Mini Bagel Pizza

Posted October 3rd, 2015 in Bagelier Bagel | No Comments »

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I just took out some mini bagels from freezer and made bagel pizza.  Easy n quick snack for little people who seem to have endless energy…

Handy mini plain bagels are the must-have item in my home!  I keep them in the freezer all the time.  (check out my bagel shop Bagelier)

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Yes, they are little bit over cooked….  but still worked to fill my boys’ tummies!

Any topping will do, but this time I just used some basic stuff : bacon, onion and olive.
Try adding Japanese mayonnaise to pizza 😀

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<Mini bagel pizza>  makes 4

  • 2 frozen mini plain bagels
  • 1/4 cup Grated cheese
  • 1 tablespoon Chopped bacon
  • 1 tablespoon Chopped red onion
  • sliced olives, some tomato sauce & Japanese mayonnaise

 

  1. Microwave bagels for 30 seconds.
  2. Slice the bagels in half.
  3. Top halved bagels with cheese, bacon, onion and olives.  Squeeze few drops of tomato sauce & Japanese mayonnaise on top, and grill until golden.

 

http://bagelier.com


Perth Japan Festival 2015

Posted February 17th, 2015 in Bagelier Bagel, Japan, Perth WA | No Comments »

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SAT 07 MARCH 2015

13:00PM – 20:00PM

FORREST PLACE, PERTH CBD

Perth Japan Festival is coming up!
For those who don’t know about this event, this matsuri is a free event with lots of fun for kids and families as well as adults.  I was there last year, and I was surprised to see the crowd.  It’s at the Forrest Place in CBD and I guess people couldn’t just pass all those stalls and shows.

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There will be lots of demonstrations including taiko, ikebana and udon making, as well as many Japanese food such as ramen, tako-yaki, kaki-gori (shaved ice with syrup), dango and more to eat at the festival.  AND!  I will be there as well selling my bagels 🙂

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Yes.  I know bagel is not Japanese food.  But I got an offer from my friend and I’ll be selling Green Tea bagels (Green Tea Anko, Green Tea Cream Cheese, Milky Green Tea) from 13pm!

It’s a shame that I can’t be enjoying the festival with my kids, but hopefully I sell out the bagels quick and join the fun.

Perth Japan Festival website

 


Getting back to business

Posted February 6th, 2015 in Bagelier Bagel | No Comments »

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It’s been a long time since I last baked bagels for Bagelier.  I took a long break as I was having another baby and also moving to a new place.  It’s been super busy and is still now, but I thought it’s about time to getting back to my small business.

I was expecting this but I’m amazed how 2 little boys make house so messy and everyday seem to fly so quickly.  I remember I had more time before and baked cakes and bread often, but now I just can’t find time to do it.  I’m not sure if I can even spare some time for myself to do bagels, but I hope I will!

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As always, my priority will by looking after 2 boys and I want the home business to be my second job (I will work hard for it though).  Hiro started going to kindy this week, so I’m hoping to have more time (even just to sit down when I eat).

I’m doing Bagelier only on occasional bases now, and will not be doing wholesale anymore.  When I was supplying my bagels to 6 cafes I was too busy to focus on baby Hiro.  Almost every morning I had to take him from his bed to the car to deliver bagels, and he had to spend lots of time in the car sitting.  I feel so sorry for him and I don’t think I can do it again, at least for now.

I will update details of my next Open Day on Facebook page  and on my website http://bagelier.com.

 


Bagel. Bagel. Bagel.

Posted June 24th, 2012 in Bagelier Bagel | 5 Comments »

I’m little furious at the moment.  And upset.  And disappointed…

A cafe contacted me saying that they are looking for a bagel supplier.  So I went down there to drop off some samples.

I kinda knew what was about to happen.  It happened to me before, actually.  People here like soft bagels….  or bread because it’s easier to eat as a sandwich.

When I dropped off the bagels they tasted and said my bagel is tasty.  And asked if I could make it bigger.

