Mommy's New Hobby

I made a pot of sweet azuki beans to put in the buns.  It was very good!!

I decided to bake my kids' favorite characters from their show.  I thought they looked terrible, but the kids and my friends thought they are pretty cool.

I don't know where the force came from.  Suddenly, I wanted to bake Japanese style breads.  Maybe it's because I was talking to my friend Yukie who is a master baker.  She bakes amazing sweet breads and cakes.  I am usually not the one to follow step by step directions.  I do not like reading instruction manuals and if I try to, my eyes starts to skip lines then pages.  Within a minute, I am tossing the silly booklet and on to discover the how to myself.  I must admit though, there is certain calming effect to following the steps precisely and baking requires a lot of it.  I pulled out the digital scale and spooned on the ingredients carefully.  It's quiet, it's night time, everyone is asleep and it's just me and baking.  My bread machine click and clacks while I get the cookie sheets ready.  I pull the dough out and shape them - they are soft as babies' ear lobes.  My kids love chocolate chip buns so I mix in chocolate chips into the soft dough.  I wait another 20 minutes or so to let it rise some more.  When things happen as it should be, it gives me a great satisfaction.  With children, it happens 30% of the time and baking 80%.  Maybe that is why I love baking now.  When the buns look irresistibly adorable in the oven, it's time for them to come out.  I imagine the happy faces of my children in the morning and smile.  For the next 24 hours, I am guaranteed to feel like I am a very good Mom.  Yep, it's addictive!!