Sunday Plans

As winter approaches I’m starting to panic about everything that needs to get done around the house. Saturday’s are pretty chopped up, so I look to Sunday to try and spend concentrated time on things like laundry, cleaning and what not. Today, I was pretty motivated to plow through some chores. Of course my list is usually much more ambitious than the amount of time I have available. I started the day with a very specific list. However, somehow making bread and cookies got added to that list pretty quickly. I did get through the laundry, and it’s even put away. I still need to hem some pants, but the bread and the cookies did get done. Most of my cook books are still in the barn where they were stored while we did the main home work. So I’ve been collecting recipes on-line and from my Cook’s Magazine subscription.

I have a great mixer, but it seems to be getting tired. Today I decided to knead the dough by hand.

I love the way bread rises. No matter how old I am, or how many loaves I make, I get so excited to see that it worked:

However, I got so excited and distracted, I never took a “baked” picture. They looked okay, but tasted even better. Eliza’s comment, “this is the best bread EVER!” certainly provides the encouragement needed to do it again.

Earlier this year I tried a new recipe for Oatmeal cookies that included dried cherries and chunks of dark chocolate. I thought I’d make them today, but discovered that I tend to underestimate the amount of oats in my house. So it was back to the drawing board, so to speak.

This months’ Cook’s Illustrated featured a sugar cookie recipe that sounded like fun, so I gave it a whirl. I liked the quote from the recipe. “Everyone thinks it’s easy to make classic buttery-tasting sugar cookies that are crisp at the edges and chewy in the center. Everyone is wrong.” I love the way Cook’s Illustrated tests recipes till they like the results and explains why they made the choices they did. So far I’ve been happy with most of the recipes (only one disappointed – the macaroni and cheese, and it wasn’t bad per se, it’s just that we really like our recipe.”

I’m happy to say that this recipe did not disappoint:

Eliza and I decided that we’ll be adding this one to our Christmas cookie repertoire.

Also included in the day was a nice walk up the hill. So, while not all the chores got done, it was a very good day. I hope your day was nice too!