TWD: Lemon Loaf Cake

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was a seemingly simple lemon pound cake. You see, the batter for this cake comes together in a flash. No fancy kitchen tools required. Just a bowl and a whisk.  

TWD: Irish Soda Bread

Man oh man, am I  a procrastinator. After nearly a month I still haven't quite figured out the best schedule for me to keep up with the TWD baking. But! I made it this time, although just barely. Luckily, this bread is a total cinch to put together.

TWD : White Loaves

When my sisters and I were younger and a family dinner night was planned, we used to run to the dinner table. Not exactly out of hunger, or excitement, but out of pure competition for the coveted diamond fork. What's a diamond fork? Are you picturing a glittering, sparkly gold and diamond encrusted fork, worthy of only royal princesses and daughters of presidents? Yeah. It's not that exciting. A diamond fork is just a regular ol' fork with a diamond shape in between the two middle prongs, and in our house, we had only one. One! Didn't my parents realize they had three daughters? 

Oh, the fights that could have been spared if only there were two more diamond forks in our house. 

And so it begins...

Well, here we are at the beginning of another year. A time for reflection, new beginnings, and resolutions.

And yep, I jumped on the gung-ho work-out bandwagon.. I've seen the giant influx of infomercials selling the latest and greatest work-out tool (shakey dumbbell thing? Seriously?). I purchased a pink yoga mat, and convinced myself that THIS will be the year I start to practice yoga regularly.

Let's see, we're about 10 days in. I unrolled the mat once, to make sure it works. Did you know yoga mats are super thin? Maybe I just bought a defective one. But, it pretty much just feels like I am sitting directly on the floor, which really doesn't make me feel very relaxed or bendy.

While I think it's great that some people are able to use the new year as motivation for getting fit. I just ain't one of them. You know what sounds a lot more fun,  Adding a baking routine to my weekly schedule.

So, I've decided instead of resolving to “get more fit” which only to 3 weeks of over-zealous workouts followed by 4 weeks of utter-pain and soreness I am going to save myself the trouble, and just bake some cookies.

But this will be no frivolous willy-nilly schedule of baking, oh no. There will be discipline, and structure, and lots and lots of butter. Yum.  

So today I ordered Baking with Julia, and I signed up for the Tuesdays with Dorie group of fantastic bakers. I am hoping to get my baking butt in gear, learn some new techniques, and maybe even make a few new friends along the way. Which, coincidentally enough is another resolution of mine, seriously Katrina, stop being so agoraphobic.

So now, I just wait for my cookbook to arrive, work on properly feng-shuing my kitchen, and maybe figure out a good use for my new yoga mat.