This has been one horrible, no good, very bad week so far.

I know this isn’t why you came here. You came here for doughnuts, not to hear about how my car’s windshield wipers stopped working in the middle of a snowstorm, or how I broke my new necklace the first day I wore it and then subsequently spilled coffee all over my pants at work, or how I tried to make simple things like poached eggs and grilled cheese (grilled cheese!) for dinner and failed miserably, or how, lately, some of my life’s circumstances getting the better of me.

But I’m keeping it real, here, people. Sometimes, we just have a really crummy week.

Thankfully, we also have doughnuts.

These doughnuts were the perfect things to wake up with on a bright, sunny Saturday morning. Thanks to the fancy schmancy doughnut pan the ‘rents bought me for Christmas, I could make these delicious, fluffy, citrus-kissed doughnuts and douse them in a gooey dark chocolate glaze. And now that I have this fancy schmancy pan, I plan to make homemade doughnuts a fairly regular part of my life. Especially on horrible, no good, very bad days.

If you don’t have a doughnut pan, fortunately or unfortunately, for this recipe you’ll need to get one. The good news is they’re super easy to find and super not expensive. All you need is a little bit of room in your kitchen cabinet and an undying wish for doughnuts. Trust me, it’s worth every penny.

Orange-Buttermilk Cake Doughnuts with Chocolate-Orange Glaze
Adapted from Not So Humble Pie

Yields: 6 doughnuts

Ingredients:
For the doughnuts –
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup cake flour, sifted (or make your own, like I did, with this here pro tip)
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
zest of 1 small or 1/2 large orange
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the glaze –
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon butter, cut into tiny cubes
1 teaspoon orange juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Spray doughnut pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk and egg. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, orange zest and salt. Pour dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
Spoon batter into doughnut pan wells so they’re about two-thirds of the way full. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until the tops of the doughnuts spring back when lightly touched. Allow to cool in pan for a minute or two, then turn out onto a cooling rack with wax paper underneath and cool completely.
To make the glaze: Microwave all glaze ingredients in a shallow bowl for 10 seconds at a time, stirring between, until melted. Dip cooled doughnuts into the glaze (or spoon it over the doughnuts) and return to cooling rack to dry.
Doughnuts are best served the day they are made.

There are a few things I can’t get enough of: Mini pigs, paintings by Van Gogh, brownies with ice cream, intriguing and nail-bitingly dramatic episodes of “Mad Men” (and perhaps moreso, their style) and now, a new addition to the list. Ladies and gentlemen, meet povitica.

When mine eyes were first laid upon this bread (probably on Pinterest, another distraction I never seem to tire of, even many long hours after my droopy eyes have said, “Enough with the DIY hanging plant holders!”), I knew it had to be in my kitchen. Right. Now. There was no time to waste! I was a girl obsessed! This bread was destined to get in my belly! It was admittedly a low point.

And then — oh, and then — I saw the gargantuan list of directions. My heart sank. I was done for. In my Post-Holiday Stupor of Undeterred Laziness, I knew I’d give up as soon as the recipe called for any verb.

However, after a few hours of wallowing in my self pity of non-povitica-ness, wherein I probably nervously drank copious amounts of hot chocolate, took a nap and looked at photos of mini pigs on Pinterest simultaneously, I decided enough was enough. A new New Year’s resolution was to be had; and thus, so was this povitica.

Dear Lord. This sweet bread is a gift from above. It is worth every verb in this recipe. I mean, there are chocolate and walnuts and butter and sugar on the line here, people! So take a deep breath, maybe peruse a few photos of mini pigs yourself, and get down to business. You won’t be sorry.

