The easy thing to believe in these turbulent times that we live in is that there is no common ground. It is us or them. It is my way or the highway. There will never be a tie that binds, and the ends of the rope shall never meet.
The British Navy adopted the custom of flying a starboard pennant defaced with a martini glass on the field as invitation for officers from nearby ships to board sociably for a drink. Nobody is quite sure when this gin pennant custom started. It was probably in the 1940’s and the tradition and practice continue to this day.
While this naval practice is virtually unheard of in the United States, it does exist here in a rather different form. Intrepid gin lovers will fly the gin pennant in front of their home as an invitation to random gin loving neighbors and in-the-know random folks alike to simply drop in and indulge. When the gin bottle has been emptied, the pennant comes down.
And that tradition is now moving beyond gin.
Jen Rubin is a Native New Yorker and is Jewish. As such, she knows her bagels. Jen really knows her bagels.
As a young woman, the path through life led Jen away the Big Apple and into the Midwest where she has remained for the past three decades. And while you can take the woman out of the Big Apple and the bagel culture, you cannot remove the bagel culture from the Big Apple expat. Jen has honed her Midwest bagel making skills and is also on the never-ending mission to find a New York-worthy bagel here in flyover country.
Jen has been documenting this search in the popular and entertaining Substack titled The Great Midwest Bagel Quest.
Jen had also dropped in on neighborhood gin-pennant gatherings and enjoyed how it brought folks together.
Then an idea struck.
A buffet of bagels was prepared fresh, and the finest toppings were assembled. Coffee was brewed. Then at 10:00 am one Sunday morning Jen flew a bagel flag out on her front porch.
The results were astounding. While the focal point might have been delightful bagels most in the Midwest might otherwise never have the chance to experience, there was something much larger going on.
Attendees ranged from Jen’s dear friends, neighbors, to three women from the Netherlands here on an apprenticeship exchange, to a certain random Northwoods woodsman. Folks savored delicious homemade bagels topped with cream cheese, tomato, cucumber, avocado, and fresh whitefish from Port Wing, WI. There was pleasant get-to-know-you conversation over cups of coffee. There were fun bonding times and pleasant conversation while doing an exceedingly difficult jigsaw puzzle.
That morning produced smiles and pleasant company, warmth and connection. It produced folks being neighborly. As that morning concluded, one could scarcely imagine that we live in angry and polarized times.
The easy thing to do in these polarized times is to retreat and cower into our respective echo chambers, avoiding or simply not believing anything that might bring social, political, or intellectual discomfort or angst. The easy thing to do is to feel distrust and disdain for our neighbors who may not look like us, think like us, or talk like us. The easy thing to do is to think of them as them. Many of us are doing the easy thing.
Others are flying a bagel flag. Or perhaps a gin pennant.
Coming out in 2026 is Jen’s book expanding upon the Midwest Bagel Quest Substack. It promises to be a fun telling of a deeply historical culinary journey, with some very unexpected twists and turns. Yeah, you heard that right. Plot twists on a bagel quest!
The Unexpected Minimalist 