Someone's in the kitchen

Okay, I'm getting set to be a cookin' fool. Most of the year, I'm the queen of the cold salad or the cocktail shaker. I save my culinary ambitions for the holidays. I'm no Martha Stewart (I'm not even Rachel Ray), but I think it's part of the holidays to contribute to feeding everyone. I've got three dishes to crank out from Eve to Day: guacamole, apple pie and wheat bread.

The guac I have no worries about. I'm from Texas, y'all. I've been making guacamole since I was 8. I could do it in my sleep. And have done it under the influence. It wasn't pretty, but it sure tasted mighty fine. I'm a moderate traditionalist when it comes to guac. I don't hold with the more Anglo additions like mayo or cream cheese. Mine is just avocado, tomato, lime juice, salt and a touch of garlic and onion powder. Occasionally, I'll get a little wild and throw in a touch of jalepeno or bacon (come on, it's me we're talking about here). But the straight up stuff is really my fave.

Then I'm doing the Colonial Times Apple-Cranberry Pie with Cornmeal Crust from Bon Apetit again. It was a big hit at Thanksgiving, and I had a special request. My pie crust skills are pretty shaky. But this one came out pretty well. And it really was a gorgeous pie. It's a bit of a challenge. But it's worth the extra effort. Big bang to buck ratio as far as time and nerve investment. (If you decide to check out the recipe over at Bon Apetit, I followed one of the comments that recommended cutting the sugar in half. It was plenty, and really allowed the apples and cranberries to shine. I also added a health dash of ginger to the filling. I love the way cranberry and ginger play together.)

Now for the biggie - homemade wheat bread. It's usually my Waterloo. Fruit breads, I can do well. But real bread breads get me every time. I've made more than one inedible mess. And this one has yeast. Yeast, people! Scary business. But I'm using Mark Bittman's Fast No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread from the New York Times. I trust Bittman. He's very no-fuss. Damn close to lazy. And I say that with all due respect. And this recipe looks like a lazy baker's dream. Guilty. I'm going to gird my loins and enter the field of battle. If you smell smoke, it could be me.