EVERYTHING Bagel - December 14, 2019
I don’t remember what year Country Bagel opened up in Sudbury but I do declare that I was one of their biggest customers. The bagels were crazy cheap – something like 12 for 6 bucks – fresh. And half that price for day-olds.
And the types! What a crazy selection! It included cheese, chocolate chip, sundried tomato, pumpernickel, sesame, spinach, cinnamon raisin, whole wheat, EVERYTHING, blueberry, and the list went one. And so did my buying.
And back in the day when I was vegetarian and not vegan, I also bought up on their cream cheeses. Plain, vegetable, herb and garlic, lite, and more…
And the bagels froze really well, though I rarely needed to freeze them. I found flavours that pretty much our whole family could enjoy. And enjoy we did.
I was devastated when our local Country Bagel closed. My family not so much – they were getting a little bageled out. But there was still a Country Bagel in the downtown where I could get my fix – and then it closed. Heartbroken…
But wait, back in the day, Tim Horton’s bagels were a lot bigger than they are now and, while they didn’t have the same range of flavours, they had the “EVERYTHING” Bagel – this was a fluffy (full of fat and sugar and white flour and additives) bagel that was topped with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion flakes, garlic flakes, pretzel salt, and pepper.
They were over a dollar each and they were never on the reduced rack, so I couldn’t justify buying them by the dozen. But one a week, after church, well…
At one point in my life in Sudbury, Ontario I had this wonderful pattern on Sundays. Anna and Tom – teenagers – did their own thing, Laur took Carolyn and Elaine to Waters Mennonite Church, and I went to All Peoples United Church where I was their voluntary lay preacher and pastoral care visitor.
After the service was over and fellowship hour had drawn to a close, I pointed our van towards Azilda. It was a mere 10 miles from Sudbury – 15 to 20 minute drive, depending on the weather. Why was I going to Azilda? Because on Sundays after church I would go to the Rainbow District Animal Shelter and pick up a load of cats that I was going to find homes for. Either from our home or from Small Things Cats. (A whole other story.)
But before I went to the Area Pound, I stopped at the Tim Horton’s in Azilda and went through the drive-through and got my favorite meal of all times. A Tim Horton’s egg salad on a toasted EVERYTHING bagel. I also got a large decaf (two milks, and ½ a sugar) to wash it down, and a dozen Timbits for the shelter staff.
Then I would sit in the parking lot, listening to CBC radio, and savour this sandwich – bite by bite. Nothing was better than this. Nothing.
But then I went vegan and around the same time, Tim Horton’s dropped their egg salad option. (I’m sure this was a coincidence. 😊) But there was still the option of peanut butter. I would order a toasted EVERYTHING Bagel with numerous packages of peanut butter. And sit in the car and savour every mouthful. Not as filling as egg salad but if you slid four chocolate Timbits into the mix, it was pretty decadent.
Times change; people move; bagels get smaller; people eat healthier. Having a Tim Horton’s EVERYTHING Bagel was still my favourite treat on our road trips. But we brought our own peanut butter because I like crunchy and lots of it. And the lineups got crazy. Laur suggested we just bring our own bread on the road, and that’s what we do now. Though I do miss having the bread toasted…
We had a blast from the past the other morning. Laur was volunteering on the Food Bank truck and there was a bag of GIGANTIC EVERYTHING bagels. It was past dates or had a hole in the package so couldn’t be used. No worries, we’d eat it. Laurence brought it home as proudly as a hunter might return with a moose. (A small moose…)
I managed to stuff two halves into the toaster – they really were gigantic – and then I melted vegan Gouda cheese over it. Bliss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then massive indigestion. Truly, these bagels are the size of bricks and – being white flour, sugar, and fat – have no fibre except for that sprinkle of seeds and flakes. And heavy? Need extra weights for your bar? No problem!
I begged Laur to throw them out or hide them. I don’t have an off button. No way was he going to throw out perfectly good bagels. And, given that they were past dates, they had to be stored in the fridge. Our compromise was that he has pretended to hide them in the fridge, and I pretended I couldn’t find them. There were only three left. Only three more days to go…
*****
Earlier in this story I noted that I missed having my bread toasted when we eat our sandwiches in the car. Well, I checked it out online. You can now buy a 12 volt portable toaster for your car for under $50. (I can hear my spouse saying, “I can buy a lot of bread for that!” That’s the idea, Hubs!)
But may I humbly suggest that while making toast in the car is safe in and of itself, making it while driving is not. Here is an excerpt from a newspaper article. You can’t make stuff like this up.
Carrollton Police On The Lookout For An Erratic Driver Making Toast While Driving -- MAY 22, 2019
Every day contains a different adventure, case in point the call the Carrollton PD received yesterday.
They received a frantic call from a citizen about an unidentified person driving erratically through the city. The person was driving erratically apparently, because they were making toast while they were operating the vehicle. Jolene DeVito with the Carrollton Police Department said, "We got a call this morning from a concerned motorist who noticed someone driving somewhat erratically. And then realized it was because said driver was busy making toast. And actually had a toaster in the car."
