Weekends V

I’m glad I finally caught on with all those updates. It was like this rising pile of to-dos that kept nagging me at the back of my head, sort of like those times you think need cataloging. Anyway, having done that makes me feel a little less cluttered and more organized. Yes, I am like that.

Anyway. This past weekend involved a lot of staying put at home thanks to the Bangalore Bandh where the city had literally shut down. It sort of gave me the opportunity to do what I love doing best without feeling guilty about wasting yet another weekend in sheer sloth. It happens. I’ve mentioned it earlier. Sloth and I are best friends over the weekend, and we like to keep that relationship pretty intact. So it isn’t a surprise if you find me awake at a ghastly 7am (without much difficulty) thanks to waking up at 5am every day, padding around the house, picking up a thing or 2 to munch while at it and then heading right back to dig my toes into the cool spots of my bed. And savouring a dream not too many before I’m really, really done being in bed. Yeah, I have that disorder. I can’t stay in bed too much. I cannot sleep too much. Apparently it gives me a headache. Strange. Cuckoo, too.

However, now that I had this weekend spread right in front of me, I tried and made the most of it. I baked much, I read not too much, I cracked up a lot over That ’70s Show, I experimented with Castle, I caught up with the latest on Grey’s Anatomy, I ate of course and then I tried putting the past few posts in order. Majority, of course were executed right in bed. Then baking came to my rescue. I must add that I like Rick Castle even though I’m just 1 episode old, that Grey’s Anatomy is probably the one show in this world that has taken me by storm in every sense of the word and that F.R.I.E.N.D.S reminds me a lot of That ’70s Show minus all the pot. OK, now back to baking.

I’ve never ever been a bread person. I do love bread. I’ve never imagined making it. I don’t like complicated food. It’s just not my thing. Anything that takes longer to keep me from food is not something I take to very fondly. But then, I’ve always wanted to try it but never got down to buying a bread tin. I’ve never seen a loaf of bread that hasn’t been made in a tin till I chanced upon The Pioneer Woman’s Olive Focaccia. Now that didn’t involve a loaf tin. And it didn’t involve much time. Or complicated procedures. I did make variations because I wanted not just olives in my bread. And I didn’t want it to be as flat as that. So here’s what it looked like. Pretty darn simple and it didn’t last the night. Which is good.

I despise food photographing after dark. I despise it. Despise it. Despise it lots more.

Moving on, because I tried this and every cell in my brain said I should try out the Cinnamon Loaf she made so long back; forget it being just too much for me and forget my not having that damn loaf tin. I didn’t care about the whats and hows that morning and went on to spend quite some trouble on this. The shape didn’t go all woozey on me. However, it didn’t rise as much for it to be a regular loaf but rose enough to sort of be a cinnamon croissant kinda thing with the texture of bread. Now, I must say, in my defense, that I was so darn excited about the bread bug biting me and the I don’t care a damn about anything else anymore and that there was cinnamon involved and that it was a lovely Saturday and so on, that I poured the heart out of that cinnamon sugar mix into the loaf. That’s why it looks as brown thanks to the melting cinnamon caramel inside. I wasn’t very satisfied with the ultimate turnout, but then, when your house smells of cinnamon, you don’t care a damn about anything else even more. You just want to linger in that aroma and also contain it as much as possible.

Sunday morning saw me make this Banana Loaf because, lo and behold, I had spotted that poor solitary banana that needed to do its time. There were no two ways about it. So he served and still is serving his time well and has left behind what one can only describe as a wonderful gastronomic experience. This loaf and the focaccia are still fighting their rank wars in my head. I think they both rank first – one in the savory category and the other in the semi-sweet category. Since both of them were a complete joy to make and involved no fuss whatsoever, they earn special brownie points.

Of course, no weekend is complete without chai and the chai ceremony we all like to have. Add a sudden and very windy storm-like downpour and it sort of fits the bill, like every weekend that ensures it gives you nothing less than perfection, to the tee.