Baking Day: A bowl full of blessings!

Today I went to my first baking day! My neighbor and her friends get together once a week and bake. From scratch. And by scratch I mean they grind their own flours and such. Knowing how hardcore they are was a bit intimidating.

Though my neighbor invited me every week, I had not been able to attend due to electrician's, furniture deliveries, plumbers, etc. all who promise to be there at sometime between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. *sticking my tongue out* I have been able to briefly appear to at least meet some ladies, taste baked goods, and preview what they actually do.

I told Caren I would finally be able to make it this week.

"What do I do? What should I bring? What are we baking?"

"Meh...we just sort of bake whatever." Not helpful. "Do you have something you want to bake?"

"I have about 8 plums that are too ripe to eat but might be good cooked."

"Perfect! Bring those and we'll make a tart or something with them."

So I marched down and up the hill this morning armed with baking pans and a bowl of plums. Caren and I flipped through a cookbook in search of a good recipe. We ended up using a cobbler recipe for peaches and blackberries but instead used our plums and another bakers raspberries.

I made it all by myself! Pretty much. The cobbler crust has fresh ground flour and cream from the fresh milk Caren gets from the dairy. Everything was organic and fresh! YUMM-O!

Somehow, while I made our cobbler, Caren whipped up some brownies with zucchini snuck into it. You can't even see the zucchini and they taste way better then anything in the Seinfield chicks cookbook. Other bakers made peach cheesecake bars, eight loaves of bread, and two loaves of basil bread. (Can't you just imagine that with sliced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese?!)

There was leftover cobbler crust and raspberries so we made a tart and decided to freeze it and use it for the next time there is a gathering.

We all helped each other get our baked goods done and we all cleaned up after one another. Conversation mostly revolved around food (I mean, is there really anything else to talk about?) Oh! We did talk about our families a bit and how school has been going.

So there I was, working with lovely ladies as warm delicious aromas wafted around us. I don't know how many times I just felt giddy!

I am home now with all of my little treats. I have one loaf of bread in the freezer and the other will be sliced for the kids sandwiches. The cobbler should go great with the stew I have in the crock pot for dinner tonight and the boys will have brownies spiked with nutrients while they do their homework.

My mom called in the middle of it all and asked what all we had baked.

"Michal" she said, "You are so lucky."

I really, really am.