Some thoughts on holiday baking...

In an effort to warm up the house, I decided to make yet another batch or two of holiday tasties. This year, I have truly felt like a domestic goddess. Not only do I have the Kitchen Aid mixer as prime accoutrement on my path to domestic goddess-dom, but this year I feel that I have finally used it to some of its amazing potential. Three years after its birthday surprise, I am still amazed and awed by the act of hands-free mixing. It really is way too cool. This year in particular it has truly come in handy because I can play fetch or tug with Scupper AND cream my butter and sugar until smooth. And with our old/new stove, I can soften the butter in a bowl over the pilot light area on the stove top. Rock on.

The only downfall about baking now is the fact that I can't test the batter before I bake it. Argh. No raw eggs for Speedy. I didn't realize how much I actually did that until I was reaching into the biscotti batter last week and went, wait a sec. If I'm not even eating poached eggs for breakfast, do I assume unbaked dough is safe? Oh well. Until May. (Like I'll want to cook homemade cookies right after her birth. Yah right.)

On the other hand, I did make some tasty breads and treats this year - all from my Whole Grain baking cookbook. The UCSD theater department staff & the local dog walkers had their choice of:
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread (made with white whole wheat and oat flour)
Pumpking Cranberry Bread (made regular whole wheat flour)
and Toffee Almond Biscotti (also made with regular whole wheat flour).
And you know, they all turned out pretty good. I think they are much denser than breads/biscotti made with all-purpose white flour, but the whole wheat lends a nutty texture and taste that's rather good, especially with the biscotti of all things.

Tonight, in an attempt to warm up the house yet again (it's 50 and rainy here - so much for a sunny Pacific paradise) I just made Molasses Rye Snap dough (we'll see how they taste) and another rough of the Toffee Biscotti because I had requests for more. The house is now at 70 and smelling delicious and I'm finally warm.

Let me know if you want any recipes. I think i'm done for the season. I have one more loaf of French bread to make for our annual Christmas Eve bagna cauda (anchoives, butter, garlic sauce with raw veggies dipped in) but that's it.

In other news, Speedy is growing just fine. She is "totally normal" according to the midwife's reading of the mid-point ultrasound results. Totally normal? Is she really our kid? ;) I feel as big as a house, wondering how my stomach flesh is going to stretch anymore. I was in pre-natal yoga today with a woman who was at term (good for her - doing yoga until the end!) and I got a little scared seeing how large she was. I mean, does the belly really expand THAT MUCH? Holy cow. I ran home and lathered my stomach up with lots of body butter just in case. I checked in the shower this morning that if i stand straight, can I still see my toes? yes. but just barely. It's about time for another picture of said belly, so once I get Steve to take it, I'll post another one... At least my belly button is still in. For now...