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Breadhead Breakfast Countdown 7/120

7/4/2015

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Day #7

A House in Order

Last day at the cabin—tonight I return to the abbey and tomorrow I leave for a monastic worship conference. Not much baking today. Mostly cleaning up the kitchen area, running the vacuum, packing up. Abbot Philip and Br. Robert will be using the cabin after me, so I don’t want to leave a mess. But just to keep my hand in I mixed up a batch of honey multi-grain bread to leave in the freezer—a little treat for my confreres.

Today is the 4th of July, a day on which I always take time to write letters of support for military personnel. These aren’t people I know: I get the names through anysoldier.com. I do this throughout the year, and try to send a donation to the Paralyzed Veterans Association every now and then. I can’t say I agree with every aspect of U.S. foreign policy and practice, but I can say that I respect those who serve our country so generously, and at such a cost.

I realized earlier in the week that we had a brand new American flag still in the package at the cabin, but no way to fly it. There was a bracket for a flagpole on the front deck, but no metal or wooden pole to be found. But I went out into the shed and found an old section of a bamboo fishing pole that happened to be the right height and fit the bracket perfectly. I attached with flag with some bread ties (it just seemed right) and it went up yesterday morning, just in time for the holiday weekend. I’ve been saying the pledge of allegiance every morning, like we do at school. In the classroom it’s routine, but out here all by myself, with the flag aglow in the early morning light, it always makes me tear up.


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You’ll see from the photo that our curb appeal is a little lacking because we have scaffolding up for repairs and painting next week. Originally I wasn’t going to post the picture for that reason, but it occurred to me that it was aptly symbolic in its own way. Our nation is always being rebuilt, always under construction, constantly in need of repairs and a fresh coat of paint. “A house divided cannot stand,” declared Abraham Lincoln, but neither can a house neglected; complacency is as dangerous as division.

Today when we reflect on the many blessings of living in a land of abundance and freedom, let’s all ask ourselves: what am I doing to build up the house of our nation? What is the legacy I am leaving to future generations? What am I doing to support those who protect those freedoms, whether they serve in a branch of government or a branch of the military? How can we ensure that all citizens enjoy a fuller share in that abundance, a greater share in those freedoms which we treasure? 

If I were a better writer (or a better politician) I might offer more specific suggestions or a call to action. For me, I’m writing a few letters to soldiers overseas, and baking a little bread to share. Later today I’ll visit Br. Anthony in the nursing home, and figure out how to help an older couple of my acquaintance who need some help with groceries. Little things, and I hope I can do greater things tomorrow. I pray we will all do greater things tomorrow. 

God bless and happy baking!


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Marcus Aurelius and Coffee Cake

6/11/2015

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PictureMarcus Aurelius’s original statue in Rome, by Zanner. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Recently I started reading the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. You might wonder what value there might be in such a project; you'll find a thoughtful blog HERE written by an Oxford professor about the Meditations' relevance today. For myself I offer no explanation other than it seemed to me that a well educated person should have read them at some point, especially someone like me who minored in Philosophy. 

Surprisingly, my scholarly reading intersected with my passion for baking yesterday. I have been experimenting with various forms of yeasted coffee cakes, and decided to use my Best Ever Crescent Roll Dough, which I consider the gold standard for soft rolls and anything sweet. The dough, however, proved to be a little too soft and sticky; I had trouble rolling it out evenly and it developed several tears in the course of my making a chocolate-filled babka (click HERE for the recipe that was my inspiration). But I trudged on undaunted by the mess on the counter, my sticky hands, and the lopsided twist in the Bundt pan before me. 

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The result, however, was surprisingly appealing. In fact, I would argue that its attraction is based on its imperfections: the unevenly-sized twists, the long split that reveals the chocolate filling inside, even the lopsided profile all contribute to what I would not hesitate to call a truly beautiful loaf. Anyone who passed by as it sat cooling on the counter remarked on how attractive the babka was, how the open side revealing the filling made it more so.    

