Fahrenheit 210: The Temperature at which Bread Bakes.

Oh, you people. I've been all Suzy Homemaker for a few days with my urgent plea sitting there, and nothing.

No, really, it's fine. I'm not hurt.

I did, however, attempt to bake some crusty bread, which ended up a little heavy in the crust department and a little short in the baked-all-the-way-through department. No matter, it was a valiant first attempt. It LOOKED like good bread. Currently, I have a sourdough starter working its fermenting, gooey magic on the kitchen counter, so that today or tomorrow I might even start real bread with it. I even got a pizza stone so maybe this time the bread will bake properly. (Metal cookie sheet = no good in the bread world, evidently.)

It probably wouldn't hurt to have an insertable instant-read thermometer, either, or a kitchen that's warm enough for the bread to rise in something approximating the time indicated in the recipe. Maybe the latter is something else's fault, though, I have no idea.

The Thanksgiving menu is complete. I made a shopping list, which I will get into over the weekend. I'll make two pies, one apple and one pumpkin, although they will be hippie pies and of questionable deliciousness. Mom asked me to just get a regular pumpkin pie from the store for my brother, whom she said will eat the whole thing. Good god.

Rounding out the meal, we'll have halibut and an Unturkey, at Kevin's request, in lieu of the traditional turkey, homemade cranberry-orange sauce, aromatic vegetables, barley and wild rice pilaf with pomegranate seeds, herbed smashed potatoes (this month's Cook's Illustrated), a mixed greens salad with sprouts, shredded beets and carrots, a homemade Green Goddess dressing (from Steven Raichlen's High Flavor, Low Fat Vegetarian Cooking), and marinated mushrooms (also Cook's), and bread, either homemade, storebought, or both, depending on what happens. We're going for healthy, delicious, and ridiculously vegan-friendly. (But never fear, Paul, you will find stuff to eat, plus I got you some fancy burger patties, a can of chili, and I always have boxes of mac and cheese!)

Clearly, I put far too much time, energy, and thought into this already, but I want it to be good.

Still hoping Margot will have Monday evening free to attend the Gossip/Jon Spencer Blues Explosion show with me. That would be rad. Speaking of rad, the Wilco show last weekend was great. Our seats were crappy, but the band sure wasn't.

Um, and I had another decent job interview, but you all know where good job interviews have left me thus far.