Enough About Sonny. For Now. Have I Told You Lately That I Love...

...baking. Yep. That's right. Baking. Of course, my daughter could argue that I don't bake all that much anymore and she'd be right. I have to be in the mood.

But I just ran across a recipe that thepioneerwoman.com posted. I LOVE Ree Drummond. My daughter introduced me to her blog several months ago, and I'm hooked. She's a great writer, tells funny stories, has a wry sense of humor, takes pictures, cooks and home schools her children. I didn't think I'd have much in common with her, but there's always common ground.

Back to baking. I love baking because, when you find a new recipe, like the one I have in the oven right now, it's usually made with ingredients you already have hanging around in your pantry.

Or should have!

The only ingredient for this Mystery Mocha Dessert that I didn't have was whole milk. But I had 1%. I usually never make changes to recipes without first trying them as originally written.. But all the other ingredients were ready to hand. I didn't think swapping out whole for 1% milk was a major issue. And even when you don't have all the ingredients, you have the majority of them. A quick run to the store for nuts, dried cranberries, etc. is no effort.

(Although my gas gauge is hovering on empty, the light is on, I've driven for two days, and I'm desperately afraid that I won't have enough gas to get to the nearest station, which is as near as the nearest grocery store. And this gas issue SEEMS to be an effort to me. Go figure!)

I also love baking because it's easy to keep up with the dishes as you go. All the prep work gets done ahead of time, so that the least amount of bowls, measuring spoons and cups  -- and therefore work -- is all that's left once the ingredients have been combined.

And before you know it, the recipe is in the oven, the dishes are done, and it's time for the wonderful smell of baking yummies to fill the house. And only about 30 minutes has passed. As hot as it is outside, I would never think of using the oven at this time of year usually. But there's always room for exceptions! Yummy exceptions.



I'll let you know how it turns out.