I seem to have discovered something that can be quite relaxing and a very nice change of pace from the rat race in which I find myself running every day. Baking is something I’ve always enjoyed, but recently, I’ve been really trying my hand at doing more than just pancakes and loaves of bread. While I’ve always tried to throw in the variety of a good yeast cinnamon roll from time to time, this past week has really been a fun one in the kitchen.

Since my wife has just had a baby, she has not been in much position to do the cooking, so I’ve taken the opportunity to pitch in and start baking some different things. The cinnamon muffins pictured at the head of this article kicked off the week, and we enjoyed them for breakfast through the week. I must say, though, that I believe the pinnacle of my week was the cheesecake I baked my wife for our anniversary.

As my first attempt at a completely scratch made cheesecake, I was quite pleased with the outcome. It was nice and smooth, and though the strawberry concoction was a bit on the sweet side for my taste, it still tasted nice when paired with the savory flavor of the cheesecake itself. I suppose, though, that my greatest reward for this endeavor was the fact that my wife loved it.

Last night, to round out my baking for the week, I tried my hand at making some homemade bagels.

While the shape of them didn’t exactly resemble your traditional bagel, they tasted pretty good. For those who may not be aware, one of the things that gives bagels their traditional heaviness and chewy texture is the fact they are boiled before they are baked. Each bagel was boiled for about 60 seconds before being baked for 35 minutes and achieving the coveted “golden brown”.

I’m sure I’ll never start selling bakery items or even have a side business, but I have thoroughly enjoyed playing around in the kitchen this week, and it’s given me an excuse to take some more pictures, too!