Baking Day

It’s the first baking day of the holiday season, and I thought I would take you along. This is not a tutorial, just a peek into the kitchen (and brain) of a neurotic, sugar-loving bake-aholic. Here we go.

10 AM
Today we are making and frosting a party cake, mixing ganache for the 150 cupcakes I’ll be baking tomorrow for a party on Wednesday, and making and frosting sugar cookies, mostly for topping the aforementioned cupcakes. Oh, and I’m going to make a dinner roll recipe from the Pioneer Woman… for dinner, whatever that’s going to be.

On an aside, I just love Pioneer Woman. If you don't read her blog, you should. She is very funny. I think she and I are kindred spirits, and we have so much in common. Except that, she seems to be able to do a lot more with her time than I do. Hm. Maybe she has a maid.

First off, breakfast of venison sausage and fresh eggs, hot tea with honey and milk, and our morning Bible reading.

I just hope nothing horrible happens to Honey's computer today in this precarious location...



11 AM
Ooh, look at that huge bowl of ganache. Ganache = lots of good, dark chocolate chips and heavy cream. Period. If you add more cream, you can actually drink it. One of my hot chocolate recipes is just that, with milk to thin it enough to allay the guilt.




Chocolate cake to feed, oh, fifty people… in the oven.

12:30 PM
Okay, now I’ve spent a large amount of time playing with my camera. If only I knew what these settings meant! F-stop, aperture, white balance, ISO, and whatever that fraction is are ALL on my list of things to learn this year! It really devalues the camera and frustrates me when I don’t know how to use it. I need to dig out that manual.

Back to real work…

Just finished the frosting base, which is flour and milk. Did you ever make piñatas in school? (Okay, I live in South Texas.) I’m sure we’ve all done homemade papier mache, anyway. You know that flour and water paste you use for glue? Well, this is just like that. I mean, it climbed up the beaters when I mixed it. I just keep thinking about what good mortar it would make for brick work. And how it’s going to have super thigh-sticking properties. Here it is covered and cooling.



If you don’t press the plastic right onto the surface, it forms that nasty ‘scum’ layer on top, which is not delicious. My mom used to tell us that’s how they made pudding roll-ups… they left the pudding out and just kept skimming off the top layer and rolling it up. I’ve never forgotten that, and I’m pretty sure I never had another pudding roll-up.

1:00 PM
I wonder what we’re going to do for lunch. Let me stop for a bite of Chocoloate Chip Whiskey Pecan Pie from the other night. And another. Wow, did I just eat a whole piece? I guess that can count for lunch.

The house is now filled with the luscious smell of chocolate cake. The kind of smell that makes you start having to swallow because of all that extra saliva, and makes your knees weak. Levi just walked in the front door and said, “Mom, please don’t make the house smell like that until Wednesday! Now I’m going to crave cake like crazy!” Maybe I should feed them.

Beep, beep. Beep, beep. Beep, beep. The cake is out and oh, so gorgeous.

It’s time to make the second part of the frosting… butter and sugar. How ‘bout that enormous bowl? I love it. It’s just what you need for three pounds of butter.



Oops. I didn't add enough sugar. That's not cool.



Now Jake is taking pictures. He asked to use the ‘shutter-speed priority’ setting to take a picture of me pouring sugar. What?!?! Give me a break! “Yeah, Mom, that’s what people use to take pictures of things that are moving really fast.” Oh, great, let’s break it down into terms Mom can understand… I’m SO buying Photography for Dummies. There you go, Honey. Great gift idea.

What’s that? Why, of course I always dress like this to cook. I want to look my best when my husband comes home, with the house cleaned up, dinner on the table, the kids shiny and quiet, and a smile on my face.

BA HA HA! Oh, sorry. You know, I would love to live like that, and Honey totally deserves it. But, I’m a homeschooling mom of three savage boys, I cook, I start a lot of projects I never finish (and certainly not in one day), I stay VERY busy, and things just don’t work out like they did for June. Cleaver, that is.

So, all that said, I’ll admit that I only dress up when I’m making cookies. And the camera is out. And I’m blogging it. Okay, I usually wear an old t-shirt and velour pajama pants… all winter, as long as I’m at home. You don’t really think all the other photos you see of beautiful women in the kitchen are real, do you? They wear sweat pants with their hair in a knot, too, until the camera comes out. At least that’s what I tell myself... and Honey.

Jake thought it looked fun to run the hand-mixer in that giant bowl, so he gave it a try. Yes, he’s wearing camo coveralls in the eighty degree kitchen. He wears them every day, until I make him take them off.



Oh, good. The kids had cereal and pb&js for lunch. That’s perfect before we gorge ourselves on sugar cookies. I’d better finish off that pie, since pecans are packed with protein. I need something to balance out all this sugar.

The milk and sugar are scalding for the rolls, and since it’s the same basic recipe as for her cinnamon rolls, I decided to double it and try both!