Marcus Aurelius, as it turns out, would agree.  That very morning I had read the following passage:

[W]hen bread is baked some parts are split at the surface, and these parts which thus open, and have a certain fashion contrary to the purpose of the baker's art, are beautiful in a manner, and in a peculiar way excite a desire for eating. And again, figs, when they are quite ripe, gape open; and in the ripe olives the very circumstance of their being near to rottenness adds a peculiar beauty to the fruit. And the ears of corn bending down, and the lion's eyebrows, and the foam which flows from the mouth of wild boars, and many other things- though they are far from being beautiful, if a man should examine them severally- still, because they are consequent upon the things which are formed by nature, help to adorn them, and they please the mind . . .
                                                                                       Meditations Book III, section 2
There is much to be admired in Marcus Aurelius' character and his writings, but I'm especially drawn by the fact that the most powerful man in the Roman empire of the 2nd century noticed the details of the baker's art, the graceful arch of the bending corn, and the regal structure of the lion's brow. Many of his reflections stress the need to live an intentional life, that no action should be without an aim,  no choice be made thoughtlessly. A little something to ponder the next time you select a muffin from the case at Starbuck's, or sit down to enjoy a slice of homemade coffee cake.
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Baking for Fr. Henry

7/9/2014

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Our Father Henry passed away Sunday morning, at age 89.  You can read his full obituary HERE.  He had taught in the school and eventually served as principal from his ordination in 1952 until 1977.  He then began a series of parish assignments until his retirement in 2012.  

In his later years Fr. Henry suffered greatly from arthritis and a variety of other ailments, including some dental issues.  So French or Italian loaves with an ultra-chewy crust were not his bread of choice. What he really loved was potato bread.

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We get mashed potatoes at supper about once a week, and there are almost always leftovers, so I bake potato bread fairly often.  The potatoes give the bread a soft crust with a tender crumb, and the dough works well for cinnamon swirl bread or dinner rolls, too.  Fr. Henry liked potato bread for breakfast, slathered with blackberry jelly and dunked in his coffee.  So last night I baked a dozen loaves of potato bread to serve at the dinner following his funeral this afternoon.  It's my way of honoring his memory; I'm sure I'll think of him whenever I put out potato bread for breakfast.  You can find my recipe HERE, but if you want to make it how Fr. Henry liked it, omit the seeds.

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Another monastic custom at the death of a confrere is to continue to set his place at table for a month after his death.  A cross and candles are placed there, with the plate upside down and his napkin holder on top. (Every monk has his own distinctive napkin holder---yes, we still use cloth napkins!---often one he made himself.) The custom is a reminder that although our brother is no longer present, we hope to join him at the table of the Eternal Wedding Feast, the Supper of the Lamb.  For Fr. Henry's sake, I hope they serve potato bread.

On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples 
A feast of rich food and choice wines, 
juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.  
On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, 
The web that is woven over all nations;
he will destroy death forever. 
The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces; 
The reproach of his people he will remove from the whole earth; 
for the LORD has spoken.
On that day it will be said: 
"Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! 
This is the LORD for whom we looked; 
let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!



Isaiah 25:5-9
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A death in the family

5/12/2014

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A few readers have been wondering why there hasn't been a blog post in awhile.  Unfortunately, it's because we had a death in the community: our Abbot emeritus Claude Peifer.  He was an internationally known scholar in scripture (he was on the editorial board of the New American Bible), monastic studies (co-editor of the 1980 translation of The Rule of Saint Benedict) and patristics (author of several articles for the Dictionary of the Middle Ages and the New Catholic Encyclopedia).  Burying him was like watching a library burn to the ground.

You can read Fr. Claude's full obituary HERE, but I want to share something about the circumstances of his death.  He had suffered from heart problems since his 40's (he was 87 when he died) and had a serious heart attack last June.  It was a long, slow recovery, but he had returned to his previous activities in the monastic library and elsewhere.  On the morning of May 1, he came to morning prayer and sat next to me, his usual place at choir, and waited for the signal for prayer to begin.  Within a few seconds, he slumped over against my shoulder, breathing heavily.  When I asked if he was all right he didn't respond, so Prior Michael went to call the ambulance and Br. Nathaniel went to get the oil for anointing .  By then Abbot Philip had arrived at choir, and he knelt next to Fr. Claude.  Fr. Claude groaned once, gave a deep sigh, and slumped in his chair.  I could still see a thready pulse in his neck, so the abbot anointed him.  By the time he reached the final prayer, the pulse had stopped. 

