A journey...

...to discover...

...the heart...

...and soul...

...of a baker.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

2015 Into 2016 – The Answer To The Questions (Part The First)

Question the first: Why haven't I posted since last year?

Answer the first: For the last two-and-a-half months we've been in the process of moving. From the latter part of December until just last week, we've been busy with finding a the right new place, finding the right moving company, packing up all the stuff (and we've got a lot of stuff), filling the new place up with boxes, cleaning out the old place (and carrying over more boxes), making almost a dozen donation runs to Housing Works, and slowly figuring out how we'll fit into this place. It's an exhausting endeavor and I hope we don't have to do it again for many years. 

The place we found puts us back on the West Side of Manhattan, just a stone's throw from the first apartment I rented after moving here in '89. Also? My office is in the kitchen! I'm sitting at my desk, facing the kitchen window(!) and writing in my baking blog. This is a dream come true that I didn't even know I had. I can't wait to get the rest of the kitchen set up. It's going to take a while though:







So many boxes....


Next question: What was the last thing I baked before we moved? 

Next answer: The last thing I baked in the old kitchen was a sweet potato pie at the beginning of this month. 

Best one yet!
I've been making this pie for a quarter century and this was the best one yet. But, after twenty-five years, I tasted it and began figuring out how to make it even better. I finally tasted, with a critical palette, exactly what spices needed tweaking and what spices I need to stop adding so that this pie can be spectacular and not just "good". I also finally began experimenting with the way I make the crust edges, too. The next one will be so much better!

I'll answer more of the questions you didn't ask in the next post. Right now I've got to find which box we packed the kettle in. Michele needs tea!

Currently listening to: Stephan Jacobs - Anywhere (Feat. A. Rose Jackson & Henry Strange)