2:20 PM
I think we’re ready to start rolling the cookie dough.








4:15 PM
Goodness! All the cookies are out of the oven and carefully laid out to cool.



It’s time to clean up the rolling area so I can frost that cake and get it put away, then make the icing for the cookies. The dinner and cinnamon rolls are already beginning to rise.



I think I’ll make some tea. And have a cookie. I’m getting a little tired, and the kitchen is now ninety degrees.

4:45 PM
Honey came home early and was highly upset when he found out Luke was outside playing. He didn’t call to say he was going to hunt in the backyard tonight, so I didn’t worry about them being outside. Apparently, I was supposed to remember from last year that they aren’t allowed anywhere near the backyard after 4 pm, and they can’t play in the woods from October through February. He huffed around for a little while, then gave up hope that anything would show up at the feeder. I told him to relax and eat a cookie, and that his night wasn’t a total loss… we’re having cinnamon rolls! He wasn’t as thrilled as I would have been.

5:15 PM
Cake is decorated, but I’m behind on those rolls. Dinner might be late. What a surprise!

6:10 PM
Rolls are rising. One pan of cinnamon rolls is rising, while the other FOUR pans are going into the freezer… where I’m going to get dinner out. I think we’ll have fish, since it will thaw fast. Pizza sounds really good at this point, but considering my whole budget is wrapped and awaiting ribbon embellishment, I’m going to have to cook something from one of our four full freezers. Bummer. At least I get to end the day with a cinnamon roll.



7:00 PM
Rolls are out, and the rest of dinner is underway. A delicious dinner that is still quick is priceless, especially on a day like this. Seared Mahi Mahi with white wine caper butter, herbed couscous, salad, and fresh rolls. Yum!

And finally....



I think I'm going to cry.



Well, I didn't cry, but I was completely absorbed in the roll of all rolls.



And now I think I'm going to pass out.

9:15 PM
Everything is cleaned up and I’m going to bed! The cinnamon rolls were divine. Really. Easily the best one I’ve ever, ever had. We didn’t use the maple frosting in the recipe because I had some leftover caramel, so I mixed that with cream cheese and slathered it on. It looks like this baking day will have to resume tomorrow, because I’m beat.

9:00 AM
Here we are again. Cupcakes are in the oven, breakfast is going on the table, and I just had my pre-breakfast cinnamon roll. Considering all the sugar and white flour I consumed yesterday, I was surprised at how good I felt at the end of the day. I woke up every couple of hours for no reason, but I still feel pretty good today. Four months ago, I would have been able to move from the bed to the couch this morning, and that’s about it!



11:45 AM
Who needs wassail, when we have ganache? Well, honestly, I’ll take both, but today, it’s chocolate. Here’s our ganaching carol. Sing it for the full effect.

Here we go gana-aching among the cupcakes fair,
Here we go a filling, can anything compare
To the joy of just a little
Chocolate hidden in the middle?
What a wonderful surprise for me and you-oo-oo-oo-oooo.
Makes me smile and hope it makes you happy, too.

I know, I know. I’m singing about chocolate. These are the kinds of strange things that go through my head all day. Luke is having a grapefruit, carrots, and celery for lunch. He lost dessert for two days because he ate a cinnamon roll before eating even half of his dinner last night, and we didn’t seem to notice until later. He took advantage of the moment we were basking in our dessert, oblivious to everything else, to pull a fast one.

Look at all those cakes bulging with chocolate goodness!



1:00 PM
I began doubting the portability and sustainability of my gravy frosting, so out comes another five pounds of butter and the ‘big guns.’



Yes, it’s normal for me to keep that much butter on hand. As of yesterday morning, I had no less than 14 pounds of butter in the combined two refrigerators/four freezers. When you live ‘out here,’ you buy in bulk!

Then, it’s time to frost the cookies. All 200-ish of them.

5:15 PM
We are just finishing the cookies, and Honey is the hero of the night. He brought home tamales for dinner. Hallelujah! I am really tired, my feet hurt, and I’m beginning to loathe sugar cookie frosting. It’s only fun for the first hundred or so. They sure are cute, though.



Those are music notes... for chorus. Yes, I do realize they look a little like goldfish. Use your imagination.

And here is one of the Ninja men I made for the boys. I figured they would like that more than the cliche 'gingerbread man' theme. They did.



6:00 PM
Everything is done!! I even whipped up another batch of caramel frosting for all those extra cinnamon rolls I stuck in the freezer, just so I wouldn’t have to make ANYthing in the morning. Whew! I’m glad I only do this a few times a year.





9:00 PM
I am going to go collapse into my bed…. Right after I get this post online. It was a lot of work, but it was fun. At some moments more than others, but, yes, it was worth it. Thanks for following us, and I hope reading it doesn’t seem as long to you as the last two days did to me! At least I get to eat the stuff now, and the rest of my week should be pretty calm. Goodni... zzzzzzzz….