As sudden and shocking an experience Fr. Claude's death was, we all agreed that it was also a blessed death.  He died with his mind composed for prayer, strengthened by the sacraments, and surrounded  by his beloved community---so may we all.  It was a privilege to hold my brother's hand, to have him lean on my shoulder as he passed from life through death to Life.  As sad as it was, that day was not like a Good Friday; it was an Easter Sunday, a resurrection experience, a sign of the reward of perseverance.

Fr. Claude was habitually abstemious, but one bread that he relished was Honey Mocha Bread--I saw him go back for seconds and thirds at lunch one day.  So I'm sharing the recipe in his memory: click HERE.



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Paying It Forward

2/15/2014

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The photos above should give an idea about how I spent Friday night.  There were about five cups of left over mashed potatoes in the fridge, so I mixed a batch of Best Ever Crescent Roll Dough, which is just about the most versatile dough in my baking repertoire.  It makes wonderful dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, sandwich bread, and (if you omit a cup of flour and mix it a little slack) donuts.  This morning the brethren had caramel pecan cinnamon rolls and donuts with hazelnut frosting.

(A little culinary hint.  Keep a few of those flavored half and half creamers in the pantry, but not for coffee.   Both the French vanilla and the hazelnut flavors make exquisite frosting.  Add to powdered sugar with a pinch of salt and whisk until smooth, then heat in the microwave until the frosting just barely starts to bubble.  Cooking it briefly will get rid of the raw-cornstarch-and-sugar flavor, plus make it easy to drizzle.  AND if you use the hazelnut flavor and add Dutch process cocoa to the frosting, you get Nutella flavored frosting but at a fraction of what a jar of the real stuff costs.)

But even after breakfast and setting aside sandwich bread for lunch and dinner rolls for supper, I still have four dozen cinnamon rolls and two loaves of bread left.  I could of course, double wrap everything and freeze them for future use, and I do that often enough.  But one of my Facebook buddies posted a Pay It Forward challenge a few weeks ago and I signed up, so I think I'm going to deliver a random loaf of kindness or two.

Here's the idea: You post this as your Facebook status

I'm participating in this Pay-It-Forward initiative: The first five people who comment on this status with "I'm in", will receive a surprise from me at some point in this calendar year - anything from a book, a ticket, something home grown or made, a postcard, absolutely any surprise! There will be no warning and it will happen when the mood comes over me and I find something that I believe would suit you and make you happy. These five people must make the same offer in their FB status and distribute their own joy. Simply copy this text onto your profile, (don't share) so we can form a web of connection and kindness. 

The first five people who sign up (I manged to get seven!) are the ones for whom you do random acts of kindness.  BUT of course I couldn't leave well enough along and also posted this:

HOWEVER---we won't make the world a better place if all we do is help our FB friends. SOOOO, if you're in with ME, you have to agree that when you do something nice for a FB friend, you have to do something for a stranger as well. For example, you could leave money at a restaurant to pay for the meal of the next person who came in from the cold. Read Matthew 25:31-46 for ideas! Who's with me?

My first random act of kindness was to send a "valentine" to a food media friend of mine.  I got the butter knife at a flea market for $2, and then used metal stamps and a hammer to make the inscription.  I got the idea from Pinterest.  I'm definitely going to be making more of these!
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But because I made the commitment, today I have to do a kindness for a stranger, or more accurately, several strangers, since I have plenty to share.  I've been trying to encourage this sort of behavior lately.  Last Sunday I was preaching at a parish in Morris Illinois, and in the narthex I put out about 80 photo greeting cards I had made and asked people to send a note of encouragement to someone they know who is hurting.  The reaction was overwhelming: people were genuinely grateful to have an immediate, practical way to express Christian love and concern.  It's the sort of thing we all want to do but somehow other things get in the way.

