I’m hoping to add a few new breads to the Aurora Bakery menu: potato rosemary, cranberry walnut braid, and maybe brioche. I’m going to make the potato bread tomorrow night and maybe try the braid again tonight. If I’m clever I’ll be able to make a simple brioche that can be the base for several different rich dessert-type breads like the cranberry walnut. I’ve noticed that people go for the sweeter breads, so I might as well feature them on the menu. And since I’m a piggy piggy fat fat I’ll be forced to try out all these new breads myself.
I should explain. Yesterday my stomach was upset most of the day because I ate too much Halloween candy the night before. So after a day of gurgling belly and regrets, what’s the first thing I do when I get home? Eat four Reese’s Penaut Butter Cups from the candy basket! Then I felt sick all the rest of the night. So this morning I’ve decided to eat a more sensible diet. Last night at the grocery store I bought, with the exception of some granola, only raw ingredients: eggs, milk, yogurt, meat, vegetables, flour. We’ve been cooking bigger batches so it’ll last two days, and by making everything ourselves we can eliminate those things that cause stomach issues. (See what I did there? Eliminate?…moving on…)
I’ve been reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, and I keep repeating the mantra printed on the cover: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” I realize that I still eat a fair amount of processed foods. Besides not tasting as good, they are really bad for you. Pure chocolate, rich sauces, fresh greens, natural cheese, grilled meats, homemade bread—all these things are real food. Hydrogenated soybean oil, guar gum, soy lecithin, high fructose corn syrup, blue lake #5—these things are not food. I imagine if I had to see and taste the individual ingredients that go into something like a Twinkie, I’d get sick.
I’ve still to figure out whether it’ll be more expensive to eat real food. If you’ve browsed the aisles of a convenience store, you know how cheaply you can eat crap food. Last night I spent almost $70 and only had about six bags of groceries. But a lot of that money went towards meat that will last 2-3 meals each. And since I enjoy cooking and spending time in the kitchen, making stuff from scratch will be more rewarding than buying it pre-made.
Now gimme sommore dem Reese’s! NOMNOMNOMNOM!
Writer, architect, father, husband.
Wow, crazy. I am going through a similar kick (ie, ate a whole bag of candy corn and made three batches of cupcakes-chai cupcakes, mocha and chocolate peanut butter) and then felt so sick now I am basically on a juice fast. I went to Bikram yoga last night and basically had an aneurysm I was sweating so much, but it felt SO good after all that candy! How is M. Pollan's new book by the way?
PS Can we skype tonight, I'll be home at a normal hour.
PPS How about a rosemary sourdough…..
Skype, yes. Rosemary sourdough is an intriguing option. I've been tinkering with how I make my sourdough, so maybe it's time to try this.
How about Rosemary sourdough with calamata olives??