[decadent] re-gifting

It's been a strange week.
School started, of course, I've talked all about that. I felt like I dropped off the face of the planet there for a bit, really. I guess nothing was going to compare to the idyllic lifestyle I was leading in December and January (Eden, anyone?), near-constant blogging included. Emily, dearest photographer of my heart, is in LA for the week, becoming some sort of tanned, biking wonder, or so I am to understand. I spent the majority of the past week with my Linguistics reading, and a copy of Les Fleurs du Mal, or several, and not with cookbooks or whisks in hand. All the same, Saturday I couldn't resist baking some bread, and Sunday I went a little crazy and made a huge dinner, complete with pots de crême for dessert. (Butterscotch, no less!)
Unfortunately, I am not the mother, or even distantly related cousin of any of these, since they were all found on other blogs which are far too comprehensive and pretty to need any of my commentary. Thus, I'm using this past week as an excuse to tell you about two other blogs which far surpass my own small grassroots-of-the-grassroots spot, and which you should most definitely be looking at.
The first, Orangette, has probably spawned an entire generation of bloggers. Go anywhere, and you'll see her delightful and shockingly fresh writing style (and its slightest hint of campy naivety) all over the web. This weekend I made her panade, as well as her butterscotch pots de crème which have an addictiveness level which I assume is quite near to crack cocaine. The panade is made with chard, onion, and gruyère, and, while not quite to perfect taste the first day, is pleasingly stuffing-like on the second. I tried the pan-frying of the leftovers as suggested, but, um, really just succeeded in heating them up in a frying pan. I couldn't really handle the thought of involving any more oil in them, so perhaps that was why?
But my real weakness is dessert, and, if you haven't already immediately clicked on that link as you were reading the words "butterscotch" and "pots de crème", well, go now. Even if you are a complete scrooge and hate dessert and sugar and potentially even food itself, go for her pictures. The post is called "pots of gold", and damned if those aren't the most appealing metallic food photographs I have ever seen. They glimmer, people, like they're flecked with actual gold. Mine were delicious and all, to the point of needing to give them away to housemates, but hers. Wow. It appears to be some actual incarnation of the Midas myth. Go try your own, and if you can figure out how to make them look like that, well, get back to me.
But for all the words of excess and delight, the last think I have saved for you is, I think, the gastronomic equivalent of an insider trading tip.
Farmgirl Susan (oh, yes) lives on 240 acres of farmland in rural Missouri. Uh-huh. She used to live in California, and now she has sheep, and a farmdog, and god knows probably even a turkey or two hidden somewhere. I still can't decide whether I'm enchanted at the writing and novelty, or terrified because there's this slight possibility that it could be my future some day. I'm not terribly familiar with the site, having just stumbled upon it with the finding of this recipe, but if you don't mind a cutesy-named animal and the concept of farms, I recommend checking it out. Or, just make the following bread recipe with her in mind as you realize that you have stumbled upon the true definition of "alchemy". I've included the recipe because, well, if I'm ever stranded on a dessert island with just my blog and a six-pack, I'll need this recipe.

Whole Wheat Beer Bread
... IS SO EASY. When I said alchemy, I meant it. I first made this after agreeing to bake with a friend. We were even a little disappointed when we finally sat down and looked at the recipe, because it takes nothing. NOTHING. You mix and stick in oven. We forgot salt and it was still delicious. I made a loaf again the next day (remembering salt) to give to my father, and kept double-checking the recipe since I couldn't even believe my own memory of it being so simple. Read, bake, and be awed.

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
14 oz beer

Mix ingredients in bowl, beer last. Dump into appropriately-sized oiled and floured bread pan. Squeal like it's your third-grade science project while it bakes for 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Let cool for twenty minutes.

Now go, go, GO!