AND NOW A BREAK....

As you all know, I'm moving to the Bay Area in less than a week. So I've been trying to use up everything in my pantry that's worth using up. Mainly, I've been making baked goods (and many of you have been recipients of a batch of cookies), but last week, I was reading Amanda Hesser's "Cooking For Mr. Latte" and she had the recipe for Hi Rise Bakery's Vanilla Pound loaf. Now, for those who aren't familiar with it, the Hi Rise Vanilla Pound Loaf is a local favorite, filled to the brim with vanilla. I had all the ingredients (minus some eggs and sugar), but I had the important stuff, a ton of vanilla beans, flour, and pounds of butter.

I wouldn't suggest that you make this recipe at home. It requires far too many vanilla beans and that's just way too expensive. But my mom, in a moment of genius, bought me about 3 dozen vanilla beans on her last trip to Bali. I haven't used any of them, just kept them stocked away in my fridge, so this was the perfect opportunity to use them.

So after tripling the recipe and a night spent baking, I came out with 15 mini loaves of bread. For those of you in Boston who haven't received one, don't worry, I've got one waiting for you. And the rest of you can comment on how they turned out.