Bagel Bread

     Page One Hundred Ninety-Eight.
     In this blog a few days ago, I mentioned Lax & Mandel Bakery on Taylor Road In Cleveland Heights. Here's another fun reminiscence about that place from the1970's.
     One of my high school jobs was working at a submarine sandwich shop. It was a local place that I can write about at length another time. In short though, it was a perfect place for a bunch of high school students to work. The sandwiches were good, it was minimum wage, everyone except for the old-lady owner went to the same school (Cleveland Heights High School) and it was low stress. The Subconscious Sandwich Shop was also two doors away from Lax & Mandel.
     Sometimes I was scheduled to work closing on Saturday nights. 6PM to 2AM Saturdays might seem like a completely disturbing shift but it really wasn't. Keep in mind that 17 year olds are vampires.They really are. You just know that I woke up at 2PM Saturday afternoon and I drank Coca Cola, so working into the wee hours was primarily a non-issue. Also, there was a wonderful advantage to working that shift: Lax & Mandel's bagel bread. So good it was proof of God.
     Jews celebrate Sabbath from Friday evening until Saturday evening. Orthodox Jews observe the Sabbath by not working, carrying money or conducting any form of business, among many other things. Therefore, the bakery closed on Friday afternoon and re-opened late Saturday night. They were then open all night Saturday to prepare for the Sunday morning rush. Their bagel bread came out of the oven at about 1.30 or so. I'd go over, purchase a ring and a package of cream cheese, bring it back over and chow down with my co-workers. while cleaning and closing.
     If you've never had bagel bread, let me give a quick explanation. Essentially, imagine a bagel about 8 or 9 inches across. That's it. Take your classic bundt cake ring, with a hole in the middle, but made with bagel dough. You tear of chunks, though I'm sure some heathens would use a knife, then apply desired toppings. When it's fresh and warm right from the oven?  Oh man. What a mouth sensation!
    And this was the 1970's, just prior to the national change in bagel dough. But that's a separate blog.