If you would have told me a year and a half ago, when I was still living in San Francisco that I would be posting a photo of the bagel and cream cheese I had for breakfast and blogging about it I would have not believed you.
Even as I am writing now I feel a little silly, but I must go through with it because it illustrates a very powerful fact about living abroad: The little things you think nothing of your whole life up to moving out of the country become some of the most celebrated and comforting things while you are away.
Up until this morning I did not miss anything about traditional American breakfast foods. I rarely ate eggs or bacon and Swedish pancakes are better than American pancakes in my opinion anyhow. In Sweden you eat these fresh baked buns called "bullar" and you top them with a variety of different spreads, veggies and cold cut meats. I would say that Swedes eat more open faced sandwiches for breakfast than anything. I like to top my bullar with cheese and blueberry jam personally....
When I was in Malmo the other day I came across a "Bagel Cafe" and I remembered it had been awhile since I had a bagel and picked up a couple to bring home. With all these great new traditional Swedish breakfast discoveries it has taken me a year and a half to miss the simple bagel and cream cheese topped with tomato and cucumber, but once I bit into it this morning my mind was flooded with memories of my former life in America. I thought of all the breakfast I had with my sister at the Trolly Cafe on 24th and Taraval Streets in San Francisco that could last for hours on end. I thought of breakfasts I had as a child when my Mom would toast me a plain bagel and top it with butter and cinnamon sugar. I thought of when I went to New York City for the first time and went to my first authentic kosher bakery and how I enjoyed the bagel on a whole new level.
Wow, it's so strange how much has happened throughout my life alongside a seemingly plane tasting piece of bread with a hole in it....who knew??
