Weekend recap.

The long-rise, no-knead bread has a nice crust but a dense interior which is not to my liking. After reading Cook's Illustrated revision of the NY Times no-knead recipe, I think the dense interior could be rectified with a little kneading, a hotter baking method, more yeast, and a warmer rise cycle. I won't be revisiting this, because I abhor kneading (why else would I go for a no-knead recipe), don't have a Dutch oven suitable for the hotter baking method, and am unwilling to crank up the heat anywhere in my kitchen for a warmer rise.

I did not bake the gingerbread after all. Instead, I went for a modification of the gingerbread cookie recipe printed on the back of the molasses bottle. Instead of 1/4 tsp nutmeg, I used 1/2 tsp allspice, because I refuse to buy yet another bottle of rarely-used spice. Also, I used butter instead of margarine, because margarine is evil. I like the cookies and hope the stars stay fresh until C's birthday on Sunday. I don't know if other people will like the cookies. I used the dark molasses, which gives the cookies a Black Vine licorice flavor. I like Black Vines, but not everybody does. Also, the cookies must remain uniced. After spending the time to massage the dough into something more pliable, I didn't feel like making and applying a glaze.

In the non-baking department, I also made braised Chinese mustard greens. Mostly because I needed a vegetable and those were on sale.

My fridge is wonky and I don't know how to fix it. The main cabin is the correct temperature. However, all of the drawers are at or below freezing temperature. Cranking up the temperature using the little buttons causes everything to get warmer, so much so that the main cabin approaches an unsafe temperature. In the meantime, the drawers stay a good five degrees colder. Sigh.