So I'm super late in posting this... But! On Thursday I was lucky enough to attend the Bruegger's Bagels Blog Up Event.
This was the perfect time to learn about the bagel making process, try some of their new fall flavors, hang out with some other cool Cleveland Bloggers, and meet
Executive Chef Phillip Smith:
First we sat down with him for a little chat about their philosophy and goals. And also got to try a DELICIOUS egg/bagel/salmon thing that the chef had whipped up for us. I love the idea of using bagels in egg bakes like that. Great plan for the extra bagels and a perfect thing to do for out of town company over the holidays. I've made egg bakes with bread before but the bagels added a great solidity. The texture was much nicer than with bread. I will most definitely be doing this in the future.
Then we got to try out some of the new Fall Bagels. Actually it kindof happened all at once because when The Dude saw the bagels he basically took off running towards them. He especially liked the new Cranberry Apple bagel made with sweet dried cranberries and apple pieces:
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| GET THIS DELICIOUS BAGEL IN MY FACEHOLE. |
Then we got to tour the store and see from behind the scenes how everything is made while kids got to stuff themselves on bagels and do a fun fall craft:
Chef Phillip Smith is super passionate about his work. He takes the philosophy of simple, good, ingredients = good food seriously:
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| Also taken seriously, their sundried tomato spread. |
Did you know that bagels are just 5 basic ingredients? 'cause I didn't. But the thought that simple is better is one that I absolutely identify with. If the basics are good you don't need alot of nonsense to make a dish really spectacular.
It was fascinating to learn about how bagels are made. I had no idea. First they boil them:
Then they roll them in whatever they need - in this case sesame seeds:
Then they bake them in this awesome stone-hearth rotating oven:
And voila! Delicious bagels. They bake all day so that anytime you go in you get a fresh baked bagel. Again - simple concept = delicious, fresh food.
After that we had some time for Q and A with the Chef while we tried his new-for-fall butternut squash soup:
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| It has apples in it for sweetness. YUM. |
And learned about their other fall flavors including my personal favorite - Pumpkin Cream Cheese. I was a bit distracted, though, because the introduction of balloons turned my children into crazy people:
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| YAY BALLOONS!!! Let's run around screaming even thought we're in a restaurant!!! |
So we said our goodbyes and headed home to enjoy some bagels for lunch:
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| Cinnamon Sugar bagel for lunch? BEST EVER! |
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| Dude prefers his with LOTS of PB and J. |
And the next morning I made myself a sandwich that I think Chef Phillip Smith would have approved of:
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| Bruegger's Bagel, Bruegger's Veggie Cream Cheese, CSA Egg, CSA Jalapeno Havarti Cheese. DELICIOUS. |
Overall it was a really cool event and one that I was thrilled to be invited too!
I attended this event for free but was under no obligation to blog about it. All opinions, as always, are my own.
