Weekend Round-Up: Baking Up a Storm

Apparently, the recession is exactly the stress motivation I needed to become a better baker. I reached critical-worry about all things money related on Friday. I’m concerned about my job in the financial industry. I can’t even look at my investments these days after having lost what roughly translates to a full year of pre-tax income in value. Almost everyone I know in the city has had major layoffs at their companies.

On Friday, I tried to combat this stress at the climbing gym. When that didn’t work I made Rob eat eat chocolate chip cookies in bed with me while watching laptop TV reruns.

On Saturday, Margaret came over and we went super-domestic. I picked up a wedding present from the post office and a small loaf of Tuscan bruschetta at AG Ferrari for lunch.

We took a hike to Randall Museum in the afternoon and had a great view of the city.

After that, we committed the rest of the day to cooking up a storm. First, we made Bake and Shake’s hefty meat lasagna for dinner. Quite the process, even with two people, but we all loved the results. I have enough leftovers for a few days.

After that, I prepared a tart shell for a quiche the next day. And then, we made two loaves of Shutterbean’s cranberry bread. With Margaret there to keep me honest, I reluctantly “spooned and leveled” all four cups of flour (who came up with this ludicrous method?) and the bread came out perfectly!

The next morning, we had the cranberry bread and coffee for breakfast. I cleaned house and made a mushroom quiche for lunch with Meg. She came over at noon and we shared wedding planning frustrations over glasses of rosé and tea.

Errands and chores in the afternoon. A clean house also helps me feel better about the economy. I worked on the site a bit, too. I added a “Topics” bar on the right, per request, so that you can browse old posts by subject. Enjoy!