San Diego Meets NYC

Friends, that glorious champion of a bagel you're looking at is none other than a homemade San Diego.  The San Diego, for those of you who (surely regrettably) don't know what a San Diego is, allow me to elaborate.  Well, let's allow the photos to elaborate, shall we?  Or maybe my original tribute to the San Diego in sandwich form?  (BTW, I think I coerced my friend into letting me win that sandwich contest.  Not that it wasn't deserved, of course.)  Yes, the spread that needs no introduction has returned to my life -- and, more accurately, my kitchen.


Last month I took a field trip to Ithaca to help convince my little brother to go to Cornell.  (It worked!)  After about .3 secs of touting the school's academic prowess, I switched gears to a more important task: explaining why he would love every restaurant in the city.  This, of course, revved up my appetite for Collegetown Bagels.  Not for the bagels, (please, I'm a New Yorker), but for the nectar of the gods raspberry jalapeno spread.  I met a friend there for sangria and sandwiches, and when I went to pay, I asked if they might be able to sell me some of the spread to go.  Since the joint is run by a bunch of hippies (I say this with deep affection), they don't really have rules.  "Sure!" was the response.  "How about $7.99 for half a pound?"  SOLD!  Clearly outrageous for jam, but no matter.  It was worth every penny.  So, off I went, trekking back to the city with a new Cornell t-shirt and half a pound of razz jalapeno spread.

This was my first attempt to recreate the San Diego, and I would be foolish to pretend that I made it as well as the pros.  But now every time I get that itch of nostalgia for my college days, I have a solution on hand.  And better bagels, to boot.  Love.

I just might have some seriously amazing news soon.  Stay tuned.