Borders Sale

Well, it was another long Monday for me. I work every Monday, week after week, and they always seem to test me. Whether it is my patience, my kindness, or my nerves, retail-Mondays give me a run for my money. To reward myself (and ultimately my family) I decided to stop at Borders on the way home. Our local Borders is closing and I was able to reward myself with to half-price hard cover foodie books. To say I'm obsessed with cookbooks, and hoarding hard covered books in general, is an understatement and the additions to my library were a much need treat!

fresh raspberries & liqueur

I snatched up a copy of 52 Loaves by William Alexander. However, the book that has me really excited is this one ... Back to Basics, Traditional Kitchen Wisdom.  For years* now I've been baking my own bread, growing tomato plants on cramped apartment balconies and using fresh eggs from my friend's chickens. To say this book fits my lifestyle is an understatement. This year I plan to vastly expand our backyard kitchen garden, growing as much produce at home as possible to offset not having a CSA membership, and to avoid mass-produced, grocery store produce. Nothing is more rewarding then making salsa from your own tomatoes, making liqueur from the raspberries growing in the backyard and knowing where and what your food came from. I cannot wait until the ground thaws and I can begin working the soil again. Until then, I'll read my new books, get my seeds started in trays in the house, and continue planning our kitchen garden.

my first loaves

*Realizing I've been baking bread weekly for three years now is so shocking, but pleasing! My skills as a baker have developed so much since those first loaves, as has my life. I'm hoping 52 Loaves will launch me into a whole new level of bread-baking-geekdom!