The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking.  They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month.  Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

I made the tiramisu more than a week ago and froze it.  Last night I cut two small squares out to photograph (and eat!) but put the rest back in the freezer.  It was quite tasty.  I didn’t end up with as many layers as I was supposed to because based on the ladyfinger recipe I didn’t have enough for a third layer.  Regardless, it was far superior to any tiramisu I’ve ever had in a restaurant.  And it was great to learn how to make mascarpone from scratch.  My results looked thus:

A fabulous afternoon spent on Stevens Pond:

January passed quickly and now it’s nearly the middle of February.  It seems I can’t quite get a firm grip yet this year but I’m trying to find a rhythm and kick the mid-winter blues that have seized me lately.  Good food and company have helped and I’m hoping to jolt myself into an exercise routine, which should help.  That and a fresh coat of snow.
I embarked on a 365 photo project at the beginning of this year and haven’t missed a day yet.  You can see my progress on flickr if you’re interested.  I will leave you with some photos from January.

January, February, March

April, May, June

July, August, September

October, November, December

Not to give away my age or anything, but I graduated from high school in the year 2000, and from college in 2004.  So it seems hard to believe 2010 is already in progress.  A decade has passed since high school.  Really?  A decade?  Of course, high school does seem long, long ago (and for that I am thankful) and for that matter college seems distant as well, but somehow it is still surprising to be so far into this century.  But rather than think back over the last 10 years, I’d prefer to look forward.  There are many things to look forward to in this new year and I am going to enjoy it all thoroughly.  I do have goals — not New Year’s resolutions per se, but things I hope to do, see, work on, enjoy, etc.

Here are some pictures from the recent past.  It was a great holiday season and I enjoyed many days of relaxation.  My family did a handmade Christmas which was truly wonderful.  At some point I will post some pictures of the gifts we gave and received.  And I plan to put up a short series of 2009 photo collections.

We spent a winter evening in a greenhouse last weekend for a lovely holiday bash, complete with live music.  The cold heightened the senses, the candles and Christmas lights dazzled the eyes, and the food and libations warmed the belly and soul.  You couldn’t ask for more.

December always seems to fly past me, leaving me a bit stunned when I wake up on New Year’s Day.  But this year is a bit different.  My family has decided to only give homemade/handmade gifts this year.  This is wonderful in many ways, but particularly because there is no pressure to rush around from store to store desperately trying to find a perfect gift under less than perfect circumstances.  The financial relief is nice too, but mostly it’s the lack of pressure.  I am planning my gifts and I still have things left to make and do, but they are things I can do in my own home, sitting by the fire, enjoying the glow of Christmas lights and music (or watching episodes of Battlestar Galactica…).  And that’s the best way to do it.

I was above the clouds for a couple hours this past weekend.  My view from Portland, Maine to NYC looked like this:

More to come soon…