just as I was returning home after dropping The Poo at preschool.
I was expecting a package of PJs I ordered (you gotta love post-holiday sales). Instead, it was a square cardboard box bearing my mother’s return address in Western New York.
“What’s that?” asked Mr. C, shuffling to the door in his red plaid lounge pants.
“My bagels!” I cried, grinning happily.
I can’t stop thinking about bagels. Specifically, Bruegger’s bagels.
Growing up, we had a local bagel shop not too far from our house. Bagels were something I took for granted, believing that pretty much everywhere you went, you could get a damn bagel. Even when we lived in London you could get a bagel. Sure, you had to haul your ass to Golders Green, but if you really needed a bagel, you could get one.
Know what you can’t get in Chambana?
A goddamn bagel.
This is where my Chambana compatriots get all up in arms. I say this to my local friends: keep your pants on. Here’s the skinny on bagels.
What you buy at the grocery store bakery is not a bagel.
That is a piece of round bread.
A bagel is chewy, with a shiny crust. It is slightly yeasty, but dense. When you toast them, the crust gets this really delicious toasty flavor.
There is nary a bagel to be found in this town. My buddy lbotp will defend me on this point. Am I right, lbotp?
Dude, I am so right.
So here I am, nine weeks along (at least that’s what the sonogram said) and all I want is a fucking bagel.
When I called my mother to tell her about my first prenatal appointment, I mentioned that I was dying for a Bruegger’s bagel.
(Do you hear me, Bruegger’s? Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you, Bruegger’s. You bagel-withholding bastards. You don’t have a single Bruegger’s franchise in the entire state of Illinois. Do a raving pregnant lady a favor and send her a fucking bagel (or 12), already. She’s mentioned your name, like six times, Bruegger’s. Her 10 readers now know your brand-name. So ante up (*bats eyelashes*), and just email me for my home address.)
AnyHOO.
I impulsively asked if my mom would overnight me some bagels.
“Sure!” she said. “In fact, I’m going out right now, I’ll get them and send them today. Consider it done.”
Today, after consuming a delicious sesame-seed bagel with cream cheese for lunch, I called my mom to thank her.
“A dozen bagels, $1.99,” she said. “Overnight shipping? Seventy-one dollars. Pregnant daughter with bagel craving? Priceless.”
Holy moses, $71!
I was aghast. “Mom, I never would have asked you to do that if I knew how much it would cost!” I yelped across the miles. “I’m so sorry! You shouldn’t have done it.”
“Don’t be silly,” she replied. “It was my pleasure.”
I miss her, and being away from her when I’m pregnant is hard. I want my mom, you know?
She knows that, I think. And that’s why she spent nearly $80 to send me a small taste of home, which is what I am really craving.
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aww…. love and bagels! THAT’s what’s priceless.
Oh, yes. The mother-love. It will do these amazing things, like spend eighty bucks to get you your next-day bagels. And it helps you forget, or at least forgive, the rough patches. (My mom? Cut from the same cloth — we have had our MAJOR bad times, but when it comes down to it? She got me a coffee giftcard and a 300 minute phonecard when I was having problems with Gruff, so that I could go out to coffee and chat with her ANYTIME I needed to. Moms just rock sometimes.)
Glad you got your bagel… And I hope Breugger’s takes the hint.
Mmm, Bruegger’s. Rosemary bagel, toasted, with olive pimento cream cheese. Mmmm. (Checks web to see if the two nearest stores are open until 10 pm, grabs car keys). I can send you a care package too. All sesame, or other things, too?
awww, indeed.
i was nearly twenty before i had a real bagel…and you’re quite right. round bread is not the same.
your mom sounds pretty cool.
What type of Bagels are we talking here? Plain, raisin, onion, egg, poppy? Name your posion!
I hope there’s someone with an entrepreneurial spirit in the area reading this blog. Sounds like a great opportunity. Who doesn’t love a good bagger?
oh man…..a sesame seed bagel with cream cheese…YES. And even though an a CU-ite I will wholeheartedly agree that you can’t get real bagels here. When we lived in Chicago we used to go to the bagel places in West Rogers Park and they looked like some kind of sweat shops from the 1930s and they would serve up warm sesame seed bagels and then we’d get cream cheese from the deli next door….oooohhhhhhh you have given me a craving and I’m not even pregnant. I’m glad your mom came through for you so beautifully!
Aww – I love your mom too – that is so sweet.
No Brueggers? That just doesn’t seem right. Here I thought we didn’t have anything that great in Rochester, but we do have Brueggers.
Those were some expensive bagels you had. The things us Moms do for our kids!
Yummmmm — as another small town midwesterner I will back you up — I cannot get decent bagels here either. At all. (Although I can get them dyed in the colors of our local football team. phphphhhtt.)
OH MY GOD! I LOVE Brueggers’ bagels! They are my absolute favorite. Your Mom is a gem. I myself crave them, and I’m not even pregnant.
(To which, by the way, I must offer congratulations. I apologize for not doing so sooner. Work sometimes does not allow me to haunt the blogosphere as much as I’d like. I’m so excited and happy for you!)
An everything bagel, toasted, with gobs of cream cheese doesn’t exist in this freakin’ town either. I would kill for one right now. Kill. Why did you have to bring it up?
