Those who hide too well away...

Ok so.

Recently, my beloved in-laws (and when I say 'beloved' I truly mean 'beyond myself with excitement upon their arrival'), we're out on the west coast for a few days prior to a trip they were taking. We headed out to whistler and basically had a totally bitchin' time. Came back into Van and got to take them around. The weather was flawless, we got to take them around our city and see the, after a long, hectic emotional Fall. We got great pictures which i wanted to post here. Of course by 'recently' I mean THREE WEEKS AGO! What is my problem!? I know I have been avoiding this lovely, comfortable beanbag chair of Internet known as blogdom because I am stressed and so once I have managed to escape the constancy of living in my brain under these circumstances, the last thing I want to do is spew, for your sake as much as mine. Life is in general upheaval lately. Everything from the practicality of working vs school (even when it is only for a time) to the emotional slog of sifting through inter-relational 'issues' has made my psyche (and the consequent outpouring of it) inhospitable and my generosity nearly non-existent. My desire is to pull a NaBloPoMo as I did last year to exercise my own internal accountability for my blog. Because I like it here. And I always feel better once I leave. (Except for the Pinterest post. I was just as pent up after I wrote it as I was before.) I am being emotionally lazy right now because I feel emotionally wasted. That's as self-pitying as I'm going to get on my blog :)

*On a side note I am blogging through a different interface right now which mainly means that I will no longer be able to blame my insufferable grammar and spelling on OS Lion. Using a new interface required I learn how to use it properly and I wasn't interested in that for a few weeks.

I want to summarize some baking successes I have had lately. This is a list for posterity when I'm feeling inept.

• I made a pumpkin loaf pimped out with hazelnuts and dried blueberries.


• Red velvet cupcakes with fudge frosting for Halloween that totally claimed me as red velvet fan. I am, however, not enough of a fan that I feel I need to convert every dessert known into red velvet. I may make red velvet crepes for Moozh on Valentine's.


• I made brown sugar pavlova for small group last weekend that was glorious and actually made me want to run for the camera when I glanced into the bowl after hearing my hand mixer shriek at hi speed for three and a half minutes. But I didn't let it deflate (even for the sake of posterity).

My project leading into December is to create a hydration starter. I am at the tail end of Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain wherein one of his many anecdotes recounts a brilliant baker he worked with on many an occasion had a giant heaving tub of sourdough starter he affectionately called "the bitch". I intend to call her the same. The only thing that makes me hesitant to start a starter is that is IS quite time consuming and requires a fair share of attention, something I do not have plenty of right now. But, as the Wild Yeast blog has convinced me, a good 100% hydration starter is a magical thing to have. And it won't take long to get a hefty return on your investment.

Come Christmas-time, I want to make stollen, reconfigure a cool take on mincemeat, made Mama Dempsey's coffee cake Christmas bread, and make peppermint pots de creme. Here we go.

I'm doing the countdown dance. Five weeks and I'm sporting my whites. Five weeks! Work just hired a new baker who graduated from PICA's pastry program in June. He has been such a great wealth of information leading into school for me. And I am even more pumped for the faculty now that I have first hand accolades from someone who has come through their leadership.

Until then, i'm going to enjoy and be present through what will likely be our last Van christmas. Ooh I totally forgot about Glogg. Making it!!!!
Next entry will be stimulating, I promise :)