At the end of December, I had the joy of running a bagel-making workshop on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island. I have been making bagels most weeks since June of 2024, when I got the sudden urge to stop buying bread from the store. I have since made hundreds of bagels, and they have become a big source of connection for my communities in Vancouver, where I grew up. I began giving bagels as gifts, bringing them to community potlucks, and even got asked to host bagel-making sessions for my friends’ birthdays. I am consistently inspired by how much joy and camaraderie people find in making bread together, especially a type that most people have never made from scratch!
Several months into moving to Mayne Island, whose tight-knit community welcomed me so warmly, I decided that a bagel making workshop would be a lovely way to give back in a small way by sharing one of my passions. I wanted the event to be as accessible as possible for local community members to attend, which prompted me to seek out funding opportunities to cover the cost of supplies. The Neighborhood Small Grant enabled me to offer the workshop free of charge and buy a large variety of delicious toppings for the bagel feast.
The day of the workshop involved an early wake-up to knead four batches of bagel dough by hand, ensuring they would have enough time to rise before participants arrived. This was my first time running a workshop for primarily people I didn’t know, which was both nerve-wracking and exciting. I shouldn’t have been worried because every single person who showed up was so excited to be there, and the group made some of the best bagels I’ve seen.
Bagel making is a great group activity because it involves so many fun steps, like kneading, boiling, and putting on toppings. I tried to get the group to sit and rest while the bagels were baking, but every single person insisted on helping me clean up the kitchen while we anxiously waited to take them out of the oven. Once the bagels were cool enough, we made some warm drinks and topped our bagels with our spread of jams, chutneys, butter, avocado, and cream cheese. Plenty of the participants had either never baked or never made a bagel, so there was a shared sense of awe that they were eating something they made themselves. Once everyone had a bagel (or two), they were sent home with some to share with family, the recipe, and some baking expertise under their belt. Overall, it was such a joyful event, and I am very grateful that this grant helped me make my bagel dreams come true!
