Breakfast - Me and My Traveling Hat

The Rockland Bakery has been in business for over 75 years. The Battaglia family purchased the business in 1986. All five brothers and their dad have grown the business to what it is today. They now have 5 baking facilities in the NY and NJ areas and provide baked goods for many restaurants and businesses. Their main bakery is in Nanuet, New York in Rockland County. We usually go to that bakery when we visit family in New York. I remember when we went for the first time around 10 years ago with our children; they couldn’t believe it! They thought they went to heaven, “Bread of Heaven” that is! When you enter the building, there is a stack of brown paper bags, grocery size, with gloves to wear. Grab a bag or two and let the journey begin! The first area you get to is their bagels on a conveyor belt, yes HOT BAGELS coming down a conveyor belt. It is incredible, and the bagels are so good, you just want to grab them all! You may need more than one bag per person! They have all the breads labeled and on bakers racks. Rye the really good Rye breads: Onion, Pumpernickel, Marble, oh my Rye! There is Italian, Challah, Olive Bread, 9 Grain Bread, a few varieties of Pumpernickel breads. Such a variety of hot fresh loafs of bread and rolls more! I think they have every kind of bread you can imagine! Sometimes you just start grabbing loaves and rolls more than you can ever eat in a week or a month! The great thing is you can go home and freeze the bagels and bread. We usually go to the bakery on our trip home so that when we get home we can freeze them in the first day or so! Trust me, they stay fresh and delicious, especially the bagels. They store for around 6 months in the freezer, just defrost, pop in the toaster and Voila, you have a genuine New York Bagel! After you go through the section of breads, you can take a break and go to the deli area and get a New York Sandwich or you can get some freshly made manicotti or another dish they make daily. Limited seating, so I recommend to take it to go, if you can’t get a table! When you are ready to check out and get in line...well, you now are in the desserts and pastry section. Take a number and one of their staff members will help box up what you’d like to take home with you. From Italian Cookies, Tiramisu, Coffee Cakes, Almond and lemon cookies, Biscotti’s and Canolli’s, Napoleons on and on! Plan on being there at least 30 minutes to an hour if you have never been there before! So do you have a favorite bakery? If so, where and what’s the name of it so I can visit it sometime. Leave the comment below.