Mini Bagel Pizza

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)

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 😀

<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

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.

Getting back to business

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!

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.

Look who is in Scoop magazine…

Wow… I can’t believe my small home business Bagelier was on the SCOOP magazine spring edition 2013!!

I started this bagel business in 2009, and since then I’ve had “break” period so many times due to having my son and also going oversea holidays, so my income from this business has been very irregular.  My husband doesn’t even call it a business – it is rather a hobby.  But I’d like to have something for my own and I’m glad that I’m doing this business at home.

Couple months ago, an editor contacted me if they could have some sample of my bagels and have an brief interview about my business.  Of course I said YES!!!!
I baked few different kinds of bagels and brought to their office in Subiaco.  An editor asked me few questions and then that was it.  I was even unsure if they’re really gonna write about me on the magazine.  Scoop magazine is very big and can be found any hotels and restaurants across Perth.  And my small bagel business was gonna be written on their magazine??  Hmmm really?

After coming back from Japan holiday in September, still no information from the editor.

Then, suddenly, few days ago I received an email from the editor saying that the magazine is out!

I know it’s such a small article about my business “Bagelier”, but I’m still happy!  Too bad they didn’t leave any link for my website or Facebook page.

Now, although I stopped wholesale business, I enjoy baking to my customers and hearing their compliments everyday.  I’m glad I kept doing this business and am thankful to all the customers who have supported me!

My Home Business

I’ve been doing this online bagel shop called “Bagelier” (Facebook page / website) since 2009, and now I supply to 6 cafes + individual customers across Perth.  I don’t know how I got here.  I didn’t put an ad or promote my home business elsewhere except writing about it here in Umeboss, but somehow I got offers from cafes and now I deliver my bagels to them regularly.

It’s been so great doing wholesale service – it’s kind of like my dream had came true.  I work at home and also take care of my son.  What else can I ask for?

But now, with appreciation for all the supports I’ve received, I’m thinking to downsize this bagel business.  There are quite few reasons for this, but one of them is that I realised baking bagels is something I wanted to do as a side, not as a main job.  Also that I had much less time to be with my son to play together and do what he wants to do since I started the wholesale service.

So from June 2013 I will stop wholesale and would like to concentrate on individual customers only.

I’ve also decided that I will only open the “bagel shop” few times a month.  This “open day” will be updated regularly on Bagelier’s Facebook page.  Since Bagelier doesn’t have a physical shop, I will set up a “pick-up place” for customers to pick up their orders on the open day.  Everything including taking orders and answering the questions will be done online (via email and through the website) as before.  The difference is that customers can now pick-up their bagels without minimum order & any delivery fee.

So this is the positive side.  And, you won’t need to buy bagels in set of 5 – you can purchase 1 of each flavour if you wish.

There will be some extra bagels sold on the “open day” so customers can purchase some extra in addition to their ordered bagels as well.

It sounds little selfish, but I hope some customers are happy with my decision.  Some orders can be arranged for delivery, and please remember that I’m flexible 😉

Everything will remain as it is until the end of May – so if you would like to place some order and get delivered to your door, simply visit my website www.bagelier.com and start choosing your bagel selection!

And, if you have Facebook account, don’t forget to LIKE me and connect with Bagelier  @ my Facebook page 🙂

Stay tuned ♪

Thanks everyone 🙂

Bagel. Bagel. Bagel.

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

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!

Bagel from Fremantle Bakehouse

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.

Christmas Shopping and Yum Cha

Although it was very very hot during the week, the weather was pretty comfortable on the weekend.  Cloudy and little shower, but it’s better than 40 degrees!

Parents-in-laws went to Bunker Bay from Saturday to stay over night with sister family, so it was only me and D at home –  yey ♪

After making some bagels, we headed to Northbridge for lunch.  I felt like something dry – something similar to gyoza.  The thing I could think of was Yum Cha… 

D ordered the usuals – chicken feet, pork spare ribs, fried squid and ginger tripes.  GInger tripes are my favorite!  I usually eat chicken feet and squid, but I couldn’t eat any fatty stuff (especially deep-fried food) so I ordered some steamed prawn dumplings and prawn rice paper rolls.  I ate sooo much… as usual.  I always overeat when I go for Yum Cha.

On Sunday, it was raining and there were many people at Borders in the city.  You can get $20.00 voucher when you sign up for the Border V.I.P membership – so we both signed up online on Saturday and headed to Border on Sunday to browse what to buy.

I love the goods sold at Borders – not only the books, but also some gifts and zakka things.  I saw some cool stuff, but I couldn’t decide what to buy in the end…  We decided to come back next week, as I can’t stand walking around for too long now: my body gets really tired and I feel very sleepy afternoon.

I say this every year, but I really miss Christmas in winter!  Next year…

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Happy 55th Birthday!

This week I received an order for a big birthday cake.  I like decorating a cake, but it’s always gives me a stress…  I worry too many things – the fruits may become soggy (although I dry the fruits very well before arranging on the cake), I may fell down the stairs and the cake gets ruined, etc.  Yes, I had a nightmare the day before delivery date.  A dream about a ruined cake.