They gave me a sample of the bagels they are after….

From the looking I knew it’s just like a normal bun, in a shape of bagel.  I tasted it – it definitely contains egg and milk, probably butter as well.  And, I don’t think it’s been boiled before baked!

Very soft, and I felt I was eating a white bun.  Is this what they want??

Hmmm….  If I could make my bagels into this I could be very successful! Haha.  They wanted to place big order every week.   But I don’t think I will do it 🙁  I just want to stick to what I think it’s good.  A water bagel.

 

 


Chocolate Cheese Bagel

Posted June 10th, 2012 in Bagelier Bagel | No Comments »

A season for bagels has arrived!

I just to want to write about my new flavour here…  Chocolate & Cheese bagel.

At first it may sounds a strange combination, but it tastes yummy!  Well, I like it.  The reason of making this flavour was that my sister-in-law baked chocolate & cheese brownie, and it was delicious.  Rich, tangy flavour with deep chocolate sweetness….  so I thought bagel may go with the sweet & tangy combination as well.

It’s best to eat hot, without any spread.  If anyone is interested, let me know if you like it too!

 


Chocolate Bagel with Cocoa Cheese Cream

Posted August 8th, 2011 in Food | No Comments »

If you feel like something sweet, this chocolaty snack could be an option. 🙂

Toasted chocolate bagel with cocoa cream cheese topping….  The combination of a bagel and cream cheese is still the best for me.

Adding whipped cream to the cream cheese adds milder texture and taste.  If you are not a big fun of cream cheese, more cream can be added –

I don’t add sugar to the mixture because I wanted to enjoy the taste of cream cheese and bitterness of cocoa.  You can add sugar if you are after sweet stuff.  Few drops of choc bits give a crunchy sweet contrast.

<Chocolate bagel with cocoa cheese cream>

  • 1 chocolate bagel
  • 2 tbs cream cheese (room temperature)
  • 1 tbs whipped cream
  • 1/4 tsp cocoa
  • few drops of choc bits

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  1. Halve the bagel and toast.
  2. Place the soft cream cheese and cocoa in a mixing bowl.  Add whipped cream, and mix together.
  3. Spread the cream mixture on top of each slice of bagel, and sprinkle choco bits.

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Soy Bagels

Posted July 20th, 2011 in Food | 2 Comments »

I guess it’s not only me who gets craving for a hot bagel on a cold day.

The crusty, hard bagel is something I need to have once in awhile.  This morning I baked few bagels – made with soy milk.

The bagel contains kina-ko (Japanese soy powder) paste inside.  It turned out to be not too sweet, just right for me. 🙂

The hard crust was something I was just looking for. All my in-laws don’t like hard bread (they love soft & fluffy bread), so I guess I’m the only one who needs to finish them up.  … Well, I don’t think it’ll be a hard job! 😀

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New McDonald’s Brekkie

Posted March 24th, 2011 in Food | 2 Comments »

Since watching tv ad of McDonald’s 2 new breakfast bagel, I’d been wanting to try them out.  They are only available until 10:30AM, and usually we are busy looking after Hiro around the time, so I didn’t really have chance to go out and grab one.

NYC Benedict Bagel is with bacon, egg, cheese and Hollandaise sauce, and Boston Deli Bagel is with bacon, egg, tomato, cheese and seasoned avocado.  I tried Boston Deli, and D tried NYC Benedict.

The bagel is pretty soft and fluffy.  It was $5.15 each and I thought it was bit expensive…  Even a Mega Muffin in Japan costs only 290 yen.  But, I did enjoy it.:)  Very full.



Stone Hunting and Acacia Bowl

Posted February 23rd, 2011 in Ume's Interests | No Comments »

The other day, D suddenly told me that he wanted to buy some stones for his bonsai – he had searched and found some shops selling rocks for aquariums and interior decoration.  To me, stones aren’t something to buy, they are something to find near the creek/river side, mountains, parks, house yard… anywhere.  So, I suggested to go somewhere to find the stones/rocks he wanted.