So when you read this blog, if you are at all inspired, get off the computer and do a random act of kindness now.  Bake a batch of cookies and take it to the nurses in the local ER or the staff at the Veteran's Home, or drop it off at the police station.  Call someone you know who has lost a loved one in the past year and just spent Valentine's Day alone, and invite them to lunch.  Send a card with $10 for pizza to a college freshman, take a pan of lasagna to that single mom down the block, shovel the walk for the neighbor who yells at your kids.  And start a batch of dough---we can change the world, one loaf at a time.    
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Cottage Loaf--when less than perfect is perfect

12/17/2013

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The bread to the left is called a "cottage loaf" and was not baked by me.  I got this photo from someone else's website.  The cottage loaf shape can be used for any bread, wheat or white.  The shape originated in Britain during the Roman occupation, when ovens were rather tall and shaped like beehives.  To stack one loaf on top of another made maximum use of oven space, a necessity when the ovens were communal and had to accommodate all the bakers in the village.  I have included the recipe for this in my new cookbook The Breadhead Bible Father Dom's Favorite Recipes, which should be coming out in the spring.  I needed a picture, so I set out to bake a nice looking loaf to use for the photo accompanying the recipe.

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So here are my lovely loaves all lined up.  You can see how I've pushed two fingers through the middle of each stack, as specified by the directions.  I sprayed them with a little cooking spray to keep them from drying out and covered them with a light cloth so they could rise the second time, which they did enthusiastically.  On two of them, I took a pair of scissors and snipped around the perimeter of the top loaf, to create a kind of crown effect. With confidence and anticipation, I put them in the oven at 375 degrees . . .

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. . . and this is what emerged from the oven 45 minutes later.  Mutant toadstools.  Bread that grows in a swamp.  Not exactly the kind of hero loaves I was hoping for.  In one way, this is not surprising--I seem to remember having similar problems when I made them for an episode of Breaking Bread.  What WAS surprising was the response I got when I posted them on my Facebook Fan Page (and these are unedited):  

I like the whimsy.

I think they look awesome. Esp the ones with friar tuck hair lol
Or is it more 3 stooges-esque....lol

I like how they look, Father. Plus I bet they still taste great

I am totally digging their free form shape. Not all bread can be "super models" if it still tastes great then it is all good.

what a hoot!

I'd eat them!

I like the way they look. I think it was meant to be! Looks charming....and I bet a delight to eat.

They are so cute. They look like little characters from a Disney movie. Love them.

I think think they are really cool---kind of Alice in Wonderland!

I thought differentiation was a good thing.

They look artistic and tasty.

Out of a dozen or more I only had one that ever came out straight! looks like you stuck them together with more than just jamming a wooden spoon handle through the center.
Separate them into their individual loaves after baking and no one will ever know!

Reminds me of a Willy Wonka creation. Pour some chocolate on top and give them a funny name. Magical! (This one from my sister Eileen, God bless her!)

I think they're cute!
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In short, it's obvious I need to lighten up on the "Bread-Monk-must-be-perfect" attitude and just enjoy the process as much as product.  Not a bad thing to learn just before Christmas, when we put tremendous amounts of pressure on ourselves and our families to have the "perfect Christmas."  The food matters, but not as much as the fun, and far less than the reason we celebrate in the first place.

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A bread for 9/11

9/11/2013

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Scroll through Facebook and Twitter today and you'll see a lot of posts saying "Never forget," referring to the tragedy of the lives lost at the Towers and the Pentagon and Flight 93. You see pictures of the towers, flags, the statue of Liberty, and eagles, firefighters and police officers, and other patriotic images.  Occasionally one sees a post which seems rather aggressive or even racist, or promotes a current political agenda that has little to do with remembering the victims.  Other posts are more religious and urge people to pray for the nation, to pray for peace.  It's good to the see the United States reflecting as a nation and as individuals, and at least considering the spiritual meaning of the events of this day twelve years ago. 
     The risk is that we will remember in a nostalgic, relatively passive way, instead of reflecting on the meaning of the day and what we can actually do to honor our dead heroes.  It's nice to post an inspiring picture with a memorial caption, but what's the point if that's all we do?  In a similar way I'm sometimes distressed when I see people posting memes about how much they love their spouse or children or parents, because I can't help but wonder why they're telling me how much they love their mom---call your mom and tell her!  
     So if we want to honor those who lost their lives in 9/11, here are some suggestions:
          ----Visit a local veteran's home or hospital---it won't matter if you know the people you visit,            just tell them you are grateful for their service;  make sure you listen as much as you talk.
          ----make a donation to a memorial fund for your local firefighters, or to the National Law
           Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (Click HERE for more info).          
          ----Talk to children about what religious tolerance means and how to promote it in our lives.
          ----Think of someone you know who had a death in family several months ago.  By now, the
                     expressions of sympathy have stopped but the pain is still there.  Send a note, make a call,
                ask them out for lunch.

