Foods I enjoy...

...in America. Even in North Carolina, where they are certainly not traditional, bagels and cream cheese have become a common breakfast food, competing with the traditonal Southern biscuit and hominy grits. People from all over the U.S. have relocated to N.C. over the past 50 years, and the population has increased by 150%. The state has become more diverse culturally. Bagels are sold in all the supermarkets, and there are a couple of bagel shops in the area.

Cream cheese has been a favorite food here for years. It used to go into making cheesecakes and cake frostings, and it still does of course. But it's also the classic topping for a toasted or at least warmed-up bagel with your cup of coffee in the morning. Given all the good bread we get from our boulangeries in France, you might be surprised to learn that I miss bagels and wish I could find them in Saint-Aignan. We get very good cream cheese in the supermarkets there, but no bagels.

P.S. Walt makes bagels from time to time and they are even better than the ones I buy here in N.C.