DeVito hopes we all can just cut back on extracurricular activities while on the road, and begin focusing on just driving safely. She said … “Please don’t toast and drive!”
And the types! What a crazy selection! It included cheese, chocolate chip, sundried tomato, pumpernickel, sesame, spinach, cinnamon raisin, whole wheat, EVERYTHING, blueberry, and the list went one. And so did my buying.
And back in the day when I was vegetarian and not vegan, I also bought up on their cream cheeses. Plain, vegetable, herb and garlic, lite, and more…
And the bagels froze really well, though I rarely needed to freeze them. I found flavours that pretty much our whole family could enjoy. And enjoy we did.
I was devastated when our local Country Bagel closed. My family not so much – they were getting a little bageled out. But there was still a Country Bagel in the downtown where I could get my fix – and then it closed. Heartbroken…
But wait, back in the day, Tim Horton’s bagels were a lot bigger than they are now and, while they didn’t have the same range of flavours, they had the “EVERYTHING” Bagel – this was a fluffy (full of fat and sugar and white flour and additives) bagel that was topped with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion flakes, garlic flakes, pretzel salt, and pepper.
They were over a dollar each and they were never on the reduced rack, so I couldn’t justify buying them by the dozen. But one a week, after church, well…
At one point in my life in Sudbury, Ontario I had this wonderful pattern on Sundays. Anna and Tom – teenagers – did their own thing, Laur took Carolyn and Elaine to Waters Mennonite Church, and I went to All Peoples United Church where I was their voluntary lay preacher and pastoral care visitor.
After the service was over and fellowship hour had drawn to a close, I pointed our van towards Azilda. It was a mere 10 miles from Sudbury – 15 to 20 minute drive, depending on the weather. Why was I going to Azilda? Because on Sundays after church I would go to the Rainbow District Animal Shelter and pick up a load of cats that I was going to find homes for. Either from our home or from Small Things Cats. (A whole other story.)
But before I went to the Area Pound, I stopped at the Tim Horton’s in Azilda and went through the drive-through and got my favorite meal of all times. A Tim Horton’s egg salad on a toasted EVERYTHING bagel. I also got a large decaf (two milks, and ½ a sugar) to wash it down, and a dozen Timbits for the shelter staff.
Then I would sit in the parking lot, listening to CBC radio, and savour this sandwich – bite by bite. Nothing was better than this. Nothing.
But then I went vegan and around the same time, Tim Horton’s dropped their egg salad option. (I’m sure this was a coincidence. 😊) But there was still the option of peanut butter. I would order a toasted EVERYTHING Bagel with numerous packages of peanut butter. And sit in the car and savour every mouthful. Not as filling as egg salad but if you slid four chocolate Timbits into the mix, it was pretty decadent.
Times change; people move; bagels get smaller; people eat healthier. Having a Tim Horton’s EVERYTHING Bagel was still my favourite treat on our road trips. But we brought our own peanut butter because I like crunchy and lots of it. And the lineups got crazy. Laur suggested we just bring our own bread on the road, and that’s what we do now. Though I do miss having the bread toasted…
We had a blast from the past the other morning. Laur was volunteering on the Food Bank truck and there was a bag of GIGANTIC EVERYTHING bagels. It was past dates or had a hole in the package so couldn’t be used. No worries, we’d eat it. Laurence brought it home as proudly as a hunter might return with a moose. (A small moose…)
I managed to stuff two halves into the toaster – they really were gigantic – and then I melted vegan Gouda cheese over it. Bliss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then massive indigestion. Truly, these bagels are the size of bricks and – being white flour, sugar, and fat – have no fibre except for that sprinkle of seeds and flakes. And heavy? Need extra weights for your bar? No problem!
I begged Laur to throw them out or hide them. I don’t have an off button. No way was he going to throw out perfectly good bagels. And, given that they were past dates, they had to be stored in the fridge. Our compromise was that he has pretended to hide them in the fridge, and I pretended I couldn’t find them. There were only three left. Only three more days to go…
*****
Earlier in this story I noted that I missed having my bread toasted when we eat our sandwiches in the car. Well, I checked it out online. You can now buy a 12 volt portable toaster for your car for under $50. (I can hear my spouse saying, “I can buy a lot of bread for that!” That’s the idea, Hubs!)
But may I humbly suggest that while making toast in the car is safe in and of itself, making it while driving is not. Here is an excerpt from a newspaper article. You can’t make stuff like this up.
Carrollton Police On The Lookout For An Erratic Driver Making Toast While Driving -- MAY 22, 2019
Every day contains a different adventure, case in point the call the Carrollton PD received yesterday.
They received a frantic call from a citizen about an unidentified person driving erratically through the city. The person was driving erratically apparently, because they were making toast while they were operating the vehicle. Jolene DeVito with the Carrollton Police Department said, "We got a call this morning from a concerned motorist who noticed someone driving somewhat erratically. And then realized it was because said driver was busy making toast. And actually had a toaster in the car."
DeVito hopes we all can just cut back on extracurricular activities while on the road, and begin focusing on just driving safely. She said … “Please don’t toast and drive!”