Just keep baking

After reading Julie and Julia, I fantasized about performing a project like that on my own.

{Julie is a girl who decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Cookbook in a year}

I never did, because of a list of things, like time, money, and thinking it would make me fat...but those are all just silly excuses. Soooooo, I decided to take on a project kind of like Julie and Julia, only I will be baking delicious treats every night insead of cooking meals. I've found it much more economical since I use a lot of the same basic ingredients, and then I can freeze the leftovers or give it easily to friends. I've already accomplished three nights in a row!

As much as I love cooking, I feel like anyone can do it. The secret is salt, cream, garlic, and onion and *poof* you have a mouthwatering meal. But I feel like baking is different. It's a science, it's specific, it's challenging, it's creative, and you really see your results. I feel like I enter a world of concentration, manual labor, and instant gratification once I am able to see my beautiful craftsmanship at the end of the day. It makes me giddy when I peek into the oven and see shapes form, browning on the top of the dough, and then to also be able to taste everything right out of the oven is just a dream come true!

On Monday I decided to make soft pretzels. They turned out so cute! Here are some pics of the process:

Making the dough



Poaching the dough



In the oven



Before going in the oven



Whooo Soft Preztels!






Tuesday I made beer battered cheese bread. My loaf of bread broke apart when I tried to get it out of the pan. I was sad, but then I ate it and didn't feel sad anymore. It was SOOOOO good. I am also going to make cheesy rolls instead of a loaf the next time I make it. I really enjoy the buttery crust, and I think that if I can cover more surface area with the butter crust the world might be a better place.

Since this didn't come out as well as I would have liked, there aren't very many pictures.

Beer-battered cheese bread



and today I made blueberry scones:

Placing blueberries on the dough









Blueberry scones!





I've been really happy with the treats I've made so far. I will update as I go along on my new adventures exploring the wonderful world of baking. Happy eating!