But, I realized that I’ve never actually seen stones and rocks near the water around Perth.  Not around the beaches, not around the parks and not in the house yards.  Ummm…  I know what kind of stones he is looking for, and I know we can get these from the river and lake bank near my house in Japan.  Ummm where can we find some rocks in Perth?

We googled parks with pond/creek around our house, and headed there with a plastic bag.

According to the satellite photo there’s a pond in centre of the park, but it was very dry – actually no water at all!  We could still see some rocks around the pond(used-to-be) so we picked up few and headed home.  It was another hot day and couldn’t walk around much.

While D was busy treating the rocks in the yard, I started to make some snacks.  I really love the acacia bowl that I bought from Freedom outlet shop. (it was $3.00!)  I thought it would be a good bowl to fill edamame or some nuts, but bagel would probably go well on it too.

I like eating the fresh one just like that – without any spread.  A glass of milk or cafe au lait with it would be nice!

Oh, I spent a relaxing birthday yesterday, by the way.  Nothing special, but nothing to complain about!  Mother-in-law made mee goreng for me in the morning.  “Noodle = long life” they eat noodle on the birthday to wish for long life.  Is this a Chinese thing?  The idea sounds similar to toshikoshi-soba (Japanese people eat soba noodle at 0:00AM on the New Year’s day to wish for long life).

D and I had something to buy at IKEA, and had a pit-stop at the cafe eating a princess cake 🙂

Yesterday wasn’t a great day for people in New Zealand.  I wish all those affected a quick recovery back to normal life…


Bagel from Fremantle Bakehouse

Posted January 20th, 2011 in Bagelier Bagel, Eat out in Perth | No Comments »

When I was wondering around Cappuccino strip in Fremantle, I saw two huge bagels in a basket through the window at Fremantle Bakehouse.  They were really big, and I just had to try it out and see if they bake a good bagel.

Fremantle Bakehouse is a pretty popular bakery with dine-in section where you can enjoy the baked goods with freshly brewed coffees and teas.  I also like their bread – especially the ones with hard crust.  My husband liked ciabatta bread with olives the other day.

It was a plain bagel with poppy seeds on top.  When a staff passed me the bagel in a paper bag I realised the bagel was actually very light.  I squeezed it with my fingers, and the soft crust just broke and became flaky without any resistance, just like other normal white bread.  I was little disappointed, but took it home and toasted it to see if the texture was chewy.  It wasn’t!  It was just normal white bread in the shape of a bagel.

The bagel was just about the size of my hand, and weighed about 100g.  My bagels at Bagelier are around 10cm in diametre and weigh about 100g.  I know my bagels are quite heavy and dense, but I wondered if this bagel from Fremantle Bakehouse is what people in Perth think of a bagel.  I also tried a blueberry bagel from Lawleys Bakery before, and it wasn’t heavy and chewy either.  Maybe the bagels I make are too heavy and dense – should I rename it from “bagel” to something else?

In Japan, some bagels weigh around 100g ~ 160g!!  Some of them are very heavy and chewy, and some are soft and fluffy.  Which texture is good depends on people’s liking, really.  BAGEL&BAGEL is very popular in Japan, but some people say their bagels are too soft.  I personally like the one with tough crust and chewy interior.  Bagelier bagels are best to be eaten toasted.  I normally slice bagels in half before freezing, and toast them in a small oven toaster before eating.  When I’m making a sandwich, I toast it using a panini press.  Toasting it well-done and eating it while hot is my way of eating a bagel.  Some people like heating up my bagel in microwave.  The bagel becomes soft, but after awhile it tastes little dry, I think.


Japanese Bagels

Posted June 17th, 2010 in Ume's Interests | No Comments »

The first bagel was baked by a Jewish baker in Vienna, Austria in 1683, and since then bagels have become a popular bread product in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom – especially in cities with large Jewish populations.  As each country has different ways of making bagels, Japan also.

