Carbs of 2020

The only New Year's resolution I stuck to in 2020 was baking a new bread recipe every month. 

Yep, I'm doing this. I'm going to bore you with a list of all the new bread recipes I tried, and provide links to the recipes if you are interested. Here goes - they are in alphabetical order because (with the exception of the F-bread) they were all pretty delicious, if I do say so myself, so it's not worth ranking.

Challah Bread (recipe lost to history - there are a bunch out there via Google): Part of the fun of trying new recipes is also getting to try new techniques, like braiding the ropes of Challah together (I got better with loaf #2).

Look at these beauties!

Cheddar Scallion English Muffin Bread: I am usually not a savory person, but this just hit the spot - it's really really good toasted, with great flavor. 

Cheddar. Scallions. Toasted Bread. #isthisheaven

Ciabatta (recipe lost to history): This bread was good, but I wasn't happy with how flat my loaves turned out. I did make a lot, so I had enough to share with some neighbors. Will need to work on this in 2021 - any volunteers for tasters?

Doesn't look great, but tasted okay

Cobh Loaf: An ode to Paul Hollywood's piercing blue eyes, I thought this was a pretty simple yet tasty recipe - the butter made it super soft and rich.

Paul's Cob Loaf. Would I get a handshake? Probably not, but tasted alright to me.

Fougasse (Fail!): being a huge fan of the "Great British Bakeoff," I decided to try my hand at one of the show's easier technical challenges: an herby bread called "Fougasse." It was, as they say, an epic fail. Way too flat, not enough flavor, and just looked and tasted bad. Not a keeper recipe, as it turns out. 

Fougasse Fail - didn't look or taste good. Further evidence I don't belong in the tent!

Ligurian Focaccia: Despite making this twice (once for my mom's birthday!), I managed to not get a picture of it. It has a lot of salt, but if you don't mind that (I don't) it's delicious!

No-Knead Oat Bread: Just like people say they don't have favorite children, I probably don't have a favorite bread, but if there was one of these recipes that I could save from a burning building (or remake again and again), it would probably be this one. Very yummy.

I just love recipes that don't involve kneading. This is so good, I might have devoured this whole loaf. 

NY Times No-Knead Bread: This is just so easy - the biggest ingredient it requires

is time (essentially a whole day). It's a very very very simple recipe and technique, but yields some delicious bread.

Another Lazy, Yet Delicious. Loaf

Rosemary Parmesan Skillet Bread: I didn't get a picture of this one, but it was yummy and flavorful, despite being relatively flat - didn't rise as much as it probably should have.

Swirled Garlic Herb Bread: Mine was definitely not as pretty as the picture (needed more herbs, I think) but it tasted great, which was no surprise given how much butter is involved!

Swirled, herby, buttery - what's not to like?

White Cheddar Bacon Apple Biscuits: I pinned this recipe on Pinterest because I like all of these things individually, but wasn't sure if they would go well together, so I was intrigued. Well, they do go very well together, so you should definitely try this recipe!

A full sheet of these beauties.

Up Close and Personal with One of Our Delicious Friends

For my final recipe of the year, I'm trying my hand at a Nutella babka for my family's New Year's Eve party tomorrow. Here's hoping it turns out well!

20 Good Things in 2020

As Washington Post humor columnist Alexa Petri (channeling Charles Dickens) described 2020: "It was the worst of times. It was the worst of times. It was the season of darkness. It was the season of darkness. It was the winter of despair. It was the winter of despair." 

But there have been some good bits too. So, here is my annual wrap up post (and sorry for not blogging more this year...it's been dispiriting to say the least).

20. Visiting my company's (brand new) training facility in Florida in January. My last plane flight was to Florida to teach training to our company's new hires. It was fun to be one of the first people to see our new training facility (which has now been shut down longer than it's been open - impeccable timing!).

Flying home to National Airport has the BEST views.

19. Empanadas Cookbook Club! Also before the shutdown, in January, I had my Cookbook Club friends over and we made (what seemed like) a bajillion empanadas. We even had some dessert chocolate/dulce de leche ones. So good and so fun! I miss having people over and cooking for them.

Empanadas - yum!

18. (Into) The Woods! I've never been so grateful for the woods/park behind my house as I was this year. Lots of long dog walks and chances to enjoy the seasons changing.

The Woods Are Like a Beautiful Cathedral. I Love Trees!

17. Working from home/being gainfully employed - so many people have lost their jobs during this time, I am seriously lucky that I got to work from home. While I missed interacting with real people, I was grateful to be able to cut down my commute time, save gas money, and most of all, just still be employed.

My "Work From Home" Setup. Luckily I bought a new desk in January!

Daisy likes to interrupt important work calls for playtime. Which is why she is banished to the kitchen while I work upstairs.

16. MLK Service at National Cathedral in DC. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm so glad my mom and I did it in January before the shutdown. Also late this year my company announced we'll get MLK day as a paid holiday starting in 2021, hooray!

Celebrating MLK at National Cathedral in DC

15. Temple trip to Philadelphia. One of the last "normal" things I got to do before the pandemic was travel with a few friends to the Philadelphia temple in early 2020. I debated whether or not I would go, because it was a busy time at work and it's a long drive, but in retrospect I am very glad I did - great company and a peaceful place to ponder. I have missed the temple during the pandemic.