Your Mom is a wonderful woman. I can’t think of a better gift to give someone than a taste of home.
Mmm, Brueggers! I love me some Brueggers. I don’t know which shocks me more – how cheap those dozen bagels were, or how pricey the shipping was!!
Go to Kafe K across from the Jerry’s IGA on Kirby and next to the new Sea Boat. I got a bagel there just this morning. I like the breakfast sandwiches. The wheat bagel is my favorite. Give it a try. And if it sucks, then there is probably no hope in this town.
I have a thing for Montreal bagels-very thing, chewy little things, covered in sesame seeds. Thankfully, I can finally get them at the market here.
I FULLY understand your craving. My second pregnancy, all I wanted was a Cinnabon, and since there isn’t one here, and they don’t ship, I couldn’t have one.
Sigh.
That is the best story I’ve heard in a long time…what a great mom!
Isn’t there a Panera Bread or something there? Or are those not the “real thing”? We used to have a Bruegger’s in Ann Arbor, but it closed up shop–I was totally bummed.
What a great mom!
Baby, I am not hauling my butt up to Golder’s Green. And there are NO decent bagels in Clapham. So, any chance your mother wants to, you know, head back out to the store…?
What a lovely Mom! I too have always lived where you can get a decent bagel. I can’t imagine living without.
As I enter this second pregnancy, this time without my mom close by, it makes me a little sad. And after delivery we will be living even farther away. No matter the relationship, there is something special about this time and sharing it with your mother.
Your mom is awesome. My mom lives here in C-U and I don’t think that she would do that for me (she’d probably expect me to just do it myself since that’s how I was raised). I do agree there aren’t any decent bagels here. There used to be, but no longer. We just wait until we head to my MIL’s in Chicago and head to a Jewish deli to get ours. Mmmm…
That is completely awesome.
Oy! The midvesterners! Dey don’t know from bagels!
Being from Vermont, BRUEGGER’S IS THE BEST! Unfortunately, I do not have it here Northwestern PA. Actually I don’t have much here. After my dad retired, he did their accounting for a while so I have an extra special love for them. Your mom is awesome for sending you those bagels. Maybe I can get my mom to send me bagels too!!
That was very sweet of your mother.
Bob makes homemade bagels on occassion and they are the bomb. Nothing beats a freshly boiled and baked bagel. We have recently found a brand at County Market that is far more bagel-like than Lenders and it’s 4 packages for $5.
Your mama is good people. $71! That’s something.
Hope that bagel hits the spot.
From a true bagel lover, my mouth is watering. My pursestrings, not so much!
If we want good bagels, we go to Blocks in Columbus. It’s the only Jewish bakery in town, so they know bagels.
And wow, that was nice of your mom to overnight those. She must have had fierce cravings when she was pregnant, too.
toronto has bagel-making issues…mmm…bruegger’s.
Mmmm, bagels.
Lucky you to have such a good momma.
Aww, mama! that is so sweet. Your mom rocks.
I love Bruegger’s and I have a serious weakness for their bacon-scallion cream cheese!
Molly’s Mom, if you’re in Ann Arbor, you get to go here! Yes, much of their stuff is expensive, but totally worth it if you want something really delicious, including outrageously good, freshly-baked breads, including real bagels.
What us mothers only do for our children. there’s nothing so delicious as what a bagel. There are many here in Toronto and they are truly the best.
Now THAT’S love.
I’m glad that you got what you want-and deserve!
Wow. You lucky girl.
That IS love. Wow. 71 bucks to ovrenight bagels. Who knew.
I grew up in NJ and not only do I miss real bagels, but I also miss a good slice of pizza.
That is awesome. I’m still looking for a true bagel.
Your mom rocks. Obviously.
I think I would drive across the country for proper, Montreal-style bagels. Luckily, I only have to drive across town.
Please tell me you’re talking about the Bruegger’s on Monroe Ave. Because then our atoms would have at least crossed paths in our former Rochester lives, even if we’ve never met.
aww jeez, I love your mom too!
BRUEGGERS!!!!!!! I lived on Rochester right around the corner from one (Monroe Ave). I can smell them now! I craved them terribly when I was pregnant. I worship your Mother for sending them!
Ladies and gentleman – the most expensive bagels in the known universe
You know, you could always get a breadmaker, and the ingredients to make them…
My mom sent me Ichiban in the mail. It was sweet, although not $71 sweet.
Hubby being from upstate New York would agree that they don’t have bagels here in Chambana. Your mom sounds like the best!
Mmmm…I like my bagels toasted, too. And I do mean the real ones, not the grocery store imitations. Mm.
We lost the last decent bagel in town well before you arrived. I used to complain about this all the time on lbotp. I believe there is a goldmine to be made there if someone could figure out how to bring decent bagels here. Even an Einstein Bros. would be an upgrade. (There were Bruegger’s in Illinois once upon a time… when I was in school there was one in Evanston.)
Your mom rocks. My mom brings me bagels from home too (but it doesn’t cost her that much to do it!) I often import bagels from my hometown, so I will take your order next time. Here’s my source:
http://onceuponabagel.com/
Congratulations!
Hmm, there used to be a little bagel shop here in town. My grandpa used to take me there….
Weird, I remember going there many times but I can’t remember how long it’s been since it closed.