two

I have a love affair with Nutella.

Found this recipe for Nutella bread pudding last month, and made it just as soon as I could go to the store and snag the ingredients. I didn't wait for the brioche to officially be a day old. Heck, I wasn't even sure what brioche was when I set out. (This foodie thing is still new to me. I'm learning on the fly.)



Apologies for the camera phone picture, but even if it had been professionally styled and shot and all of that, there's no way it could look as divine as it tasted.

And if you decide to try and make it, it really does fit in the 8x8 dish. (I was skeptical.)

On another blog I read, someone attempted a 52-week baking challenge. I've been inspired, and maybe I'm warming up for my own challenge in the New Year because over the past six weeks, I've baked six pumpkin pies, one coffee cake, and Nutella bread pudding. Maybe my challenge won't be baking, but it'll be fun nonetheless.

one.

I love food. Is that quite clear yet? I guess this blog exists for me (and you, my dear potential readers) to explore what that means.

One of my main interests is yoga. I often think, and say, that doing yoga gives me permission to eat whatever I want and enjoy it. I don't mean that in a calories-in-to-calories-out-ratio kind of way. I mean it like this: Yoga has taught me, and continues to teach me, that being a human being is very much about the senses. The act of creating meals from scratch tickles allll the senses. Smelling sweet, spicy, and savory aromas wafting through the whole apartment. Seeing brightly colored fruits and vegetables mingling in the pan, mellowing with a little cream. Hearing the crackling, popping sound of seeds, or the low roil of boiling water, full of potential. Feeling the dry, comforting heat of an oven or the sharp OW! of a slipped paring knife. And the best - tasting not just the finished product, but during each step along the way.

Yoga also teaches me that enjoyment is a good thing (I know - who has to be taught, right?). And cooking is downright fun! The process of creating a unified something from a bunch of little somethings is so fulfilling to me. And then, of course, there's the eating.

Before I worked at the paper, I liked food, a lot, but now cooking is part of me. When I started there in January 2005, I became responsible for the production of two weekly features sections. I refer to only one of them as "mine." This attachment wouldn't be the case if not for the amazing women I work with, reporter Kathy and editor Lesli.

Oh - and for the record, I'm a stickler for Associated Press style. I must differ, though, on one point. The stylebook lists "chili" for all food-related uses. I diligently, if begrudgingly, follow that rule for print copy. Here, you will see that spelling used only if I'm referring to a concoction headed for a bowl. Members of the capsicum family are, of course, "chiles."

If you happen to be a member of AFJ, lobby your representative to lobby AP. Peppers everywhere are counting on you.