     And bake some bread.  HERE is a recipe for Herbal Encouragement Bread, which uses ingredients that symbolize pain and struggle and the courage to overcome them.  It's a recipe you can use anytime someone you know is in need of emotional support, even if that person is you.

P.S. In case you're wondering what I did, today in class we prayed for all students who are still looking for where they fit in, still discovering their gifts and wondering how to use them, and asking God to send us his Spirit so we can create a school and a world where that can happen.  Tonight at Stage Crew, we'll help our crop of freshman Stage Rats begin to do just that.   "Give success to the work of our hands, O Lord."  Feel free to leave a comment here or on my Facebook Page to share what you did this week to make the world a better place.

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Simple Pleasures

9/6/2013

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Last night we had mashed potatoes at supper, so naturally I used the leftovers to make potato bread, as well as a spiral coffee cake with a strawberry/prune filling.  The coffee cake split on the sides a bit---there was a  bit too much filling, I think---but the loaf breads turned out beautifully.  I left them on the counter to cool and then went over to a fundraiser for the Academy in the front park.  There was plenty of food and drink, although I limited myself to a diet soda, and a local band was playing.  One of the musicians is a former student and they invited me up to sing the Jimmy Buffet classic "Come Monday."  I changed the lyrics of the last verse to "I spent four lonely months in a house full of monks and I just want you back by my side"!

There were about a dozen students helping at the event, running errands back to the kitchen, hauling ice, assisting with clean up.  At some point they seemed to be at loose ends so I invited them back to the kitchen for some warm bread and homemade apple butter.  I don't think I knew but two of them by name, but they all trooped after me through the dark school hallway and student refectory, and before long we were all gathered around the counter in the kitchen.  I cut a loaf into thick slices and passed them all around, and they politely took turns with the butter knife.  There were some initial oohs and aahs, and then periods of silence punctuated by the occasional "Mmmmm"---the sound that every chef loves to hear, when people would rather enjoy your food than talk.  A few students took seconds, three more straggled in late and finished off the loaf, and after some discussion of when they might return for Fr. Dom's legendary pizza, they went back out to finish their service at the event.

I often hear people complain about teenagers, how they are disrespectful or delinquent, how they have no manners and don't appreciate what they have.  I beg to differ.  These adolescents were respectful of me and each other, appreciative of what was offered them, and peppered their conversation with a lot of please and thank you.  Nobody pushed to the front of the line, no-one got out a cell phone to send a text, not one of them said anything you couldn't quote in church.  Do we have special kids at Saint Bede?  Probably.  I certainly don't have the kind of behavioral issues in the classroom that we hear rumors about in other local schools.  But I've had similar experiences in public schools and big city youth groups and even in a maximum security prison for teens.  Create a space where teens can feel valued and have a sense of belonging, and they usually respond.

I think we created that kind of space last night in the abbey kitchen: teens breaking bread together as companions on the journey toward maturity, forging friendships, making memories.  "Bread is love made visible," says Kahlil Gibrain's prophet.  What a blessing for me to be able to share God's love for his children in the form of a slice of warm bread!  I hope that they tell their friends about our simple pleasures together, so we can widen that circle of love and bring everybody to the table of acceptance and fellowship.
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Not baking

4/8/2013

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I'm not sure if my readers have noticed, but I've been keenly aware of how long it's been since I posted anything on the Bread Blog.  I could claim that there were all sorts of other things that got in my way---the spring musical, my teaching schedule, Lent, community meetings, Holy Week, weekend missions, our Fr. Joseph's funeral, yadda, yadda, yadda.  And I certainly didn't do as much baking during the past two months as usual.  But in point of fact, it has been a conscious choice to scale back. 

Yes, dear Breadheads, I have been trying to be sensible.

