Bake by Paul Hollywood

 Covid wasn't all bad, was it?  Here at LaDeDa we felt life slow down.  Customers wandered and shopped longer, and then they stayed around for conversation.  We made new friends during covid, friends to have coffee with, friends to laugh with, and friends to listen to as they philosophized.

People read more. Because of  travel challenges including masks, and  mass of complex restrictions, people stayed here - right in the Lakeshore.  Discovers were made. We really do have an endless treasury of goodness right in our own backyards.  And backyards got a whole lot of attention during covid.  Gardening, canning, and best of all, sharing the wealth of produce with neighbors became the norm.

 And people baked.  I have arrived a bit late to the baking craze, still I have arrived.  For me, baking has always been a chore.  Even making cookies gets out of hand. Flour everywhere, gooey dough, complicated, ingredient laden recipes.  Not my idea of fun.  But then there's Paul Hollywood.  Yup, he lured me in with those steely blue eyes, leaning in and critiquing the nervous contestants on The Great British Baking Show.   

I caved and purchased his very expensive, bake book filled with manageable recipes, and beautiful colored pictures of bakes, and of Paul Hollywood.  My plan is to bake my way through the book. So far so good.  I have owned the book for exactly one month now, and have made one recipe, the first one - banana bread.  OK. I did OK as you can see from the above picture.  I will make a few changes if I ever go back to this recipe, but no time for that now.  I must move and learn to make a proper Victoria Sponge.  This one looks easy and if it works out, I may share it with my book group.  But for sure, you will get a picture of the final product.

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