I set alarm at 6 am in the morning, even though the delivery time was around 12 pm.  I just didn’t want to oversleep because this cake was for someone’s birthday.  The person who placed the order was a Japanese lady, and she said she wanted to surprise her husband with a Japanese-style fruits cake and celebrate his 55th birthday at his office in the city.

I baked a sponge cake the day before, and decorated just before delivery.  I wanted to add some fresh blueberries too, but the shop I went to didn’t have blueberries.  I only had 1 day notice for this order, so it was quite a rush…

I used lots of strawberries, kiwis, oranges, peaches and cherries. There is a layer of fruits in the centre too, and the bottom of the cake is covered with roasted almonds.

In the end cake was delivered to the lady safely.  Thank god….!

Delivering a cake is such difficult job.  I just have to hold onto the box while driving.  I wonder how people deliver the huge wedding cake…

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Indirect Delivery

It’s been another cold week again.  How is everyone feeling?  I had sore throat the other day, but I’m feeling ok now. 🙂  (Thanks to my big appetite..)

I received an email from someone who lives in Geraltdon WA, asking if he could get bagels delivered to his home.  I told him I wouldn’t be able to deliver to his house, but I could post it via Aust Post.

In Japan, sending bagel orders (or any other food including cakes, fruits, raw fish/meat etc) via post service is normal.  (They normally send “chilled” or “frozen”)  Unfortunately post service in Perth doesn’t have any “chilled” or “frozen” options, so I will have to pack bagels in a tightly sealed bag so that they will keep as fresh as possible.

It’s actually the first time that someone ask me to post the bagels.  It’s new, and little exciting… 😀

And, I appreciate people using the pick-up service at Wasabi & Green Tea in East Victoria Park.  There is no “minimum order” or “delivery fee” if you chose to pick-up the order by yourself.

I’ve been baking sweets a lot lately.  This apricot tartlet was a hit among my friends. 🙂

This cheese cake consists two layers: the bottom layer is New York style cheese cake which is creamy and heavy, and the top layer is light cheese sponge cake.

In winter I get a craving for sweets too.  Last night I had hot choco fudge with vanilla ice cream.  Yum! I can stop…. (><)

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One Third of 2010

I can’t believe it’s May already!  It means that 1/3 of 2010 is finished…

 Let’s look back what my 2010 New Year\’s resolution was …

• be nice to everyone !!
• don’t get angry, calm myself first before talking ( :p )
• visit at least one city in Australia (maybe Melbourne)

How to Eat Bagelier Bagel

Many people have asked me this question “how to eat your bagels?” .   On the website I suggest customers to buy bagels in bulk and keep in the freezer, as they can be kept frozen for up to 2 months in a tight container or freezer bag.  But, there are many different bagels in Bagelier and some flavored bagels may be difficult to eat if you eat the same way as plain bagel.  Here is how I eat frozen Bagelier bagel…

(note)

* Bagelier bagels are individually wrapped and delivered.

* Wrapped bagels are stored in a freezer bag, tightly closed, and kept in the freezer.

• Take out from the freezer.  Leave outside to defrost, or microwave.  
• Slice in half.  Sandwich some food (eg: ham, cheese etc), and toast using a panini press, or sandwhich grill.
• Or, slice in half, toast using a bread toaster.  Enjoy with your favorite spread.

  

Other Bagels

 

(for soft texture)

• Take out from the freezer.  Microwave for 35~40 seconds.  (depends on the model of the microwave)

(for crusty texture)

• Take out from the freezer.  Microwave for 30~35 seconds.  
• Toast using a panini press, or sandwhich grill.

  

 

 

For flavored Bagelier bagels, such as Chocolate and Cranberry Cream Cheese,  I normally toast the bagels very well done so that it’s really crusty. (you can see the thick crust on the photo)  When you eat toasted Chocolate, Cafe Au Lait, Coffee Praline, Rocky Road, Oreo Milk or Milky Maccha bagel, be careful not to burn your lips with hot melty chocolate coming out from the bagel.  I’m saying this because it happened to me few times already… :p

  

A Little Change on Umeboss Website

You may have noticed already, but there is a slight change on this website.  On the side bar, there is a “Search For” button followed by “Recipes”.  There used to be 20+ recipe posts shown under the “Recipes” , but now only 10 are shown and you can click “More Recipes” to view other posts tagged with “recipe”.

Now it looks little tidier than before (?).

How did you spend this Easter holiday?  In my case, my husband’s friend and his family visited here from New Zealand and stayed at our house this weekend.  They will go around down South by hired caravan for 10 days from Tuesday.  I wish I could go with them!  While they stayed here, I cooked some food for them… chunky Japanese curry with beef and lots of vegetables, potato salad, coleslaw,  yakiniku, miso soup, salmon carpaccio (I will post the recipe soon), creamy chicken gratin etc etc.  And, I made chocolate cakes, almond jelly, cookies, bagels, etc.  Too much! I know!  I was too excited to have a guest. :p

Parmesan Cheese bagel!  A cheese bagel is also known as a “volcano bagel” in some countries such as Japan, as the melted cheese looks like volcano eruption.