Povitica, Croatian walnut bread
Adapted slightly from Passionate About Baking

Yields: One loaf

Ingredients:
For the dough –
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons lukewarm water
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

For the filling –
1 1/2 cups walnuts, ground
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

For the topping –
1 egg white, beaten
1/2 teaspoon sugar crystals (optional)

Directions:
In a small bowl, stir together sugar, flour, water and yeast and let stand 5 minutes until foamy.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat milk to just below boiling (about 180 degrees F), stirring constantly to avoid that gross film that forms on top. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly to 110 degrees F.
In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, mix the scalded milk, sugar and salt until just combined. Add eggs, yeast mixture, vanilla extract, melted butter and flour and stir until just combined. Switch to a dough hook and knead in stand mixer for about 5 minutes, adding 1 tablespoon flour at a time until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic; OR, place dough on a lightly floured countertop and knead by hand for about 10 minutes, adding 1 tablespoon of flour as necessary until dough is slightly sticky and smooth and elastic.
Shape dough into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
Meanwhile, make the filling: Grind the walnuts, sugar and cocoa powder in a food processor until finely ground like coarse sand, and transfer to a medium bowl. In a medium saucepan, bring milk and butter to a boil, then pour the liquid over the nut mixture. Add egg yolk and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Set aside until mixture comes to room temperature.
Punch down risen dough and on a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a 10-inch square. Brush with 1 teaspoon of melted butter, if desired.
Using your hands or a rolling pin, very carefully spread dough thin; so thin, that you can see through it to the countertop. Spoon filling evenly over dough.
Roll the dough carefully from the long end like a jelly roll, using a bench scraper to scrape any stubborn dough up from the countertop. Carefully place rope into a greased 8-by-4-inch loaf pan into the shape of a U with the ends meeting in the middle (or really, however it ends up in the pan that resembles a uniform loaf shape). Brush the top of the loaf with beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Cover pan lightly with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover pan and bake bread for 15 minutes. Decrease oven temperature to 300 degrees F and bake bread for another 30-40 minutes, checking on the loaf after 20 minutes to make sure it’s not too brown (if it is, cover with a dome of aluminum foil to prevent over-browning). Bake until a thermometer inserted in the center of the dough reads 200-210 degrees F. Remove pan from oven and allow bread to cool in pan on a cooling rack for 20-30 minutes, then allow to cool completely outside of pan before slicing and serving.

Look at my wit! Look at my skill! Look at how I took two different types of food and made them into one!

OK. Enough on that. I cannot tell a lie: I made a blunder. A culinary blunder. And yet one that turned out to be just as delicious, albeit not what I had intended.

If you’re not catching my drift here, these here churro “fries” were not meant to be fries at all. Sure, they were meant to be made into warm, deep-fried pillows of deliciousness, but as churros — actual churros — not as crispy, cinnamon-sugary strings.

But here’s the rub.

These are still insanely amazing. I’d even daresay they’re better than regular churros, but perhaps only because they’re unique and eating an entire churro gives me a stomachache (perhaps that’s also because I tend to devour them before riding a bazillion carny rides at the county fair, but that’s beside the point). They’re like the bite-size, cuter and more fun cousin of churros that churros get jealous of when they steal all the attention. They’re crispy and deep-fried and sweet and yummy and I don’t care who knows it!

Sorry. Watching too much “Elf” (or is it ever too much?).

Anyway, my point here is that sometimes you’ve got to roll with the punches. Even when the star tip on your pastry bag is the size of an eraser instead of a penny and you want churros, you can make it happen. Sure, they might not be what you’d expect, but hey, aren’t most things? And in the end, what was considered a mistake might, in fact, be a stroke of accidental genius. Or, perhaps, just a tasty mistake. Either way, my tummy is happy. And whether you make these the right way or the “wrong” way, yours will be, too.