I'm sure that those of you who know me well are shocked, shocked at this unexpected revelation.  After all, I am notorious in the monastic community for staying up unreasonably late after a meeting to produce two dozen loaves of multigrain bread for a bake sale, or testing three new recipes simultaneously, or making homemade cream puffs for the stage crew during production week.  But when I baked hot cross buns for Ash Wednesday, I made an extra batch to put in the freezer until Good Friday---entirely too sensible.  I'd have a day off from rehearsals or set building and use the time to grade papers, do laundry and nap---clear signs of the coming Apocalypse.  Easter came and went and I baked absolutely nothing---no pastries, no Austrian povitica, not a single dinner roll.  And I don't feel the least bit guilty.

The fact, the spring musical took a pretty big physical toll on my body, with far too many late night tech sessions going up and down ladders, followed by mornings hobbling like a 90 years old arthritic to the shower.  I soon came to the realization that something had to give, and since I can't quit teaching and don't want to skip prayer, much of my kitchen time had to go.  I made a big batch of white bread for the freezer sometime in early March, and played around with caramel recipes, but otherwise most of my connection with baking came from casually reading bread recipes without any intention of actually making them.

I know this hiatus is just about over.  I've got a pizza party this weekend, and a talk to give next Friday, and it won't be long before there are fresh chives and sage to inspire me.  But it's been a good exercise in restraint, and a reminder that we all need to give ourselves permission to take a break now and then.

As I mentioned, however, I have been experiementing with homemade caramels, much to the delight of my students/test-tasters.   The best recipe I've found is HERE, but be sure you have a large sauce pan with a heavy bottom so you don't scorch anything.  Wonderful as they are, but also a fine recipe with which to make turtles or chocolate covered caramel-peanut clusters!
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Bucket List

1/6/2013

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The latest issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray appeared on the table of the abbey coffee corner, and although I don't watch her shows, I do like her recipes.  So I leafed through the magazine this morning over coffee.  There were some good looking side dishes and a year's worth of chocolate dessert recipes, but what really intrigued me was the article on developing a Bucket List, that is, a list of things you want to do before you "kick the bucket."  (The idea comes from the movie of the same name--you can find Rachael's Bucket List here).  I've had such a list for quite some time, which I refer to as my "Life Goals" and occasionally I try to get my students to write one out as well.
     I've managed to check off quite a few in the last 50 years.  Write and publish a play?  Check!  Have my own TV show?  Check!  Make the syrup and the pancakes come out exactly even without having to pour more or enduring a soggy last bite?  Check, with pancakes, French Toast, and waffles!  Also among my other completed Life Goals: I have played a pinball machine for so long on a single ball that the computer in the machine thought something was wrong, turn itself off and ran a self-check.  I actually didn't know that was a life goal until I had actually accomplished it.  But I still have quite a few to complete, including: 

 --Be a guest on NPR's Splendid Table and make the host Lynn Rosetta Kasper laugh (she has a great "radio" laugh).
--Visit the factory where they make Brach's Maple Nut Goodies and eat them warm, straight off the line. 
--Have a YouTube video (one that isn't embarassing!) that goes viral.
--learn to make great pie crust, every time
--Expand my repertoire of breakfast breads to include more yeasted coffee cakes.
--Make at least ONE recipe out of every ten that I repin on Pinterest.
--Adapt my Grandma Garramone's cinnamon roll recipe (she wrote it out herself and I think the amount of flour is too small) and make her Shortcut Kringle more often.

     This last one on the list (which is somewhat more expansive than what you see here) prompts me to make a point about life goals, bucket lists and resolutions in general   Experts tell us that to acheive goals successfully, the goals themselves have to be realistic, specific and measurable.  No point in my saying, "I'll make her Kringle once a week," because once rehearsals for the musical start, I may not have a spare night for weeks on end, and the aforementioned "more often" is too vague.  Better to say "I'll bake Grandma's Kringle for two special occasions this year"---realistic, specific, measurable.

One last thing for this year: get at least 1000 followers on Twitter.  Yes, I've gone over to the dark side and started tweeting, mostly just to keep my publisher happy since he mentions it in nearly every phone conversation we have.  It's certainly true that most people in media use it a lot.  We'll see what happens: @FrDomGarramone, if you're interested.  I'll certainly tweet every time I have a new blog post or test a new recipe, but I promise you: no tweets about what I just ate unless it's a mini restaurant review or an invite to join me for supper! 


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