East Coast Regrets

What could have been

To spite yesterday’s post, this summer was not only filled with carefree days soaking up sun and escaping from reality.  A good portion of our summer was filled with indecision and uncertainty.  In July, John was offered a career opportunity in Washington DC.   After weighing the pros and cons over and over into exhaustion, we ultimately decided against the move. 

I am happy to close the book on this stressful decision.  I am thrilled to continue to reside in such breathtakingly beautiful area.  I am relieved not to have to say goodbye to wonderful friends, family, and an amazing community.  As with most difficult decisions, there are still regrets.

I regret not having the chance to live closer to my East Coast family.  I regret that my children will not have the opportunity to see (2 sets of) their grandparents more frequently.  I regret that I will not see my 8 month-old niece and nephew grow and change month by month.  I regret that my husband will not pursue a job that seems to be tailor made for him.  I regret that we won’t have the chance to live in a place dripping with architectural and historical culture.  I regret that I will spend the rest of my days subjected to the torture of eating only west coast bagels.

As the family and I drove out of Annapolis, MD, I was sure that we were being sent a divine sign.  As we passed a strip mall ,  I noticed a sign that combine John’s life passion and mine “Naval Bagels”.  It turns out that the sign was not beaconing me to Annapolis. Instead, it was telling me something else.  If john could stay in Tacoma working on his passion, boats.  I could, make a bagel that was better then those found at Trader Joes.  If you haven’t had a Traders Joes bagel – don’t.  You could stick your thumb through the center of a dinner roll and get the same result.

So back to my kitchen I went, searching for the perfect bagel recipe.  Yesterday, I  tried a variation on one I found here:  www.sophisticatedgourmet.com/2009/10/new-york-style-bagel-recipe/

The end result:


As Liam sees it....

Not much better...

I worked the dough, best I could, but still got lumps

Most importantly, how did they taste?  Not bad.  much better then TJ's.  They also tasted better then our grocery store options.  I chose this recipe because I had all of the ingredients on hand and didn't want to make a "starter" and extend the process.  Next week, I will try my hand at a more authentic recipe.  Until then, we have  20 bagels to finish!