These days I find myself spending an increasing amount of time during the week planning out my baking for the weekend. It has gone from one sweet dish (brownies, cookies, Rice Krispie Treats), to a sweet dish and a bread (Artisan, Sourdough), to now being even a third that somehow incorporates with the dinner theme of the weekend.
So my baking days are very full now. In fact I walk more on the baking days when I rarely leave the kitchen than any other day of the week (I know this thanks to my handy Pebble Watch with the awesome Misfit App). Last Saturday I walked a total of 13.8km within the kitchen. My feet and legs confirmed this fact at the end of the day. I was sooooooore. And this says a fair amount, because I workout 5-6 days a week, doing Kung Fu, Freeletics, Weight-training, and various Body Weight exercises. Yet a full day of baking takes the cake (pun intended) for ultimate workouts. I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to sustain this level of baking, but at the very least I do intend to make a beard every week, if nothing else.
And this coming weekend will likely be just as tiring, albeit equally exciting and rewarding. We are heading to our getaway rental house in Peka Peka Beach on the Kapiti Coast, which is a new family tradition this year. I have 3 baking dishes planned for Saturday (Amish Friendship Bread, Italian Loaf, and Roti Canai), as well as a lunch dish (Penne with Homemade Marinara and Meatballs), and to top it off, on Sunday afternoon when we return home, we will be remaking the Nutella Star Bread yet again, but with my Cinnamon and Brown Sugar twist that my son love's so much. I will be making extra dough for him to roll his own, and will try a less detailed shape than the star, perhaps some twisty sticks or whatever the moment inspires.
Details aside, these weekends have become progressively busier, but as a result have become progressively more exciting, rewarding, and enjoyable. More shared family time, more excuses to stay home together, more things to chow down on, and more things to look forward to after a long week of work.
I will surely update on how each dish went over. We have already tested the meatballs and marinara, which taste pretty damn good...