Home for the Holidaze

For the last few weeks of the semester, I was ready and aching to get home. Upon arriving home, I was thankful for so many things: space, a kitchen table to sit at, hot water, heat, my electric toothbrush, a full-size fridge, and, not so banally, family and time together and time to recharge.

It's been a busy time and an ambitious time in the kitchen. In England I learned that Elizabeth I was credited with making the first gingerbread men, impressing visiting dignitaries by presenting confections in their likeness. It became common practice that gingerbread tied with ribbon became a token of love.

So, I had the idea to bake gingerbread for every member of my family. Following a Martha Stewart recipe, I soon found out that it was A LOT more labour intensive than I thought. The dough was super tough and needed to be chilled and frozen twice before baking. The icing was also a bit of a fiasco. But with tenacity and perseverance I made it through.

The same goes for the mincemeat pie I am baking (whose scents are now wafting from the oven). I screwed up the first two batches of dough because a. I used bread flour and b. I used vegetable oil instead of shortening aka margarine. But finally, on the third batch (after much yelling and frustration), I had a workable dough and a beautiful latticed pie baking in the oven.

The daze of the season continues... hopefully with less mishaps.

Joy. ***