Sprouts and Cookies

Well I seem to be in one piece after yesterday’s 4 miles! (If you’re wondering why I seem so excited about this, 4 miles is about my equivalent of at least 10 miles for all you super-runners out there…to each his own ;))

The only place I’m a little sore (for now!) is between my shoulder blades…I wonder what this says about my running technique? I attribute the lack of other soreness to the copious amounts of ice I buried myself in for the remainder of the day. (And the numerous bites of cookie dough – it has powers, I’m tellin’ you)

Today’s supposed to be light day for exercise…I haven’t decided what I’m going to do for that—perhaps Pilates tonight, if I can force myself out of the warm house into the cold and dark….haha 🙂

Today’s lunch was a leftover half a chicken sandwich (exciting, I know). I topped it off with a couple slices of green pepper and some spinach leaves for variety, and a side of Brussels sprouts…yup, I’m against party lines when it comes to hating them- made right, they’re soo good!

  

  

Double triple the sprouts…ok, I ate the whole box (whatever, they’re veggies!) Plus it makes up for the pile of these:

I took a plate of cookies in to work, but for now I’m still left with the rest in my kitchen!

Covered Head to Toe in Flour

Woah when I said I was going to do some baking, I had NO idea what I was getting myself into! I’ve literally been baking for hours! (Good thing I had nothing to do today!)

I knew I wanted to try a different kind of Christmas cookie this year. I love my traditional go-to’s, but I’m hoping to stumble upon something that can be my ‘signature’ treat that everyone looks forward to me making!  I decided on Ginger-Lemon Swirls from this month’s Cooking Light magazine.

I almost made traditional sugar cookies (because I love the dough!) but a few pages after the swirl cookies was something called Chocolate Babka, which just looked fascinating! Kind of like a dessert-bread. (Technically it’s a sweet yeast cake, which is apparently a popular Hannukah treat)

Before I started my marathon baking session, I grabbed myself a snack. I LOVE to nibble and munch away when I’m baking, especially when it involves raw cookie dough. I have no problems with this habit, but I wanted to make sure I was doing it to enjoy the taste, not because I was hungry. (Please note eating raw egg is not recommended)

 

So I started out with a tasting plate of Triscuits, turkey slices, and gouda cheese. I wasn’t super impressed with the quality of the gouda, so I decided to melt it on top, then added some black pepper. Yum!

I also had a nice mug of Bigelow Apple Cider hot tea because I”m still a little chilly from this morning’s run.

 

So armed and ready I got to measuring and stirring and rolling and baking!

First the babka (so it would have time to rise):

Bubbling yeast…

 

The dough ready for it’s first rising:

 

Rolled and ready for filling:

  

Finished product…I believe my bread-shaping skills need some work!

Ooey gooey chocolate spilling out:

 

This looks nothing like the picture in the magazine, but let me tell you, this tasted GOOD!

I may or may not have had 2 slices already… 😉

 

And if that’s not enough sugar for you, on to the cookies!

Ginger dough on the left, lemon on the right.

 

All swirled together:

Finished!

Yum!!!

While I was baking, I was thinking these really weren’t worth all the trouble, but as I just re-tasted one of these yummy swirls, I think maybe it was worth it after all! Perhaps I won’t tackle them at the same time as the babka though).

Next time I make these I would probably decrease the amount of molasses in the ginger dough- it’s just slightly over-powering, and I would really like to be able to taste a little bit more of the lemon flavor.

As for the babka, it could certainly use less filling, and probably less sugar in the filling too. I will probably experiment with this a little and make it again when my family comes to visit for Christmas!

 

Well I’m all baked out for awhile! Do you do any holiday baking?