In with a roar, out with a babka

BREAKFAST: 7am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: noon, veggie patty sub on whole wheat, small quantity of chips, diet coke, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stopped in at Subway on the way to the supermarket -- didn't want to food shop hungry. I used to eat at Subway a lot when I tried to be vegan -- the veggie patty they have is vegan, but none of their breads are -- all contain a small amount of non-fat dry milk or egg product. Still, I ordered it without cheese. Funny to have a food sensory memory from my early/mid 20s, not my childhood.

PM SNACK: 2-5pm, chocolate babka filling, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Oy. Made a large quantity of this in the process of making 5 medium babka loaves. Take 2 1/4 pounds of good quality dark chocolate, chop it into chunks then plop it into a food processor to make mealy pebbles. Add 3/4 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of cinnamon and a stick and half of butter and pulse until you have a loose, dry sandy mixture. Intoxicating.

And the dough, oh boy. I never made a sweet yeast dough before. The yeast was activated in warm milk, and sugar and eggs were added to the liquid before meeting the flour. And once met, it was kneaded into 2 sticks of butter! Wowzers! Had to rise for 90 minutes, then get assembled, then another 30 minute rise, than about an hour and 15 of baking. All told, about 4.5 hours of labor. While waiting, I made hummus, maitre d'hotel butter from heavy cream, a big salad and got a slab of salmon curing (salt, brown sugar, dill, kirschwasser) for tomorrow's New Year's Day brunch...

PM SNACK: 6pm, green salad, large slice of hot-out-of-the-oven babka, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had salad in advance of dinner, then when the babka came out of the oven, I just had to cut one in hald, and once I did that, I just had to cut a piece off to taste, and once I did that, I had to cut another piece because the first was so good.

DINNER: 7:15pm, pork dumplings, shrimp lomein, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
And there goes 2009....

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, a few spoonfuls of ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Not my idea, but when B spoonfeeds me, I can not say no.