A “Bagel” is dense, hard bread which is boiled then baked in hot oven.  Japan follows this method too, but they add something extra.  Although most normal bakeries sell only standard bagels such as plain, cinnamon raisin etc, but bagel speciality shops sell varieties of bagels in different flavours.  Some shops twist the dough to add more tough texture (so it’s not a ring-shape), some shops cover the bagel with mochi (mochi bagel), and some shops don’t shape the dough (it looks like a bun).

  

Of course there are normal-looking bagels too.

  

Please try Japanese bagels if you have a chance to go to Japan!  

By the way, I heard that Malaysian bagels are deep-fried..   Is it true?  I think it’s a donut, not a bagel :p

 

(photos from http://sysouer.exblog.jp/ and google search)


Club Harie

Posted March 29th, 2010 in Eat out in Japan | No Comments »

Taneya Group started its business in 1872, and now you can find its products across Japan, mostly at big department stores.  Taneya shops sell wa-gashi (Japanese sweets), and Club Harie sells you-gashi (Western sweets).  (I talked about Club Harie’s baumkuchen here)

As Taneya Group started from Shiga, there are many Taneya/Club Harie shops in around my house.  I went to Hikone city (15 minutes from my house) to go to its Hikone shop.  … there are 3 buildings; one is Club Harie, one is Taneya and another is cafe and museum. (these buildings are connected)  I went to the bakery to try their bagel!.

I knew they only sell bagels on weekends, so I went there on Saturday.  There are sooo many people, and only 2 bagels were left when I arrived.   They only had plain flavor.  I bought one, and tasted at home.

Again, pretty small.  As I opened the package film, I could feel the bagel was soft.  I squeezed the bagel with two fingers and the dough sprang back.  I had a bite, and it was really soft, moist and chewy.

I liked it!  I mean, I could taste the sweetness of the flour, and as I chewed the sweetness became more condensed.  The body was pretty light, and I think it’s quite different from an American style bagel.  Ummm… interesting!


Japanese Bagels

Posted March 18th, 2010 in Eat out in Japan | 2 Comments »

Apple Tea Bagel;To tell the truth, many things in Japan surprises me... The flavors of bagels are one of those. There are sooooo many flavors of bagel available in Japan. ... very different ones.

ori (seaweed) x cheese, mentaiko (marinated fish roe) x cheese, miso paste x cream cheese, etc etc.  That’s the thing in Japan.  As there are so many shops selling bagels now, they had to come up with new flavors.

Bagel sandwiches also have many flavors…

Bagel Sandwiches

Bagel Sandwiches

Duck x Potato with Citrus Pepper Sandwich

Duck x Potato with Citrus Pepper Sandwich

I really want to try this roasted duck x potatoes x citrus pepper sandwich.  The popular flavors of bagel sandwich in Japan are mashed pumpkin x cream cheese and smoked salmon x cream cheese x spiced lemon peel.  Toasted bagel with cream cheese is also still the best for some people 🙂


Bagels from … Ham Company?

Posted March 6th, 2010 in Japan, Ume's Interests | No Comments »

  

The Nippon Ham group established structures for large- scale meat production, processing, and export, and it operates subsidiaries around the world.  (English site)  Most of processed meat products you get to see at supermarkets in Japan are Nippon Ham’s.

.. I wasn’t searching for this meat company, I was actually googling “bagel shop in Japan”.  Then I found this “delicious soft bagels and pizzas online shop – Nippon Ham”   … Nippon Ham = bagels??  

I clicked the Nippon Ham site, then I found that this company now doesn’t sell only ham and bacon, but also salad, pizza, bread, curry, dressing, and even bento boxes! :p

 

You can see bagels are now getting to be one of common food people eat at home everyday in Japan.  These bagels from Nippon Ham are well-packaged for commercial sales, and of course Nippon Ham is not the only company which sells bagels in supermarkets.  Plus, bakeries, hotels, restaurants and cafes also serve bagels as standard menu.

