Bagels, Glorious, Bagels

Truth be told, we do not want for much here in Belgrade in terms of food. In fact, we love the food here, and are just thankful that none of us have experienced the rapidly expanding girths that one might imagine could accompany all of the good eating that we've done over the past 14 months.

You might be wondering: what could be so great about the food in Serbia? Well, the many local green markets are full of incredibly delicious fruits and vegetables that are insanely cheap and tastier, in my humble opinion, than any fruit or vegetable one can get their hands on in the U.S. Also, as I've written about before, nearly every block in this city boasts a bakery that is sure to have just the delicious treat you're looking for (whether it's a loaf of bread, a slice of pizza, or a sweet or salty pastry). Even more wonderful for Eli and me is the plethora of upscale but affordable (by U.S. standards) restaurants in Belgrade. Our challenge is trying to get to as many of them as we can before we leave, particularly given our tendency to want to go back to the ones we already have visited and really love.

It's been interesting to watch how the kids' eating patterns have evolved here. Virginia has taken a particular liking to the fruits and veggies (in fact, she doesn't much like meat anymore at all -- go figure) and Wes, our resident carnivore, has become a huge fan of Serbian cevap (small meat patties made with a combination of pork and beef) and pljeskavica (Serbian-style hamburgers). Graham has remained very faithful to his U.S. diet of cereal, pb&j, bananas, chips, pizza and chicken nuggets. God love that child!!

While we are nearly completely satisfied with the food offerings here, there are some things we really do miss. For instance, last week, I found a packet of Ranch dressing powder in our pantry, and realized that it had been more than a year since I'd had ranch dressing. I promptly mixed the powder up with a bit of sourcream and mayonnaise and had some happy campers at the table that night when I served salad with Ranch dressing! Belgrade also doesn't have a single Mexican restaurant (well, it has a few that purport to be Mexican, but I am told they are nothing of the sort). Given that the Richardsons and Lori and Mikayla LOVE Mexican, we've taken to having a Mexican night here on a weekly basis (Lori's contribution to our weekly dinners), and although it isn't necessarily like what you'd get at one of Nashville's many yummy and cheap Mexican restaurants, it's delicious, and we all look forward to it every week.

Recently, it occurred to me that there is another former Richardson staple that we haven't had since we've been here: Bagels! Oh, how I do love bagels, and although I haven't necessarily been craving them, now that I think about it, I have missed them. As luck would have it, there actually is one bagel store here in Belgrade, and I went in search of it yesterday. I had heard about this place months ago, but given the fact that it was downtown and not particularly convenient to where we live, I had just never made it down there. I found it yesterday, and bought six fresly-baked bagels.

Well, let me just tell you: I just had a toasted everything bagel with butter on top for breakfast, and it was DIVINE!!!! Bagel's Park (weird name, I know) is the name of the bagel shop, and I can only say thank you to the brave Serbian soul who decided to go out on what I can only imagine was a bit of a culinary limb by opening a bagel shop in downtown Belgrade. From now on, it is my vow (to myself, of course) to make a weekly trek down to the "Park" and pick up a dozen or so bagels for our eating pleasure.

I hope that this finds each of you well, and that, perhaps, you yourself are enjoying a bagel (or the Saturday morning breakfast food of your choice) and a nice cup of coffee on this beautiful Saturday morning.