Churro Fries
Adapted from Hy-Vee Seasons Magazine

Yields: About 40 pieces

Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons butter, cubed
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
vegetable or canola oil (for frying)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix together water, butter, 1 tablespoon sugar and salt and bring to a boil.
Add flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Remove from heat and allow to cool 10 minutes.
Add egg and vanilla, stirring well with a wooden spoon. Scoop mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a small (fries) or large (regular churros) star tip.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Set aside. Line a large plate with paper towels and set aside.
Heat 3 inches of oil in a large saucepan to about 375 degrees F.
Pipe 4-inch logs directly into the oil and fry for about 2 minutes on each side until a deep golden brown. With a slotted spoon, scoop out churros and drain on paper towel-lined plate, then transfer to baking sheet and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining mixture.
In a small bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Roll churros in cinnamon-sugar mixture and serve warm.

I can’t tell you the next time it will rain. I can’t tell you if the way you see orange is the same way I see orange, and I can’t tell you if you’ll get a pony for Christmas.

I can’t tell you if you’re going to get the phone call for that dream job, your dream boy or your dream girl. I can’t even tell you if you’ll dream at all tonight.

What I can tell you is that this bread is delicious.

I’ve been doing a lot of realizing lately. I’ve realized that often, no matter how hard I try and no matter what I do, things don’t go as I’d planned/hoped/wished/dreamed. If they had, I probably wouldn’t even been writing this. I’d be too busy working for The New York Times. And I’d probably hate it.

Sometimes, I wish time would fast forward to that moment I’ve been wanting for so long. Sometimes, I wish time would stand still. Most of the time, though, I’m grateful that I don’t have that kind of control. There’s a plan for me, and though a lot of it is still hidden in the clouds, I know things will end up all right.

Even with baking, I’m not always sure how things will turn out. I put a bunch of tasty ingredients into a bowl, mix them up, put them into the oven and hope they come out just as tasty as they did when they went in. Sometimes, it works like a charm. Sometimes not. But that’s how life goes, doesn’t it? You’ve got to have a few bad eggs along with the good ones.

It reminds me of my favorite quote, by writer Anna Quindlen: “Life is made of moments — small pieces of silver amid long stretches of gravel.” Word. I like to think this quick bread — this jammy, tart, sweet, moist and spicy quick bread — is one delicious piece of silver.

Sorry, my inner monologue got away from me for a second there. The moral of the story is, make this bread. Perhaps it’ll be the only thing you are sure of today, but at least that one thing is mighty good.

Cardamom-Cherry Jam Quick Bread
Adapted from Better Recipes

Yields: 1 8-by-4-inch loaf

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup tart cherry jam

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together flour, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In yet another small bowl, combine sour cream and jam. Alternately add dry ingredients and sour cream mixture into the large bowl with the butter mixture and combine, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Allow to cool in loaf pan 10 minutes before removing and placing on a cooling rack to cool completely. Serve with mascarpone cream or a hearty spoonful of extra cherry jam.

I’m trying to get back into the swing of things. Life is slowly getting back to normal — well, a new normal, that is. Grief is a funny thing, because even if you’ve been through it before, the pain never gets easier. But I have learned that the only way to get through it is to just live, every day, putting one foot in front of the other. And eventually, I find ground again.

It’s taken me a while to regain my passion for anything again, but I’m getting there. Even food was tasteless for so long — too long. How I dearly missed the good taste of food, and baking. It was hard to get myself back into the kitchen, to dip my hands into the cool flour and hear the gentle whir of dough kneading in the stand mixer. But once those familiar senses returned, so did my rhythm: Rhythm in a new reality, maybe, but one in which baking still fills me with joy.

I know you’ve probably seen, tried and/or tasted a million cinnamon raisin breads before, but if you haven’t had the pleasure of making it from scratch in your home kitchen, seriously, now is the time. No, seriously. It’s too amazing to push aside so you can watch another episode of “Real Housewives.”

OK. You can watch it. But then immediately bake this bread, please.

