Give and Bake

It's been quiet around here. I know.

I have to admit, I haven't been spending as much time as I usually do in the kitchen, lately. I'm happy to report that it's not because I've been too busy preparing for Christmas; I've been mostly ready for the holiday for weeks--it's easy to prepare when you aren't planning on buying any gifts. This year, I decided to use the money I'd spend on presents--measly as the gift fund may be--and donate it, in an attempt to truly grasp hold of the season of giving. Check this out!

I'm really excited about gifting something so important. And what I'm genuinely looking forward to this coming weekend is the time that I get to spend with my family. We're all over the place--like most families--and it's hard to find time to see each other, so this weekend should be a real treat.

The reason I haven't found myself cooking much is because I have a freezer full of leftovers I'm trying to take advantage of. One of the many perks of being single is that I follow these recipes and end up with enough food to feed a family of four; that leaves me with dinner for two or three (sometimes four our five!) nights plus that same amount stored away in the freezer for later. My last trip to the grocery store yielded a total bill about half the size as it normally is because I didn't have to purchase any ingredients to make dinner for two weeks--I had that covered. And, somehow, I'm going to be able to manage to do that, again, over the coming two weeks. My pocketbook and my tummy are both happy.

Not to mention, because I'm young and single and have a family full of amazing women (my grandmother in particular) who take pleasure in serving the Christmas meal--I haven't had to worry about putting that together, either! Although, I am thrilled to report that I'm making Christmas Eve dinner--the homemade enchiladas I put together a few weeks ago. But other than that, aside from some homemade crackers here, some fresh baked cookies there, an attempt at focaccia bread here (I promise to blog about that soon!), things have been pretty quiet.

But tonight--I'm baking!

I'm baking bread...

I think I've decided that bread is one of my favorite things to make. I can't really tell you why, other than I love bread and knowing that I can make it and that it's not always as difficult as the taste may lead you to believe; or, maybe it's because I'm so picky about the sort of homemade bread I'll eat and I like exploring different avenues of bread I've yet to experience made from scratch. Whatever it is, I'm going to cling to it--and tonight, the result of my fascination is going to be Rustic Rosemary Garlic Bread.

This is the second time that I've made this beautiful and delicious bread; I found the recipe here! It's definitely worth a try, in my opinion, and good enough to give as a gift--which is what I intend to do.

I hope you all have a wonderfully merry Christmas!
Rosalyn