My house is awash in bread. I am downright stunned at how much I was able to make this week. I have five loaves of bread, the last dough rising in the fridge, a recipe’s worth of pfeffernussen, and the thought,”Well, I still could make chocolate chip cookies.” I’m not sure I’ll get around to it, though. Lydia and I are going to be crazymad busy anyway.

Hookslide concert tonight! Fifth anniversary show! Yay!

I’ll post the recipes soon. Probably when I’m escaping to our hotel room to get away from the masses of NERDS. Which reminds me of the other time I was at Fanime, in 1999. I ended up skipping some stuff so I could go back to my room and watch Red Dwarf. KTEH was showing four episodes of the seventh or eighth series I hadn’t seen (and which, in retrospect, I probably would have been better off not seeing, since they kinda blew). It’s just trading one geekdom for another. Then and now, how far I’ve come.

I made two bread recipes last night, but I’m not posting them yet because I haven’t tried them. I’ve got a slice of one in my backpack, and the other loaf is supposed to get better after a few days of resting. I may try it tonight, though. The two I made were French Herb Bread and Pain d’Épices (Spice Bread). I meant to make only a half recipe of the herb bread. I put half of all the ingredients in the mixing bowl, and then… I added enough water for an entire recipe. And you can’t undo that. So it may very well suck. I yelled at myself and then ran around my kitchen (kind of a feat, considering how tiny my kitchen is) adding the other half of the ingredients. It was so dumb. Seriously. And now I have two huge loaves of this bread. I hope it’s edible.

The Pain d’Épices called for some anise, which I like, but Lydia hates, and since I’m bringing this to Fanime for us to snack on, I left it out. I added some cardamom instead. It’s a quick bread. I should have used the smaller of the loaf pans that Ryan so generously let me borrow.

I’ll be trying the herb bread soon. I’ll let you know how it is.

Ha! My dear friend Ysabel has started a blog. Keep up with it, yo. It’s… well, it’s a place to bitch about stuff, if nothing else. And we’ve all got plenty of that to do.

(Zack, you should feel very lucky that this has happened, for it is likely that I will now turn my constant nagging to her.)

I wonder if her blog will bring me more traffic from people I with whom I went to college. I didn’t (and don’t) pimp this blog terribly aggressively (although I should, given that I complain about my numbers all the time). Ys’s email announcing her blog went out to a lot of people I knew, and her first post links to me. Huzzah!

Man, onions look terrible right now. I’m looking forward to when they come into season… soon, soon.

Went out for sushi last night with the Mountain View crowd. That ended up being a pricey little evening. We were celebrating Rosy and Quetzal’s birthdays. I thought I had calculated my portion out to about $22, but everyone ended up paying $35ish. Oh, well. I had enough money. It’s just that… now my wallet’s empty. Sorry, I’ll stop complaining and/or being a skinflint.

I started bread (of the very basic variety) on Sunday night. I woke up a half an hour early (ew, 6:30am) and made the dough before I went to work, then let it rise in the fridge all day/evening. (Adding to this after I’ve eaten some toast- damn, I love that bread!)

I have so much baking to do. So little time!

So, Lydia and I are planning on baking a lot this coming week. We want to have some decent breads and cookies and things to bring to Fanime so that we can avoid the exorbitant prices on breakfasts and snackage. I’ve been reading through my copy of Great Breads and getting inspiredish. This is just a list of breads that I wouldn’t mind trying, with ingredients I need to buy in the parentheses.

Challah
French Herb Bread (onion, parsley, and wheat germ)
Herbed Cottage Cheese Bread (onion and parsley)
Rosemary and Thyme Bread
Pesto Bread
Cheese and Mustard Bread
Bara Brith (currants, candied citrus peel, and various whole spices that I only have in ground form)
Pain d’Épices

Oh, I keep forgetting. Writing it here hopefully will remind me to ask her later. Ryan, can I have the recipe for your orange-cranberry bread?

I was supposed to make the basil-lime syrup and pate last night, as well as starting some basic bread so the starter could ferment overnight in the fridge, but I fell asleep on the couch watching Full Metal Alchemist.

I figure if I have enough extra limes, I could make lime curd. I don’t know if that would be a good idea. Like, if it would be bitter or something. I should look up a recipe instead of just substituting in my lemon curd recipe.

God, every time I feel like I have to write a “blah blah, I am lame, I don’t have anything to say, but I feel I need to write something” post, I should just go over to the eGullet Food Media & News message board and read. Then I’ll have something to talk about.

Like the Observer thing, and now this.

Check out the prettypretty cast for the new FOX series based on Anthony Bourdain’s best-selling book, Kitchen Confidential. That guy from Alias is playing Tony… er, “Jack” Bourdain (because there aren’t enough main characters named “Jack” on TV nowadays [24, Lost, Alias, Will & Grace, what’s one more?]). And there’s that guy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that guy from Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and one of the kids from Freaks and Geeks. And some blonde chicks with prominent boobs. Hm, I may just be blind, but do you see anyone from South America in that cast? Where are the multiple burn scars? Come on!

Here’s a little more on the show itself.

Well, it’s nice to know that I have three things done from the Observer’s Top 50 Things Every Foodie Should Do. The three easiest and cheapest ones- dismember a chicken, bake bread, and make toast from decent bread. I’ve almost done #19- I’ve had a bellini in Venice, but not at Harry’s Bar. Same with #17. I’ve gotten pretty decent gelato in Italy, but not in Sicily (and it wasn’t great, so it probably wouldn’t count, anyway). Also, I feel that #22 is a bit jerkish, calling our California asparagus “thick ‘porn-star’… spears.” Yes, there is a lot of it that is too thick. However, there’s still a good deal that’s wee and wonderful. I’ve had wonderful duck (#38), but my father made it. I’ve had both good and disappointing duck out, but the Thanksgiving my dad made duck was the best I’ve ever had. I’ve actually never grilled a steak (#35).

Yeah, the whole thing’s pretty snobby, but whatever, it’s still interesting.

Kick ass.

FOX has decided that there’s always money in the banana stand.

Arrested Development will be getting a third season!

Thanks to Nick for tipping me off.

And apparently NBC will be bringing back The Office (huzzah, I had no hope for that) in the fall and Scrubs at… some point. I mean, yay for the only two shows I watch on that crap network, but I wish Scrubs had an announced date. (Oh yeah, the first season of Scrubs is coming out on DVD tomorrow. Let’s all buy it!)

I cooked yesterday. I made baked beans and Jonsauce. I made the beans in the slow-cooker instead of the oven, since I don’t have an oven-safe pot. I forgot to add the last tablespoon of molasses and the apple cider vinegar after they were done. My bad. I hope they’re still good. The Jonsauce turned out well, although I feel it has kind of progressed to a point where the pasta is unnecessary. That’s kind of sad. But it’s tasty enough on its own.

I meant to make challah, but I didn’t.

Leigh has arrived! Next weekend is the They’re Coming 300 review extravaganza. Leigh and Ryan have told me about the special surprise, but I’m sworn to secrecy. Suffice to say, it will be a horrifying, disgusting, tasty confection. Hopefully it will become as big a meme as the thoracic cake.

Zack graduated this weekend. Go him.

Oh, yeah. Samurai Champloo was pretty cool. If you like anime, pick up one of the reruns this week. Cartoon Network. It’s got Steven Blum doing that one voice he does. You know the one.