Ok, so I admit that I may have underestimated this whole moving overseas and starting a new job thing. It turned out to be, as Willie Wonka would put it, a wang-doozler of a task. In short I have been terribly absent from the kitchen since February. I have Missed Daring Bakers Challenges, I've missed all sorts of new baking books, AND I've missed reading all of your blogs.

Hopefully we can get things back on track here...

I will admit that I had a bit of a crisis of content. What do I blog about? There are already so many good Bread sites out there. Very informative bread sites at that. Ones with shiny forums and friendly administrators. Just because I moved to Italy I didn't want to become a travel blog - frankly, there's enough of those out there to cure any travel question you may have. What does one blog about? Am I so one-dimensional as to only bake bread? (By the way THAT'S NOT A BAD THING!) It is definitely on the top three list of things I like to smell in the oven. (Bread, cake, and herb chicken) I do enjoy the whole process - mixing, kneading, forming, baking, and the history of each loaf. Hmm, so what's a boy to do?

Well, I think we may have to broaden our horizons. I blame the Daring Bakers for this crisis of conscience. I never would have believed that I could pull off some of the desserts that we did in the past. (Yule Log anyone?) That experience gave me the confidence to move forward with new things - to be 'Daring'.

One of my fantasies has always been to become a Pastry Chef. Julie over at One-Wall Kitchen is currently living that experience and I can only imagine the kind of fun she's having! I invite you to see the beautiful things she creates over there.

So, in closing, I am going to explore the hidden pastry chef inside of me and that will more often then not include bread :) but also many, many other treats!

To all of my constant readers who stuck around during my transition - sorry for that absence, your constant visits warmed my heart. Now let me see if I can repay you in beautiful treats.

What have you all been up to? What treats have you been baking? Please stop in and catch me up!