January 6th - Three Kings Day

Being the good "Ex-Presbyterian-Now-A-Methodist" gal that I am, I am aware that January 6 is Three Kings Day or the Eucharist or the Twelfth Day of Christmas. For those of you who have blocked all those agonizingly boring Sundays of your childhood, see more info on it here for an equally agonizingly boring way-too-much information Wikipedia entry on the subject. But seriously, it is a day that has always been on my radar but not something I officially celebrated unless it fell on a Sunday. Just keeping it real.

[Blog Disclaimer #3: Absolutely nothing on this blog is intended to offend anyone. It's all in good fun. If something seems offensive please know that it was not intentional.]

I thought we should have name tags like we did way back on January 4. Remember Chad? Who could forget him. But I wanted to be Melchior and bedlam ensued. So we just settled for celebrating. (And special thanks go out to Burger King for supplying the rocking crowns!)

Is it just me or do I look like I'm trying to take a hit off of that thing? The timer on the camera took way longer than I remember. We almost passed out. Oh, the sacrifices we make for schtick.

It was only the sixth day into the new year but this journey has already had an amazing effect on my day-to-day outlook and activities. While I was reading about Kings Day I ran across some information on King's Cake. I had heard of this Mardi Gras bread that's baked with a choking-hazard-size baby Jesus inside. (FYI: I always wondered about baking a plastic figure in the bread. Apparently you push it into the bottom of the loaf after you bake it. Duh. That makes way more sense.) It's a year of celebration and whenever possible cake should be involved, so I vowed to make a King's Cake.

This may not seem like a big deal to all you bakers out there but this is a huge deal for me. This cake involves yeast. Yeast! Yeast breads are something I buy in the grocery store or the bakery. I have never, ever used yeast in my life. Not only that, but I have a legitimate yeast phobia. Maybe not legitimate, but it scares me. It grows, you have to punch it, it grows more, it's all very odd.

But here it is in progress! It was touch and go at many points. Was the yeast dissolved enough, was it fizzing enough, why isn't it rising, is it rising, has it risen enough...you get the idea. It rose, I punched it (which was oddly satisfying), I rolled it, it rose again and what to my wondering eyes should appear...

What?! It's gorgeous and here's the kicker - it is beyond delicious! The recipe made two of these rings and the first one didn't last a day.  You can find the recipe HERE. This is a true "if I can do it, you can do it" thing. I'm already looking for my next bread recipe.

It was also National Cuddle Up Day which should have resulted in lots of nice, cuddly pictures but we were cuddled up with the cake. Yum.