Of all places that deserve five [million] stars, of all places that were formative in my youth, of all places whose provender I crave on my biannual sojorn back to Madison, YOU, Bagels Forever, hold the highest place in my heart.  And that's sayin' a lot!\n\nTo wit: My mother gave me a Cuisinart for Christmas.  This rocked.  I had to take an extra suitcase back with me on the plane to carry it, one that was one-and-a-half times as big as the actual box it came in.  What did I pack the rest with?  You guessed it: poppy seed bagels from Bagels Forever.  \n\nThese bagels are SO AWESOME that they are the gold standard by which I judge other bagels.  And yes, I've fed them to New Yorkers (the owners, IIRC, are from the Big Apple anyhow, so they're legit).\n\nThese bagels are SO AWESOME that I mailed four of them to my friend who was in another state one summer (I hope they were still good when they got there).  And then I wrote a poem (caveat lector: it's really bad -- http://www.maenad.net/jnl/archives/2000/07/#7-31-00) about them.\n\nThese bagels are SO AWESOME.  Full stop.  I'm crying just thinking that I'm 2000 miles from them. \n\nGood thing you can order them online!