Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I'm thinking of challenging myself. 

I'm not very good at challenges because I tend to wander off in one way or another.  I just don't think (or do anything at all really) in a linear way.....and that's why this challenge sorta begins with what I thought of when I was considering whether I should take up the dare or not.....

One of my most favorite TV shows is Mulberry.  It aired for only two seasons (a total of just 13 episodes) in Great Britain.  Perhaps the most tragic thing in the history of TV-dom is that the third and final season was never made; today people still like to imagine what the ending was meant to be.  It's a wonderfully witty and bittersweet show.  And I can certainly relate to Miss Farnaby (more these days than ever) who, when presented with a whimsical challenge, said,

I don't like bees in bonnets. 

They sting you when you're not looking.

Yeah, I've got a bee in my bonnet. 
You can blame it on Duncan MacLeod. 

While I was in the living room working on sorting out the room-change leftovers, I put an old Highlander DVD in the player just for a bit of company in the background.  (Yeah, that TV show was another old favorite from the 90's.  Yeah, it's violent but not nearly as bad as new shows are.  Besides, MacLeod always took the moral high ground and he agonized over it--the show is very instructive in that way; the creative consultant was a Talmud scholar but I digress.....again.....) 

Anyway, during the scene in question, MacLeod was in Paris, crossing the road carrying a bag of bakery-fresh baguettes.  I was, as I always am when I see this, distraught when he dropped the bread all over the pavement while he went off chasing the bad guy.  Don't drop the baguettes!  I whine at the TV but, as it has always been since 1993, it's too late.  And I'm horrified later when he picks them up and plops them back in the brown paper shopping bag (something else from the past that I miss).  And I'm saying, Don't eat those!  They're dirty now!  The five-second rule doesn't count when stuff falls on the street!  But he's not listening.  (Of course, I talk to the video. Wouldn't you?)

Baguettes. 
Buzz.  Buzz.  Buzz. 
You can just hear the bees getting started, and I don't even wear bonnets.

The other thing that's been on my mind is that with all of the Zero Food Budget weeks and with the Refrigerator Emptying Challenge (which went quite well despite being a Challenge and which I am still struggling to compete; let me repeat that I HATE eggplant and I am NEVER gonna eat that bag of frozen okra), I honestly haven't been eating quite as well as I should.  It's beginning to make me feel really yucky and stodgy, so I am aware that I need to up my kitchen game.  It's too easy to become careless with forgetting meals (which I've been doing a lot) and eating whatever is on hand instead (which lately seems to be an unconscionable amount of banana bread and ramen).

I need to get back to the good old staples that always serve me best:  oatmeal, yoghurt, bread, soup.  That means I gotta get cooking.

And if I'm gonna be making stuff again.....why not start with baguettes?  It's just not like me to take the easy road and stick to stuff I know.  Of course not.  Baguettes only take 20 hours (20 hours!!!!!) to make.  What's the big deal?

Oh my.
Buzz.   Buzz.  Buzz.
I guess I'd better stop at the grocery store on my way to the Post Office.
I have to mention this stuff here so I don't do something silly like talking myself out of it.  :::::sigh:::::
Buzz.  Buzz.  Buzz.

 

Just for informational purposes, let me add.....

The recipe I'm planning to use is from the great King Arthur flour company:  King Arthur Baguettes.


Just in case you've never seen (or even heard of) Mulberry:  A mysterious but cheerful young man takes a job as a companion to a cantankerous old shut-in at her manor.   (You might find episodes online [like on YouTube] but uploads like that would be illegal so I shouldn't mention that but you can find the DVDs reasonably priced on eBay.  No, I am not selling mine.  Ever.)  And a word of caution:  do NOT spoil yourself by checking IMDb or anywhere else to find out what Mulberry's secret is.  It's worth the wait.  Just let the story play out; you'll be glad you did.

Although surely you've heard of Highlander:  Duncan MacLeod is an Immortal who must battle other Immortals to the death because There Can Be Only One; while in his day job, he's your average ordinary (who are you kidding?) antique dealer / dojo owner.  (You can watch episodes perfectly legally on Hulu; the episode where he is tossing baguettes all over the place is from season one:  For Tomorrow We Die.)

And if you really wanna get inspired to bake, you might want to watch my very favorite movie and you can read more about it in this post:  The Bread of Happiness.