Like many others stuck at home, I am baking

You know that many people have been baking at home because of the difficulty finding flour and yeast in the stores, at least in the early weeks of COVID-19. I am now able to find them most of the time here in Vancouver. I have a bread maker and made several loaves of bread. I have to say, the unnatural shape of the loaves that come out of a bread maker is a drawback. I made buns from scratch with my father, using a hugely powered mixer that he later passed on to us.

He came down to visit us for a week and we made oatmeal raisin cookies together. He was the first guest in our spare room in the new apartment. I also made focaccia from a recipe in my old Joy of Cooking and bagels. 

Having been a student in NYC I believe in NY style bagels while all the ones here in Vancouver are Montreal style (or just buns in the shape of bagels). There is something about the chewiness of a NY style bagel that has real appeal. People that have had Montreal style first seem to prefer them, but I find them hard rather than chewy, and too sweet.