Bread WIN!

Today I redeemed myself.

I made this sticky pile of yeasty-ness into three (count 'em) THREE loaves of whole wheat bread (courtesy of allrecipes.com)!  

It took a lot of whole wheat flour and kneading... which for the disc in my back threatening to slip, was not cool.  Also, I don't have a lot of counter space.. so my kitchen table (one of the greatest things I got when I married Mr. Gingerbread) became my workspace.  

As soon as the bread comes out of the oven you have to brush it with melted butter.  Believe it or not this is really healthy bread.  It has honey instead of sugar and it's whole wheat...  just a couple of tablespoons or maybe half a stick of butter in all... soooo healthy.  Besides, who eats the whole loaf anyway??

uh, me.

It's just that good. 

I'm always surprised when the dough actually rises, it's like a mini-miracle.

I am surprised to find that bread making, at least this recipe, isn't that hard.  It's just takes patience... and a 30Rock marathon to take up all the time...

This was the first serious kind of bread I ever made.  It's simple and straightforward so it's a good one to start with.  Just take an free afternoon and go for it!

I also made some cookies.

My favorite type of cake is red velvet with cream cheese icing.  So when I found this recipe at How Sweet It Is, I was really excited.  It's a cookie recipe made with store bought cake mix.  Cake cookies are always yummy and easy to make.  

I put more chocolate chips in than she does... her way is better.  The reason being is that the cookie dough, though delicious, is quite oily.  So there needs to be more dough than chips to keep it all together.    It also turns your hands and white spatula pink.... worth it!

Aren't they lovely?  She puts cream cheese icing on them.  I did that the first time I made them and it was wonderful!  They also taste fine just as they are.  They are very soft, and taste just like chocolate chip cookies if you aren't to keen on the red velvet. 

I've been very busy.  But only because the next couple of pics will be from the beach!!! Vacation here I come!