Neglected Passions

It's been a busy week here at chez CrazyHouse (tm): Boy-O & I finally got to use my Christmas pressie (Wicked tickets), but in order to do so, we first had to remove the layers of dirt and dust from our house so the babysitter could come. (Seriously: there was a good chance the babe would have been lost in the mess!) 

Once that was accomplished, we saw the show-- very fun, and Z did very well with her first professional sitter -- but the experience really got me thinking about my long-standing love of performing. It was a lifetime ago, but I sometimes wonder if I'd been braver, what might have been. I can't say I'd have been hugely successful: I am not especially driven in that particular way.

And I certainly wouldn't trade my life now; there's a richness to it I couldn't have imagined 10 years ago.

But it does remind me that I really do need to make sure my life includes more of the things I love. To wit:

mini-loaf. egg included for scale 

tiny little slices. they are perfectly sized for Z's hands.

I'd been intimidated by sandwich bread, which seems ridiculous now, considering how simple it was, and that I've made far more complex recipes. I think it just seemed out of reach because buying loaves of bread from the store is so automatic. But these miniature loaves were just the ticket to get me started. 

One of our wedding gifts was a set of four adorable mini-loaf pans -- any recipe that makes a single loaf fits them perfectly. I used the "American Sandwich Bread" recipe from Baking Illustrated. I'm a big fan of Cook's Illustrated's books in general, but I think this one in particular is excellent. (Plus it's on sale right now - who doesn't love that?)

The bread has good crumb, and is soft without falling apart. I'll *definitely* be making more.