I will try to eat many bagels in Japan for the next few weeks 🙂


Bagelier Bagels

Posted December 3rd, 2009 in Ume's Interests | 13 Comments »

It’s been more than one year since Bagelier started its business.  Actually it wasn’t easy for the first few months…  I was surprised to know that people here don’t really like hard, dense, crusty bagels.  They prefer it soft and light. In my opinion it’s not a bagel though…  

Because of that, I had to change my recipe to match their needs.  The bagels at Bagelier were first very dense and heavy, but now they are lighter.  It’s almost impossible to make all the people love my bagels because everyone has different taste!  Ummm..  I’m happy to receive any comments or feedback of Bagelier’s bagels so that I can know the current recipe is good or bad.

Oh by the way, Wasabi & Green Tea in Victoria Park started to sell Bagelier bagels in store 🙂  If someone just wants to try out few bagels, you can buy from this shop.  I think they sell bagels frozen though… but there is no problem as bagels can be kept frozen for 3 months.  You just need to defrost, and either heat up in the microwave or toast.

Well, anyway I think I’m going to start promoting Bagelier products here on this blog.  So, please don’t feel annoyed :p


Snack on Bagels

Posted June 3rd, 2009 in Food | No Comments »

This morning was really strange…  very foggy.  Everywhere I looked it was all white.  It reminded me of winter in Japan.  Snow on the ground and snow from the sky, everywhere is all white 🙂

Anyway, it was pretty cold this morning too and I had a nicely toasted bagel for breakfast.

One of the difference between bagels and ordinary bread is the density.  Bagels are pretty heavy, and they’ll keep you feel full longer.  Just one bagel is enough for the entire morning even for a person who has a big stomach like me 😛

I like snacking on flavored bagels like Milky Maccha Green Tea and Cafe Au Lait, but also love eating just plain toasted bagel with cream cheese as breakfast.  I don’t feel hungry until lunch time at all.

This morning I had….

toasted bagel with cream cheese and berries, drizzled with honey.  I love eating fruits in the morning.  It was simply yummy!


Bagel with Poached egg and Crispy Bacon

Posted May 26th, 2009 in Food | 10 Comments »

Toasted bagel is chewy and crusty.  It’s just how I like it ♪

<Bagel with Egg + Bacon>

  • 1 bagel
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbs vinegar
  • 1 strip bacon
  • 1/2 tsp pesto
  • 1/2 tsp mayonnaise
  
  1. Cook bacon over medium-low heat till crispy. (no oil in the pan!)
  2. Fill up a small sauce pan with water, and heat up until small bubbles come out from the bottom of the pan.  Add 1 tsp of vinegar or lemon juice.  Carefully break the egg into the water.  (you can break egg into a small bowl or plate first, and then slide it into the water)  Over low heat, simmer until the white is cooked yet the yolk is still soft.  (as you like it)
  3. Slice bagel and toast.  Mix pesto and mayonnaise, and spread onto the bagel.
  4. Drain egg and arrange on the bagel, top with crispy bacon and freshly cracked black pepper.
   

Early Morning…

Posted May 2nd, 2009 in Food, Ume's Interests | No Comments »

Today I woke up very early. (4am!)  I went to bed early last night, so I think that’s the reason…

I’ve been having thought about my family, my future etc lately.  It’s not about serious matters though, I just like to think and daydream about things.  I got tickets to Japan and am so excited to go home in September, but at the same time I’m thinking “can I not come back to Perth and live in Japan?”  Every time I fly home, I can only stay there for up to 2 weeks 🙁  I know I can’t do anything about it because it’s my company’s policy: “we can only take annual leaves up to 10 days at a time”.  I don’t wanna risk losing my job (yet), but for me, there is no enough time to spend with my family on my every homecoming.

