Baking Frenzy

I've been in super baking mode this weekend. I get this way before it becomes full summer in Baltimore (i.e. 90-100+ temps). I live on the top floor of a rowhouse and although I have two window AC units, their cooling awesomeness does not extend to my kitchen. My summer baking plan is simple: bake a ton, early on, and freeze it. That way I can have homemade baked goods throughout the summer and not die of heat stroke. This weekend had perfect temps, so I had to take advantage of it.

Olives galore!

Yesterday, I made homemade pizza. Today I made two loaves of olive bread (one loaf with kalamata olives, the other with green olives) and three loaves of Afghan Rote (one loaf I'm going to take to work tomorrow). I slice each loaf in half and freeze them for the summer.

Olive breads cooling

My favorite olive bread recipe is actually from Cooking Light. It's a yeastless batter bread, which means there is no rise time. Just mix the ingredients and bake!

Afghan rote

Afghan rote is a lightly sweetened flat bread, with hints of rose water and cardamom, and has sesame and poppy seeds sprinkled on top. It's lovely as a snack or served alongside a hot beverage for dessert.

Of course, I also made dinner today (a warm lentil salad with walnuts and roasted red peppers), took a bus to Trader Joe's, and washed about 1,000 dishes, so needless to say, I'm beat.

But tomorrow, I'm making strawberry rhubarb crisp after work. Yum! (We picked up the rhubarb at the Waverly Farmer's Market.)