In just a couple of hours, your kitchen will smell heavenly, like a warm cloud of cinnamony, raisiny, sugary goodness. And when you slice into this bread and take a whiff of those pretty cinnamon swirls studded with soft, sweet raisins and then top it with butter, peanut butter, jam or cream cheese, you might begin to question whether or not this really is real life. It is real life, my friend. Even in a downtrodden world, where crappy things happen that we can’t always understand, good things — like yummy, homemade bread — can still happen, too.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
A Girl Versus Dough original

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup skim milk powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (unbleached, all-purpose flour works just fine, too)
egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp water, beaten)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
2 tbsp sugar

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine water, oil, sugar, skim milk powder, salt and yeast. Whisk with paddle attachment until well blended and let sit 5 minutes.
Add in a cup of flour and stir to combine. Add in another cup of flour and repeat.
Replace paddle attachment with dough hook and increase speed to medium. Add just enough of remaining flour until dough is slightly sticky, but pulls away from the sides of the bowl (you might have to add more than 2 1/2 cups flour total, but try not to go over too much). Knead five minutes in stand mixer or 10 minutes by hand, until dough is smooth and elastic.
Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch down risen dough and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out to a 9 x 14-inch rectangle. Top dough with egg wash, cinnamon, raisins and sugar. Bring in the long sides by a 1/2-inch and carefully roll up dough from the short side, careful to keep sides tucked in. Pinch seam closed with slightly wet fingers.
Place bread in a lightly greased 8 x 4-inch loaf pan, cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap from top of loaf pan and bake until bread is a deep, golden brown and makes a hollow sound when you thwack it on the bottom, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and loaf pan and cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing.

I’ve had this here blog now for about two years. It’s turned into more of a blessing than I could ever have imagined — not to mention the fact that I’ve made a lot of recipe testers happy. I am grateful for what has happened and even more excited for where my baking adventures will continue to take me. And I’m grateful that you, dear friend, have come along for the ride.

One of my most faithful readers (and avid recipe testers) was my grandfather. Grandpa Jim would always be willing to try whatever I made, even when I was a little girl working my make-believe Meadowside Restaurant (complete with a handwritten menu) at his kitchen table. That man would eat whatever I put in front of him, even if it looked like inedible green slop. I like to think that in more recent years, my recipes were a little more appetizing. But I never had any doubt that my grandfather would be willing to sample something I made. And I beamed at his approval.

Grandpa Jim died on Friday. I was there to say goodbye to him, to hold his hand and pray for him in the last few hours of his rich, full life. There is no one in my world who can fill the void that my grandfather filled, and I am heartbroken. Even as I type this, my heart crumbles and I am reduced to a fountain of tears at the thought that I can’t give him one more recipe to try. I think he really would have enjoyed these muffins.

I made these muffins at a happier time, before my grandpa was in the hospital, hooked up to cords and monitors and unconscious. I made them when I thought he’d still have a chance to eat something I’d baked, so I didn’t put much thought into deciding to make these. If I had known — if I had just known that an e-mail, a phone call, a visit, a meal I prepared would be my last with him, I would have made it more worthwhile. I would have told him how dang much I loved him, how he meant more to me than I could ever describe, how he was the most loyal, the most selfless, the most loving and caring grandfather than any granddaughter could have asked for. And I would have made him a better recipe.

But I also know that, even if these muffins were made out of anchovies and gummy worms, he’d still eat them with a smile on his face and tell me how delicious they were. Because that’s just the kind of man he was. And I will never forget that kind of love.

I don’t know how to end this. Endings are often messy, especially when they are so abrupt and unexpected — like ugly, jagged edges that pierce the very core of your being. I suppose all I can say is this: Love your loved ones like there is no tomorrow. Because sometimes, there just isn’t one. And find comfort in the knowledge that someone out there, near or far, loves you and what you have to give, whether it’s green slop or a plate of muffins.

To them, all of it is gold.

