I'm back!

Time to dust off this old computer and get back in the blogging routine again! I left off about a month in to the 52 hike challenge (aka Feb 2019), after having been derailed by me getting the flu twice (both strains, and both confirmed, despite having gotten my flu shot, thank you very much) and by a messy situation at work that left me clinically depressed and asking to be reassigned to a different department. But now that I'm in a better work situation, I'm feeling MUCH better emotionally and I'm ready for a new (fun) adventure. Now, I'm not a huge fan of New Years resolutions, as they tend to be very extreme and image-obsessed and usually people ditch them within a month or two. So rather than plan a New Years resolution to start my fresh outlook on life, I started to think of what I could do instead that would still be a bit structured and also outside of my typical routines and experiences.

On Christmas Day I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I was reading one of the cookbooks I got from my sister-in-law:  Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland   (Yes, I read cookbooks cover to cover, just for fun!)

I was enamored. The recipes all looked delicious and also doable. Perhaps I was feeling nostalgic for the Midwest, or perhaps I just wanted to break out of my baking ruts.  But reading this cookbook was the impetus for what I'll call my "Christmas 2019-2020 Treat Yo' Self Challenge."

I'm going to bake every recipe in the book!!

Once the idea came to me, I got so excited! What a fun way to expand my baking horizons and to have fun doing it.  And hopefully my family and coworkers won't mind too much when I force the baked goods on them :)

I'm going to try to go in order, but I'm sure there will be some that change due to seasonality, time, or just what mood I'm in. Similarly, I'm going to try to bake each weekend, but I'm also going to cut myself plenty of slack if it just doesn't happen for some reason.

So my first treat yo' self challenge was the first recipe in the book: Potica / Povitica  (Sweet Breads chapter)

This was a bit intimidating to start with because I'd never heard of the item nor tasted it, which always makes me question whether my results are "right" or not. Furthermore, this one has a warning that "the process of shaping potica is absolutely a case of practice making perfect." Gulp.  So I stifled my fears and got to work... 

About three hours later, this was our reward!

It was delicious. Rose said it was the best bread she'd ever tasted in her entire life (which is high praise from the girl who had called my pain au chocolat earlier in day "fine, but I've had better"). To me it tasted like a cross between baklava, babka, and a cinnamon roll, but not as sweet as any of those (although still plenty sweet for a bread). 

Verdict: Definitely a fun first challenge. I'm not sure I loved it enough to make it a regular part of my baking routine, but I'd certainly be willing to make it for someone else if they request it. And the shaping really wasn't that difficult.  Also, I'm pretty confident that mine tasted "right" based on the internet research I did while it was rising and baking. Kudos to the author for her excellent instructions.  So far my Christmas 2019-2020 Treat Yo' Self Challenge is off to a great start!