adelagia | Watch out for soggy bottoms

I've been watching the Great British Bake-Off recently on PBS. They're two seasons behind -- it's the one with custardgate, which I only know of because of the Big Fat Quiz of the Year -- but it's new to me, so shhh on spoilers. :) GBBO is great; it's one of the only reality competition type shows I like (the other being Face Off). There's no manufactured drama or backstabbery or sniping, and all the contestants are super sweet and seem to genuinely like and respect each other. Best of all, they're crazy talented, and there is such delight in watching talented, passionate people do what they do.

Of course, watching it makes my mouth hungry as hell for everything they make, and it's also tickling the dormant baking monster in me.

bakeymonster

Please can we bake? Oh please, oh please, oh please?

Back when I was living in Chicago I used to bake all the time; I'd bring in stuff to work just about every Monday (to the point where people got upset and demandy if I didn't). There's something about baking that's so therapeutic and satisfying -- when it comes out right. But then I moved, out of the country, so I had to shed a lot of belongings, and much of the bakeware didn't make the cut.

[moment of silence]

After yesterday's episodes of sweet doughs, featuring lots of brioches and buns and tea loaves, I decided I had to -- had to -- make my own tea loaf. So today I ventured out after work for a loaf pan, thinking Goodwill would be an excellent place to get a decent pan for little to no money. How wrong I was! The cheapest and, incidentally, crappiest one was six dollars. Six dollars? At Goodwill? NO THANK YOU. I popped into Fred Meyer next, where they were having a 25% off sale on their bakeware, so I got a brand new loaf pan for $5.50. Take that and an emphatic tsk as well, Goodwill. You used to be cool.

Anyway, my raisins and cranberries are now soaking, and if all goes to plan, tomorrow I shall be cramming a fat lot of tea loaf into my face.