on again, off again - simple stuffed bagel

what fun! what fun to stumble across the end of the month eggs on toast extravanganza, since i am, if there were such a thing, so much an egg-girl. it’s kind of scary, because this is my very first attempt at participating in any sort of communal flog activity, and perhaps i am a bit late in turning it in. but eomeote (do i say “ee-oh-me-oat?”), is supposed to be easy and casual; it feels a bit like lazy weekend brunch. no alarm set, stretch then roll out of bed, still in jammies, stumble to the kitchen, peer through my glasses at the clock because why bother with contact lenses, and nice! it’s 11:58. just in time to still call it “breakfast.” though it was eggs benedict all dressed up with smoked salmon a week ago for easter, for eotmeote no. 5, it’s something simple – a stuffed bagel.

it’s been quite a history with bagels – an on-again-off-again relationship, as it were (and yes, i most certainly am aware of the the fact that i seem to have more interesting, and just more relationships with food than guys). lender’s bagels, always stocked in our freezer, were like that elementary school neighbor boy that was my every day playmate. i never thought about exploring the creek at the bottom of the hill or building forts with someone else; i never thought about eating something other than the sometimes freezer-burned, but always onion, bagels. he and the lender’s were there, and that’s just the way it was. then i learned i could make my own choices, and like “i don’t build muddy forts with boys anymore” i graduated to a right proper english muffin, which, with only orange marmalade, got old fast. i was introduced to my high school sweetheart, marx hot bagels, fresh, fat, fluffy, in such foreign (for ohio) flavors like jalapeno and cheese. that quickly developed into a college crush on noah, that lasted until i began fighting the freshman fifteen, and swore off bagels, which had become mammoth carb-calorie vehicles.

but i’m all grown up now, and have learned about balance and moderation in everything from human relationships to love affairs with food. a fling with a bagel and cream cheese every now and then is perfectly normal, and if it's meltingly messy, overstuffed and overflowing, why, that makes it all the more worth waiting for the next one.

stuffed bagel
1. slice a bagel in half, and hollow out each half by pulling out the inside of each half in small pieces, leaving only the bagel “shells”
2. while toasting the bagel shells and pieces, saute tomatoes, peppers, onions and chopped garlic.
3. when the bagels are toasted, scramble a couple eggs with the toasted bagel pieces and vegetables.
4. at the very end, stir in diced cream cheese, stuff it all into the bagel shells, hit those babies with salt and pepper, and deliver it to a deserving breakfast-in-bed mate

now let's hope i've not overslept too long...