Back to Baking Basics

Every holiday season, I get bit by the baking bug. Mid to late October, I start feeling an ever-growing urge to break out the flour and sugar and make things.

This year is a little tricky, since I have very little disposable income at the moment. I'm basically living off of the leftover money from working at Technicolor, and though my student loans are taking care of big things like rent and gas, that isn't very much. I'll be applying for part-time jobs, but in the meantime, that leaves me with very little to spend on new appliances (I had to get rid of our food processor when we moved) or lots of ingredients.

Still, I plan to make at least a few goodies this year, particularly for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'd also like to tackle the ever-elusive homemade brownie (Which, as you may remember from last year, is the bane of my culinary existence). But, more importantly, I'd like to start fiddling with recipes and tweaking them to either work better or make them my own. You see, I've had an idea for a while now that I'd someday like to open up a bakery with Sam. And I really want to learn and hone skills and develop delicious recipes into even more delicious treats. (Boy, this is making me hungry...) I want to know the science behind baking, and really challenge myself to make some pretty extraordinary things!

I know, I know, I'm in grad school, and wouldn't I be doing something Japanesey with my career? Yes, possibly, but I've been having a lot of anxiety over whether the academic world is really my cup of tea anymore. Or whether I'd even be able to finish grad school with the economy as it is or find a viable job with even a Master's Degree in only 2 years. (2 years!!!) The baking, for now, is a safety net. It's something that I enjoy that could not only get me a job if I find it hard to find one later on, but it's also something Sam and I could do together as a business. And developing my baking skills now in my spare time could only benefit me in the future. Even if I don't open a bakery, I would LOVE being the mom or weird aunt who makes awesome (or, dare I hope, "The Best") cakes and pies and cookies. And brownies! Damn you, brownies...!

So, here's the wishlist (or part of it, anyway) of things I'd like to tackle sometime in the near future. I probably won't get to half of these things, but they sound darned tasty, and it'd be a shame if I didn't at least try a few new things. (Yes, I realize a ton of these recipes come from SmittenKitchen. It's a darned good foodie blog.)

~ Apple Pie
~ Pumpkin Pie
~ Sweet Potato Pie
~ Blueberry Buckle
~ Brownies, Redeux
~ Brownie Roll-out Cookies
~ Oreos, Redeux
~ World Peace Cookies
~ Jewish Apple Cake
~ Marshmallows (I saw a gorgeous recipe for these a long time ago, but can't find it... Maybe I'll default to the Good Eats recipe)
~ Rugelach Pinwheels, Redeux
~ Chocolate Chip Cookies (own recipe, of course!)
~ Chocolate Biscotti (sans hazelnuts, due to allergies - I'll sub something...)
~ Peach Hand Pies (Peach is out of season, so I may need to replace it with something else)
~ Various breads

Oh gosh, I'm pretty sure there's more than that... I'll add more later as I find them. Not that I need more. That's probably more than enough for the winter.

I should go get something to eat. Now I'm hungry!