Peace. Look forward to returning soon.

14. Trying out new recipes. With more time at home, it was fun to experiment and try new dishes. This sausage pizza from the Washington Post has gotten made a few times (minus the olives, because olives are gross).

Yum!

13. Photo contests. I am rather proud of myself for creating two virtual photo contests with friends and family this year - we even had prizes. It was a fun way to share what we were experiencing during this crazy time, even if we couldn't gather in person.

12. Somewhat Celebrating the Suffrage Centennial. Most of the celebration was virtual, but I did go down and see all the buildings in DC lit up with "suffrage colors" for the anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment. Also got to attend some super interesting lectures and talks online commemorating the event, and read (or at least start to read) some great books about the persons involved. Very grateful to live in a free country where I have the ability to vote (see item #3 below).

National Archives Building

11. Christmas Cookie "Virtual" cookie exchange. I organized a virtual cookie exchange - people swapped recipes and for those friends who lived nearby I did a "dough delivery" service where people could swap doughs. Then we had a virtual baking event and played some Christmas games. I'm grateful for those friends who have participated in the activities I've organized and for those activities they have organized!

Chocolate crinkles, nutella chocolate chip swirls, peppermint sugar, pecan snowballs, and pumpkin whoopie pies! Get in my belly!

10.  Increasing my "app-itude" - so grateful for the technology that has gotten us through this. Thank you Zoom, Google Meet, Netflix Party, YouTube "Watch2gether" parties, video calls, and so many other things that have made this bearable.

9. Bread baking. One of my 2020 New Year's resolutions was to try one new bread recipe per month. It's one of the few resolutions I've kept, even with the yeast shortages this year because of the pandemic. I won't insert pictures of them all here, but three of my favorites were the cheddar scallion loaf, apple bacon cheddar biscuits, and no-knead oatmeal bread (recipes included at links).

King Arthur's No-Knead Oatmeal Bread was SOOOO good.

8. Discovering cool places close to home, like the Freedman's Cemetery in Alexandria, VA; Hillwood Museum and Gardens and Kenniworth Lotus Gardens in DC; and Harper's Ferry/Antietam/Gettysburg. There were plenty of opportunities to do "day trips" to cool outdoor locations that I normally wouldn't explore because I would be traveling farther away.

Frolicked in a field of sunflowers

Visited Hillwood Estate/Gardens with Friends

Freedmens' Cemetery in Alexandria on a beautiful day.

7. Reading a whole bunch of books! As a member of (ostensibly) 4 book clubs, I had lots of opportunities and time for free reading this year. According to Goodreads, I read over 16,000 pages and I'm hoping to hit 50 titles by the end of the year (which is about twice what I read in a normal year). Maybe I'll do a separate post rating all the books, but the "fun" highlight was re-reading the *all* the Miss Marple novels this year.

6. Serving in the church. This year I've gotten to work with the young women at church ages 12-13. They are a really fun bunch! We've done lots of virtual activities (Zoom pictionary, Virtual coloring event, sharing our favorite YouTube clips, "Among Us" game night, and more), a socially distanced movie night, and an outdoor Christmas MadLibs game. With a new church responsibility coming my way in the new year, I appreciate having this opportunity to get to know them. They are going to do amazing and wonderful things.

Outdoor (socially distant) movie night at the church!

For one of our virtual activities, we dropped off mug cakes for everyone so we could make and eat our treats "together."

5. Friend get togethers. We've done socially distanced backyard chats, park birthday parties, July 4th BBQs, ice cream/cookie "dates," and a memorable goodbye party at Iwo Jima - all socially distant/masked. I am grateful for good friends.

 Blueberry Raspberry Bars for our 4th of July Socially Distant Backyard BBQ

4. Lots (and lots) of doggie snuggles. Still very grateful to have a dog, and that she has kindly become a more of a cuddle bug this year for my sake.

Looking mighty fine after her recent haircut!

3. Biden won the election!!!! Seriously, looking forward to having a non-crazy man as president. This year I also got to serve as an election worker, which was an interesting experience (not sure if I want to do it again, but it was interesting!).

My homemade "Bye Don" sign for October 2020.

I was working on the Saturday they called the election, but I did switch on Fox News to watch them call it for Biden, it felt good.

2. Week-long getaway to Asheville, North Carolina with my parents. Travel opportunities were very limited, and social interaction was too, so it was nice to get away with my dear parents (and two dogs - theirs and mine) for some time in the woods of North Carolina.

Hiking to Crabtree Falls near Asheville, NC.

1. VACCINE IS ON ITS WAY! So grateful for the scientists who have made multiple vaccines happen in a very fast way. Yay, science! The best news about this year is that it's almost over, and that next year will hopefully bring an end to the pandemic, lockdowns, and mass deaths.

There are several trees in my neighborhood which have "faces" all year round - this year someone cheekily decorated one of them with a mask. But don't worry, Mr. Tree, the vaccine will soon be here!

I hope you managed to find some joy in 2020 - wishing you a very happy 2021 with more of the people and places you love!

New Year's Eve last year - it only looks like I'm giving 2020 the "finger" but if I had known what was ahead, I might have given this year the finger in reality.