L'Shanah Tovah! And bread. Yum.

Mmm, my house smells like yummy things. There's no downside to baking bread, as far as I'm concerned (well, washing the dishes, but that's an eternal downside). Reading baking books is a trip though. I grew up in a big cooking household, so I've pretty much always been comfortable baking, but if I were a newbie and starting with some of these cookbooks? I'd be terrified! "Weigh all your flour; if you have even one milligram too much, your bread will FAIL." "Don't knead your bread past the exact moment when it becomes smooth and elastic, or it will be brick-like and utterly inedible." "Let rise for 17 hours, then punch down, then let rise for another 17 hours, then punch down, then let rise..." Oh come on. It doesn't need to be that complicated. Cavepeople (or near enough) managed to bake bread without ending the world in the process. I'm sure most modern people could too if they weren't too scared to try it. Breadmaking is an intuitive process- your senses will tell you if you're on the right path. And if it doesn't work perfectly the first time, it's okay. Try it again. Breadmaking is great therapy- the work of measuring, mixing, and kneading is calming (and can be a good way to work out frustrations- I use it like other people meditate), the scent of baking bread is better (and cheaper) than aromatherapy, and freshly-baked bread is a yummy treat not to be missed.

One of my favorite books when I was very wee was about baking bread, actually: Bembelman's Bakery (it's out of print, unfortunately, but it's still findable). Saul Bembelman and his six brothers and sisters decide to help their mom (uh oh) by baking bread, except that the whole measuring thing doesn't go so well and the bread turns into the Blob and takes over their house. Luckily, it's amazingly good. As their dad, Aaron, says, "It's meat and potatoes! It's strudel and pie! It's breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at once! It's apples and raisins, vodka and noodles, every taste you ever wanted to taste, all in each wonderful bite." So it works out okay. My sister and I would have given just about anything to taste that bread. Mom's was really good, but not that good. It was like the White Witch's Turkish Delight- reality was no match for what we could almost, but not quite, taste.

The sun's setting, so I should shut down. It's a little weird not to have services to go to, even though I've always been pretty inconsistent in how observant I am. Oh well. L'Shanah Tovah to those who are celebrating (and a happy weekend to everyone else), and may this year be more filled with success and joy than the last!

"I was sent by God. She said, revealing her acerbic wit?"

So, Joan of Arcadia. I had to watch it, thanks to the Joan of Arc connection, however tenuous that was. And I liked it. I'm surprised by how much I liked it. ( I should have taped it, I think. Darn. Hopefully it'll last long enough to be repeated. )

I really want a Joan of Arc icon of some sort, but I like all my current ones too much to switch them out. More icons soonly please, LJ! Assuming you can work correctly for two days in a row, that is.