Bagel molds: another ‘right tool for the job.’ Bagels can be daunting to bake. I’ve tried once before, with these very molds, but used a recipe that skipped the boiling water bath step, and they were like bland round bread. For these bagels, my second attempt, I used an actual King Arthur bagel recipe, though I took a different shortcut and ended up with dough that was way too wet and also over-mixed. Still, not bad. Less daunting each time. Learning courage and perseverance in the kitchen.

They’re a little cakey in texture, not quite chewy enough, but … good enough. I’m grateful for letting go of perfectionism in the kitchen, and in the rest of my life, and allowing good enough to suffice. Spread with cream cheese, decorated with thinly sliced red onion, olive rounds, and some fresh rosemary leaves, I got almost the taste I was looking for after a conversation about bagels over the weekend sparked a craving.

The Colonel taught me to like bagels with cream cheese, lox, and capers, and I learned on my own to like the red onion as well. But I forgot to order lox from my personal shopper this week, so I made do with olives. And there’s no point in buying capers, I use a couple of tablespoons and then they sit in the fridge for too long and end up in the compost. The plan for the next batch of bagels includes lox, and a cream cheese and olive spread. And of course, red onions. As I was adding the pictures to this post, I noticed a new option on WordPress, to “Generate with AI” so I tried it out. I described the image I wanted: toasted bagel with cream cheese, lox, red onion, and capers.

Above, this morning’s breakfast on the patio, ‘a scone with raspberries on top and a cup of coffee.’ Below, the AI version of that: better than the bagel picture! Indulge me. I’m experimenting with technology, as if a high quality camera in a phone that fits in my pocket isn’t enough.

AI didn’t do too badly with ‘fried squash blossoms stuffed with Brie,’ which is what I enjoyed for an evening snack, but I’ll leave my own photo uncontested on this one. I did try one more, ‘dog licking my face,’ but the result was too creepy to share. I’m grateful for all the dainty little kisses Wren has given me today, for the variety of good food I’ve prepared, for having energy to clean up most of the kitchen afterward, for getting to teach a new cohort the first session of the mindfulness foundations course, for practicing awareness of afflictive thoughts and emotions during the day and doing my best to transform them into a more healthy attitude, for noticing and savoring moments of joy and connection, and above all for waking up alive with another summer day ahead of me.