I came to Perth in 2003 as a student.  I was going to study English for just 1 year here, and move to some other city or country to study something else.  But things changed and I decided to stay in Perth.  It was my decision and I definitely don’t regret that,  (Perth is beautiful place to live) but I think my family didn’t expect me staying in Perth for the rest of my life!  They thought I was coming back home after 1 year.  Now, since then, I can only go home once a year for just 2 weeks.  I miss them and I know they miss me too.  I really think that I need to be with my family longer than 2 weeks and talk about stuff, like “what I’m going to do” and “where I’m going to live” etc.  I couldn’t say good-bye to my grandpa when he passed away (I was in Perth) and it really break my heart 🙁

Anyway, I just want to plan things and try to spend more time at home, especially with my grandma 🙂

This morning I went walking around my house.  It was very cold!  I think winter is just around the corner already.  So fast…

I had nice breakfast: plain bagel with cream cheese and freshly brewed coffee!  Since I bought a coffee machine I feel that I drink too much coffee :p  but I love it.


Bagels in Perth

Posted April 21st, 2009 in Food, Perth WA | No Comments »

I’ve been eating bagels quite often lately.  This Bagelier is an online bakery shop settled in Metropolitan Perth, which deliver freshly baked bagels and other baked sweets right to your door.

I love bagels, but I also miss Japanese style bread.  I hope someone open a Japanese bakery shop in Perth!  Japanese bread are different, and there are many many flavors.  Is there bakeries owned by Japanese bakers within Australia?  

By the way I love my Cranberry x Cream Cheese bagel at Bagelier.  Green Tea flavors are also nice.  After toasting they are nicely crusty and I can enjoy the hard crust as I like.  Personally I love very crusty bread, or very chewy bread.  The bagels from bagelier are nicely chewy and reasonably hard when you heat up.  If you have a small oven toaster it makes them nicely crunchy and chewy!  You can buy them in bulk and keep in the freezer, in this way you can enjoy a bagel anytime 🙂


Do you like bagels??

Posted February 11th, 2009 in Food, Perth WA | 10 Comments »

   

I wrote a post about bagels here, and I’ve tried bagels at the Trackside Bakery down by the Perth Train Station as Angie recommended me.  I loved the whole “bakery smell” 🙂  Freshly baked bread…  yum!  and bagels are really nice! but I wish there are more bagel shops in Perth.  

I’m starting to wonder… do people in Perth know what the bagel is??  I mean, of course some people should know, but is it like 20% of the population??  Not so many shops sell bagels, does it mean people here prefer soft & light bread?

Personally I love hard, crusty and difficult-to-tear-off type of bread.  I can get those hard crusty bread from my favorite bakery, but sadly they don’t sell bagels on regular bases 🙁

Do you like soft bread, or hard bread??


Finally… bagels!

Posted December 28th, 2008 in Food, Japan | 3 Comments »

One of my best friend in Osaka started a business this May 2008, a bagel shop 🙂  I’ve been checking up her blog from Perth everyday and thinking “aaa… I wish I could get nice bagels in Perth…”.

I don’t get to see any bagel shop in Perth.  I think there is none??  I only see bagels at a corner of supermarkets and some bakeries…  Not many people seem to know what bagels are too. (surprising!)

Bagel is one of my favorite food, I love its chewy texture (>v<).  This friend lived in America for about 2 years, and she loved American bagels.  After she got back to Japan she couldn’t forget the taste and texture, so she started making them up by herself!  According to her blog, she loves tough, chewy heavy texture like I do, so her bagels seemed perfect to me 🙂

To taste her bagels was on my To Do List in Japan, and today I finally had the chance!!  I met her in Osaka last night and she gave me some of her fresh bagels… 🙂  I was so happy♪  (thanks yutsuki♥)

If you live in Japan and love bread/bagels, why don’t you try them♪ Available through online Sysouer Bagel Recommended!!