At least my cat liked that first loaf of bread

[After I have toast in the morning, she licks the crumb-covered plate clean]

Today is Baking Day--I made a brioche dough last night from a recipe that assumed I own a Kitchen Aid. I'm sorry, dear recipe-makers, my only Kitchen Aids are my own two hands. So hopefully my substitutions of a wooden spoon and my hands will serve as adequate replacements for the dough hook. Some day perhaps I'll write a book called Cooking By Hand, because for me half of the fun is in the chopping, mixing, grating, or kneading. I think that making food should be a tactile experience--most mechanization doesn't really make the process that much easier (and I also don't like the huge pile of complicated dirty dishes that mechanical cooking produces; I am my father's daughter). In any event, I'll be baking the dough today.

I also made some crumpet dough because I got addicted to crumpets when I was in Australia. I finally found a cast-iron griddle that will fit over two burners on my stove so I can cook up large batches of things like crumpets. If either the crumpets or the brioche turn out well I'll be happy. I ended up mixing white flour and whole-wheat flour while I continue to try to figure out how to work with whole-wheat flour. It's an interesting, but difficult, challenge.

New Year's Resolutions: The Frightening Power of Successful Transitions

Last year, I made two New Year's Resolutions. First, I resolved to send out more packages, and thanks to an agreement with sytharin, I was able to do just that. We had a lot of fun sending packages to each other, and I think we'll continue to do so for the forseeable future. [Aside: When I was in Australia, I also picked up some phenomenal writing paper that has pictures of dung beetles on it. Now why oh why is it impossible to find writing tablets in the United States? They are so awesome, and they let me continue to use my custom-made envelopes created out of old calendar pictures.]

I also resolved to keep better track of my finances, and to start saving more money to pay off my student loans. As an incentive to save money, I decided to devote 1/4 of the money saved towards buying something expensive that I have wanted for a while--things like laser eye surgery and a road bike. I haven't saved up enough yet to buy any of the things I want, but I can tell you that it's incredibly satisfying to send off those checks to pay off my student loans. I also like getting my monthy bank statements and seeing how much interest my money is earning.

Interestingly, when I was in Australia, both T and R made fun of me for keeping track of every single penny that I spent (why yes, it *is* an anal-retentive habit, I'll agree). I'm not sure I was really able to get across how big of a change that has been for me, for if I am not mindful of every dollar that I spend, I end up spending all of my available money on things that I later regret (or so I assume; if I don't keep track, I don't know exactly where the money has gone, now do I?). I have never previously been able to consistently save up money, or figure out how to change my spending habits, but I feel like I have been able to make some good, positive changes over the past year. Now I have a new place to start--I have information about where my money has been going over the course of a year. So I can start to ask, did I spend it on worthwhile things--things that reflect my values and contribute to my quality of living? Did those trips to coffeeshops and bars make me happier? Have I put that new bike gear to good use? Do I regret my move to a more expensive living situation? Was it worthwhile to buy food at the local food co-op instead of going to cheaper grocery stores located further away (this is actually a really big question--a lot of the people I talk to complain about how expensive food is, but I disagree about where the expense occurs)?

I found R's mockery to be particularly amusing because he clearly pays very careful attention to certain aspects of his spending behavior (how much tobacco or certain food items cost, for example), even though he doesn't have to employ the same methods that I have found necessary. One of the most important things I learned from reading Your Money or Your Life (one of the few truly helpful self-help books I've ever come across) was the importance of feeling confident about making good spending decisions. And personally, I can't do that unless I know where all of my money is going. So I'll just keep smiling and shrug my shoulders because personally I'm pretty happy with how things have worked out.

Overall, with respect to New Year's resolutions, last year was hugely successful. But I haven't felt motivated to make similar huge resolutions this year. Perhaps I'm frightened by my own success. Perhaps I still need to figure out which aspects of my life I'm unhappy with and would like to change. I don't know yet.

Posty Mc-What?

Time for Today in Food, because I cook'd a lot.

Cook'd Thing One: Crumpets.

I christened one of my latest purchases, a cast-iron griddle, with crumpet batter this morning. I imagined that crumpet batter would resemble pancake batter. However, my crumpet batter was rather thick and glutinous, and thus the crumpets I made were blob-like affairs. That said, I think they will be delicious, but I won't know untilI try them tomorrow morning. They definitely smelled good.

Cook'd Thing Two: Brioche.

As mentioned previously, I made brioche dough yesterday. Per the instructions, I put it in the refrigerator overnight and then took it out this afternoon for the bane of my existence, Ill-Fated-Rise-Number-Two. Nothing much happened, although a little something did, and eventually I got tired of waiting, so I brushed the loaves with egg and put them in the oven. They appear to be doing some rising in the oven, which bodes better than last week's bread. In any case, they have a hell of a lot more butter in them, so they'd better taste damn good. Now I'll just have to keep myself from eating all of it so there's some left for sandwiches.

Cook'd Thing Three: Frittata (or as F&W is calling it, Yukon Gold Potato, Leek, and Fromage Blanc Frittata)

February's issue of Food and Wine has a section in it on how to eat like a locavore--that's someone who only eats foods produced within a 100-mile radius of wherever he or she lives. I'm liking some of the recent food trends that F&W is picking up on--they had an issue a few months back where they spoke with a number of different people about how they define "eating well," and they included Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma) in the interviews.

Well, whatever the hell the movement is called (locavorism, slow food), I like the idea of trying to eat locally produced foods. I'm not sure how well I have succeeded with regards to local food with this frittata, but it was neat to try because I've never cooked with leeks before and I've never made a frittata before either. And the outcome was pretty delicious.