Cider Doughnut Muffins
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Yields: 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp thawed apple juice concentrate
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
2 2/3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 cup milk

Topping –
3 tbsp butter
6 tbsp cinnamon-sugar mixture

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (375 degrees F if using a dark, non-stick tin). Place baking cups in a 12-cup muffin tin and lightly grease the insides. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, thoroughly whisk together butter, oil, sugars and apple juice concentrate. Add eggs, beating to combine, until mixture is smooth. Stir in baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.
Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. Stir to combine well.
Spoon or scoop batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted into one of the center muffins comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes.
Melt butter for topping. Dip the tops of each muffin into the butter, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely.

I knew about this one.

I knew about this one the first time I saw it.

I knew, like the way you know about a good melon, that this bread would be fantastic.

And sure enough, I was right. Very right.

This is the kind of bread you make when you’re having a bad day. It’s the kind of bread you make when your house smells like a cat/old quesadillas/laundry that is a tad overdue. Not that I know what those smell like.

It’s the kind of bread you make when you really want dessert, but you want to be healthy, so you figure if you work real hard (or not really that hard) you’ll deserve dessert.

Though you shouldn’t have to deserve dessert. If you want dessert, then by golly, have it. Yes. I just said “by golly.” Moving along.

This is also the kind of bread you make when you have a taste for cinnamon. Or browned butter. Or nutmeg. Or butter. Or all of the above.

I can see this bread tasting just as delicious all citrusy, or with apples worked into the dough, or perhaps tinged with orange zest. But this way, too, is perfect. Like a good melon.

Cinnamon Browned Butter Pull-Apart Loaf
Adapted from Joy the Baker

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

For the dough –
2 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup soy milk (regular milk works just fine, too)
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the filling –
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted until browned

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Set aside.
Whisk eggs in a small bowl and set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt butter and milk over medium-low heat until butter is just melted. Remove from heat and add water and vanilla extract. Cool to 115 degrees F.
Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir on low speed. Add eggs and stir until everything is just mixed, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir on low-medium speed (about #2 or #4 on your stand mixer) for about 2 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky, but that’s OK.
Pour the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
In the meantime, whisk together sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a small sauce pan until just browned and set aside. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
Remove risen dough from bowl, punch down and knead in 2 tbsp of flour. Let rest for five minutes, covered with a kitchen towel. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough using a rolling pin into a 20 x 12-inch rectangle. Brush on the butter, then sprinkle evenly the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Slice the dough north to south into six even strips. Stack the strips and slice that stack into six equal squares (you’ll have six stacks of six squares). Prop up the loaf pan on the rolling pin and stack the squares cut-side down into the pan so it looks like a stack of papers. Sprinkle some of the extra cinnamon-sugar mixture that spilled on the countertop on the top of the loaf. Cover the pan and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. When dough is doubled, uncover and bake about 35 minutes, or until the top of the dough is a deep, dark brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for about 20 minutes. Then, run a butter knife along the edges of the pan to loosen the loaf, invert onto a plate and then invert again, ride side up, onto a pretty plate to serve. Serve warm.

Did you know there are different names for desserts depending on their toppings?

For instance, a crisp is topped with a streusel-crumb mixture, a.k.a. magic.

And a buckle is a type of crumb cake that cracks and “buckles” as it bakes. No joke.

And a betty is layered with cubed bread or breadcrumbs. Amazing.

But this? This blueberry and cherry-filled wonder? This most spectacularly delicious creation? This is definitely a cobbler.*

Cobblers are defined by their buttery, biscuity topping (yes, biscuity. New word.) and baked fruit filling. This cobbler, by its very definition, is sweet, tart, fruity and rich with a fluffy, soft, buttery/biscuity topping of… well, biscuits. Biscuits are biscuity. As if you didn’t already know that. And biscuits floating cloud-like atop a juicy fruit filling? Even better.

I know it’s roughly 387,273,154 degrees outside right now and the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven, but just do it. Buckle down, betty up and be sure not to crumble or burn to a crisp before you get that cobbler in the oven. (You like that pun explosion? Took me all day. Or two minutes.) And if you make it that far and are still standing, stash the cobbler in the fridge to cool off, or top it with some vanilla bean ice cream or homemade whipped cream. Or, if you’re living dangerously, eat it warm out of the oven.

