mere_vanilla

Getting better at trying new things with the various sauces and spices we have in the house. My favorite so far is the pumpkin curry that goes very well with poultry. The pumpkin is canned from the regular grocery store, and the curry sauce is from Trader Joe's. The two go well together in roughly equal amounts (alongside of salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder/actual garlic; as well as a bit of oil and about 1/4 cup of chicken broth).

On the flip side, I've made a peach sour cream cheesecake which is really interesting to taste, but feels more like a novelty instead of a viable dessert at this point.

Tonight I made cranberry shortbread cookie dough, to cut out and bake tomorrow. Right now, it needs to chill in the fridge overnight.

I've been practicing trying new recipes, since I don't want to get stuck in a constant cycle of pumpkin pie spice cookies-->snickerdoodles, repeat. However, and I'm not sure if this is a Thing That Happens To Everyone, my baking tends to taste much, much better the day after I've made it--or, like the lemon bars yesterday, will have to sit and set overnight, otherwise the filling spills out like the water in that one scene in Spirited Away with the river spirit.

If I don't allow the baked goods to set, they end up being, well, uh, baked blands. No real taste, no real joy in consuming them.

Christmas has come and gone, and I am feeling the weird emotional drop that comes with unfulfilled anticipations/expectations.

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But at least I got a lot of stuff done anyway, so I think that counts for something.