April… it should be a peak time for hanami (a Japanese custom of enjoying cherry blossoms along with the arrival of Spring) and there should be many people at parks…  So shame I couldn’t see them (><)

Banana & Walnut Cake

As last week has been super busy for me, I am so happy to have this long weekend 🙂  Less than 2 weeks to go, I’ve been meeting my friends to say “bye” before my trip to Japan.  … yes it’s just a 2 weeks trip and this may sound like I’m over reacting ( :p ), but that’s what we usually do 🙂

I’m not a phone person and I don’t really like talking on the phone, even to my family.  I don’t know what to talk about!  My family is all the same, when I occasionally call them, they are like “so… how are you?” “I see… we are fine here” and no more conversation.  So I (we) prefer just e-mailing.  While in Japan if I wanted to say something I just emailed people.  We can email from mobile to mobile in Japan and it is super cheap to use (we kind of have sms but never used it before – expensive and sucks..) and you could send photos, voice message, image character etc etc on the e-mail since long time ago.  So, if I find something funny, even a tiny thing, I took a photo and sent to my mum “hey I found this” ” how about oyako-donburi tonight?”  My mum is like my best friend. 🙂  .. she looks young too.  So, flying back to Japan and seeing their face & hearing their voice is something I need to do.  I try going back at least once a year.

Anyway, the orders for Bagelia last week has been different…  Someone asked me if I could make cheese cake with fruits, and another asked me if I could wrap banana cake individually.  I normally wrap a whole banana cake in a plastic film, but she said that her kid wanted to bring the cake to the school and give to the classmate.

I, of course, said “yes” and I individually wrapped the cake with ribbon and small tags (so that classmates know what it is).  They turned out to be cute. 🙂   She ordered 48 pieces of banana cakes, plus other cakes and bagels.  I hope the classmates liked it…

Bagel and El Salvador

Happy anniversary~~!  

It’s been almost a year since Bagelier officially started.  I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to my customers and friends who have been supporting me for this small business 🙂

Oh, and, I would like to state here again that our bagel dough needs to be rested for more than 10 hours, slowly in the low temperature environment.  Therefore, all orders need to be placed at least 2 days prior to the required delivery date.  I know it’s not really convenient 🙁 but that’s how we develop the natural sweetness and flavor in the dough.  Sorry for the inconvenience…  I really appreciate your understanding!  🙂

Different subject, 

I received an email from my friend who is in El Salvador.  She flew there on Christmas day, and was so looking forward to meet her in-laws for the first time… but, it seems that she is not really enjoying this long holiday.

She is so angry that everyone over there doesn’t throw away rubbish in the bin even though there is a bin.  There’s garbage everywhere even in the bus.   Besides people don’t even care.

She was saying that “what goes around comes around”.  In Japan we say “if you spit towards the sky, the spit will drop on your face.”  People should take care of their own country.  

She had to compare El Salvador to Japan, and was giving me an example of Lotte Gum.  Each gum is wrapped in a paper with “Please dispose of your litter thoughtfully” message.  It is a kind of etiquette and also education to people.  This is just an very small example, but she realized that these small things have built the present Japan …  

The reason why this holiday hasn’t been great for her is not only the garbage issue, she has been a victim of pickpocket!  :p  It seems that it’s not unusual to have a pickpocket in this country, and police doesn’t even bother looking for her wallet…  Lucky she still has her passport and return ticket to Perth!  I hope she arrive here safely…  

Hard and Soft

I think I really messed up…  I started Bagelier because I thought I could make some bagels similar to what I used to eat while in Japan.  Actually the bagels I make are not traditional ones, they are more “Japanese” style: which the dough is little softer and ingredients such as azuki paste are rolled inside of the dough while it’s been shaped into a ring.  I should have mentioned on the website and to everyone that “Bagelier bagels are little different from traditional Jewish bagels”.

One of my customer asked me why not sell the bagels and sweets in a newly opened market in Bentley. I went down there and had a look around.  I was surprised to see many cars turning left into the market from Manning Road, and the market was packed with people.  I had a chat with an organizer of the market, and he was saying “it’s funny that we have two bakeries in this market and they are Jewish, but they don’t sell bagels.  Instead, a Japanese girl wants to sell bagels!” 🙂

I don’t think I can sell bagels there as there are already few shops selling bread, cakes and biscuits.  He said he is looking for someone who wants to sell hand-made clothes and crafts.  If someone is interested in..

Some of Japanese bagels are soft because some fillings are rolled inside of the bagels.  I like hard crust and chewy dough inside.  If you buy bagels and eat at home, I recommend to toast them before eating so that you can enjoy the nice crust.

I was trying out some new flavor bagels.  Oven-dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese (right) and Earl Grey Tea (left).  These two bagels on the photo are made with softer dough (looks fluffy).  I still prefer more “crusty” and “heavy” dough like the photo at the top :p  

Tomato and Cheese bagels has a nice flavor.  I don’t know which dough would be nice: soft and fluffy or hard and dense for this flavor.  Earl Grey bagel, personally it’s not for me.  Some bakeries in Japan sell “milk tea bagel” with Earl Grey.