But for goodness’ sake, drink some water if you do. A girl need not suffer for cobbler.

*A note of thanks to one Miss Ashley Moore for her photographic assistance. You light up my life.

Blueberry-Cherry Cobbler
Adapted from Saveur

Yields: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups frozen sour cherries (I used sweet and decreased the sugar to 2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon and whisk to combine. Add blueberries and cherries and stir occasionally until mixture is thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and almond extract. Pour filling into an 8 x 8-inch baking dish greased with 1 tbsp butter; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Work in remaining butter with fingers until mixture resembles a coarse crumble. Stir in milk to form a dough.
Place heaping tablespoonfuls of dough on top of filling. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until biscuits are a rich golden brown. Serve warm, cold or with your favorite topping.

It was one of those weeks.

I’m sure you know the kind — when nothing works, nothing goes the way you want it to go, everything falls apart and can’t be put back together again. Or, at least it seems that way.

I tend to fall into a state of mild panic when things are no longer routine. If I am not completely aware of what I will be doing next, I have a bit of trouble coping. I need to know that when I put one foot in front of the other, they will both land on solid ground. I’m all for spontaneity in some cases, sure. Throw a pleasant surprise at me every now and then, and I’m perfectly happy. But throw a random curveball at me when I was ready to swing at a fastball? Let’s just say it’s not always pretty.

I am aware of this weakness, and I do my best to manage and make myself better in spite of it. It’s not that I don’t think I can change — I know I can, and I try. But when you’ve built up a life around control only to find that, in the end, you really have no control at all — well, that makes things interesting. It’s a journey, to say the least.

But back to this week. My routine was in a bit of a shambles since Sunday, when Elliott left for a camping trip in Wisconsin with an old college friend and I was left to fend for myself. The horror! Turns out I can actually take care of myself, though by the end of the week I was on the brink of living like Miss Havisham and talking to my cat like he’s a human (though that’s really nothing new). My mom also was on the lam in Africa, taking pictures of lions and wildebeests and getting bruises from a few bumpy Jeep rides through the Serengeti. You know, normal stuff. No big deal.

But me? I was at home, with my by myself, trying to grasp on to some sense of normalcy. Thankfully this Rhubarb Apple Bread caught my eye in the nick of time, as I was just about to eat popcorn and cake balls for dinner, watch my 18th episode of Glee in a row and unsuccessfully dye my hair blonde, just for kicks. I wish I could say I didn’t do those things anyway.

This bread is the perfect combination of sweet and tart, with bright chunks of rhubarb and apple folded into sweet cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s a little bit of spring, a little bit of fall and all delicious. Though I opted to keep my loaf au naturel and left out the cinnamon sugar topping, I’m sure it’s just as tasty (and more dessert-like) with the crunchy coating on top. It’s the perfect bread to bake when you really miss someone, or when you’re about to eat an entire jar of peanut butter while belting “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and donning your robe and need a momentary distraction. Or both.

Rhubarb Apple Bread
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Yields: 1 8 x 4-inch loaf

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup chopped rhubarb (fresh or frozen)
1 cup peeled and chopped apples (about 1 medium apple)
1 tbsp sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon for topping (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix eggs on medium speed using paddle attachment until well-whisked, about 30 seconds. Add oil, applesauce and vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined. Add sugars and beat until smooth.
Add in the flour mixture in two additions, mixing on low speed between each addition. Gently fold in rhubarb and apple and pour into a lightly greased 8 x 4-inch loaf pan. Optional: Top batter with cinnamon/sugar topping.
Bake for about 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes in loaf pan before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack.

