Seemingly Pedestrian

Why hello there dear readers. It has been quite a long while since my last post and I apologize. Life has gotten in the way a bit too often lately. But that's a good thing. While work and life have been a bit overwhelming these days, I must say, a lot of good has come out of my zombie state of over-worked exhaustion these days. Whether gathering around a table with new friends (ok, I'll admit it, sometimes we skip the table for some bar stools), adventuring on culinary feasts in China Town, or just finding humor in the little things, life has been good, albeit bursting at the seams.

Some other things I am quite excited about of late aside from recent company and altering work settings, are some new books I have recently learned about. First up, is Chicken and Egg: A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading. Now most of you probably know, that I don't eat chicken. However, this book is about so much more than just the meat a chicken can provide. It's really more about the eggs and appreciating where they come from.

The author, Janice Cole, documents her journey after deciding to purchase three tiny chicks to provide her with and endless supply of fresh and free eggs. Of course the story of raising a home chicken coop provided to be a lot more than Cole was ever expecting, but what a pay off. Now I've only leafed through the recipes and skimmed some of her stories, but so far, I can tell Cole's story is one worth reading. I always have an extra appreciation for recipe books that separate their concoctions by seasonality. Not only is Chicken and Egg separated like so, but Cole also specifies the time of season when these recipes work best (i.e. late winter, autumn harvest, etc).

The next book is Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery & Cafe, on loan from a coworker who used to work at Flour. The introductory paragraph says it all for me. 

Flour. On its own, it's an ordinary ingredient. Likewise, there's nothing special about a cup of sugar, a few eggs, or a stick of butter. But together, these seemingly pedestrian ingredients form the foundation of the magical world of baking.

Again, I haven't quite gotten the chance to get my hands dirty with this one just yet, but I cannot wait. Just flipping through has me wanting to spend every day trying everything out. Plus, it was published by my favorite, Chronicle Books. What's not to like about that? I also can't wait to attempt their ever famous stick buns that nudged out contender Bobby Flay on an episode of Throwdown.

 

I leave you with this video as a nugget of inspiration about the theory and composition behind creating the Flour cookbook, which, I have a feeling is going to become one of my newest personal baking bible. Enjoy!