ROCKLAND – Most everyone enjoys bagels, but what would you do with a 2.5 pound bagel that measured 8 inches across? Share it with a lot of friends is the right answer. On the morning of Dec. 22, we stopped by Café Miranda in Rockland and watched Kerry Altiero and Ev Donnelly make 30 such bagels to ship all over the United States.

The dough had all been made the night before and left to rise. Kerry is the chef and owner of Café Miranda, and he explained the Donnelly was the co-founder and her dog was named Miranda.

“This has been on hiatus since 2007," said Altiero. "In 2007 new stopped doing it [bagels] and then last year it was Ev's idea to start doing them again. We began making them in 1978 and we did it every year except for this hiatus in 2007 and we ship them all over the United States."

Donnelly added that before they made bagels in Rockland, they made them in Key West, Fla., New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

"We boil the bagels before we bake them and that's what gives them a hard crust," said Altiero. "Essentially a bagel is a donut covered in cement. Boiling it kills that outside covering of yeast, so that's where you get that really dense outside covering. Then we'll bake them in a wood fired oven and I don't think there are any wood fired bagels in the state of Maine."

Altiero said that there is someone in Montreal who does it, but they are certainly not 2.5 pounds. Donnelly said the bagels were originally 5 pounds, but were a little unwieldy.

The bagels will get shipped to California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Phoenix, New Haven, Connecticut, Florida, and to family and friends.

"We send along a sheet and the idea is that on Christmas Eve, or whenever your holiday is, you cut it in half and toast it," he began. "You build this layered coleslaw, pastrami, cheesy, Thousand Island dressing thing and you bake it and you have your repast for you and all your pals. It's a sharing food thing."

We drank cappuccinos and Christmas carols played in the background, while the banging of metal spatulas sounded strangely like Christmas bells as the bagels progressed from being formed, to the boiling water and on into the oven where they baked (approximately 25 minutes) to a golden brown before being passed to a cooling rack.

The bagels will be decorated with ribbon and bows so it resembles a wreath before being packaged for shipping.

Café Miranda opened in 1993. Donnelly said they had the name before they had the restaurant because that was the name of the dog.

"We were living in Cape May, N.J.," she said. "We were looking at property and the cost of the buildings there, plus the cost of a liquor license was prohibitive, so we came to Maine. We fell in love with Rockland. And found this building. And the rest as they say is history."

Altiero doesn't spend a lot of time in the kitchen these days. He runs the business and works the catering end of it.

"This was the first wood fired oven in the state," he said. "We were going to put pizza ovens in and Ev said you always wanted a brick oven why don't you get one."

Donnelly works for the Hospitality House and Fresh. Altiero said that next year they would donate all the money raised from Christmas bagel sales to the Hospitality House.

The cost is $30. And you have to have your order in by Dec. 15. Altiero said it is a limited number, so get your order in early. He said the bagels are made on the Dec. 21, and they will ship them for an additional cost.

One hundred percent of proceeds will go to the Hospitality House and Knox County Homeless Coalition.