Dear driver who nearly ran me over while I was walking across the designated crosswalk the other day,
Dear person who doesn’t agree with my opinions and thinks I’m a loony for thinking the way I do,
Dear construction workers who are tearing up the streets and sidewalks, literally, in front of our office building, causing my computer to rumble incessantly every day,

Happy Easter. Jesus is risen! I have no hard feelings towards you. I understand that you are human, as am I, and are just in a serious hurry/extremely passionate/doing your job. Maybe you were just having a bad day, I don’t know. Whatever the case, I’m not letting it get to me.

Also, I’ve baked these yummy sticky buns for you.

Love, Me

There are few things in life that make it very difficult for me to love everyone. One of them is road rage. Another is construction, and the consequences therein. The third is judgmental people, but I can’t say I’m totally out of that category myself, so I try very hard to work on that one. But I’m not perfect. Neither are you. But we do our best to be kind to each other, because that’s what we’re here for, anyway.

But enough about that. Let’s talk about these OMG-delicious sticky buns. I don’t know what got me thinking about sticky buns the other day, suffice it to say that once the thought did cross my mind, nothing could deter it. All I could think about was the next time I could get to work on making these sticky buns. Then I started thinking about oranges. Then, pecans. Then I was in all sorts of trouble.

Luckily, my family came to visit this weekend to celebrate Easter with us, so I knew I wouldn’t be elbow-deep in sticky, orange-pecany glaze for nothing. I decided to make the buns for breakfast, and I knew my family would be appreciative of my efforts after having them drive all the way out to the cornfields. Little did they know that I would have made these with or without them here — but with them, I was in good company and therefore distracted from eating 10 buns in one sitting.

I like this recipe for sticky buns because you let the buns rise in the refrigerator overnight, which means you don’t have to get up at 6 a.m. so that breakfast can be ready by 10 a.m. All you do is prepare them the night before, stick them in the fridge, sleep, wake up, preheat the oven, bake them and voila — cinnamon sticky buns oozing with tasty, sticky, gooey, sweet and nutty orange-pecan glaze. They’re irresistible, and taste even better when you make them for someone you love — or are trying to love.

Orange-Pecan Sticky Buns
Adapted from Simply Recipes

Yields: 15 sticky buns

Ingredients:
Dough –
1/4 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus 1 tbsp for greasing
3 large egg yolks
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
1 1/4 tsp salt
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Filling –
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
4 tbsp unsalted butter
zest from half an orange

Topping –
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/2 cup pecan halves

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine water, yeast and 1 tsp sugar. Whisk to combine and let sit 5 minutes, or until yeast mixture is foamy. Add to it milk, butter, remaining sugar, egg yolks, orange zest, salt and 3 cups flour. Mix on low speed with paddle attachment until just combined. Switch paddle attachment with dough hook and increase speed slightly, add the remaining 1 cup flour in increments. Once all flour has been added, increase speed to medium and knead about 5 minutes, or until dough is slightly sticky, smooth and elastic (add a little bit more flour if it’s really tacky until it’s at the right consistency). Remove dough from bowl and place in a large lightly greased bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 to 2 hours.
Once dough has risen, punch down and place on a lightly floured countertop and let rise 20 minutes.
In the meantime, make the filling — combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Melt butter and keep separate.
Roll out dough into a 12-by-18-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle with orange zest. Starting from the long side, roll up dough into a tight cylinder. Place seam side-down on a flat surface and cut crosswise into 15 equal slices.
Make the topping — in a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, honey, orange juice and orange zest over low heat. Stir until butter and sugar are melted. Pour mixture into a greased 9-by-13-inch pan and sprinkle pecan halves on top.
Place dough slices flat side-down on top of prepared topping, crowding them so they touch. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator overnight to rise. In the morning, preheat oven to 375 degrees F — remove buns from the refrigerator and let stand on countertop while oven preheats. Bake buns until golden brown, about 30 minutes; immediately invert pan onto a baking sheet or serving tray. Let buns cool slightly and serve warm.