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DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. Indulging in The Great British Baking Show Holiday specials.

First up this week: Sweet … 
Physically and emotionally soothing (for me). It's The Great British Baking Show (or Bake Off)! Everybody is so nice! Except judge Paul Hollywood, who is purposefully cool while pretending to be a grinch. Those eyes! And Pru Leith's necklaces! and the hosts' silly antics! The bonding of the contestants as the weeks roll by! I do feel like amateur bakers could benefit from reading Samin Nosrat's Salt Fat Acid Heat, or watching the documentary, but that's a quibble. I just watched the last available holiday special. Sweet. Paul and Pru love sweets (so very British … although I think Pru's South African). Bingeworthy for DAH, for sure. 

Second up this week, Savory …
Except that Paul and Pru do too much sweet baking and not enough savory, for DAH. I do get excited in episodes that feature savory-filled baked goods. Especially around the holidays. Sausage roll wreaths! I need to see an episode with meat pies made with hot water pastry. I think I'm getting a bit geeky about it all. My father grew up in Melton Mowbray, famous for pork pie (really famous, in England). And we acquired a taste for Eccles cakes with Lancashire cheese, a sort of sweet-and-savory mashup. The best come from the St. John's Bakery in London, so a quick trip to London during the holidays seems called for. Perhaps in 2023. In the meantime, I'll hope for more savory challenge or two in the next season of The Great British Baking Show.

Third up this week, Soggy …
How to disappoint The Great British Baking Show's judge Paul Hollywood: Offer him a soggy bottom. A proper bake is important. Keeping the moisture out of the pastry is essential. Nobody wants a soggy bottom! Unless it's the Soggy Bottom Boys … "Is you is or is you ain't?" (great line). Paul Hollywood may not be old timey from Kentucky, but I can imagine him stepping out like Charles Durning for a quick dance step with the bearded, over-alled performers. Just remember, your bottoms must be properly cooked to hold in the moisture you plan (or don't). No soggy bottoms! Unless you're bona fide, I guess. Is you is or is you ain't?

A great graphic novel …
Days of Sand, written and illustrated by Aimée de Jongh
Just a triumph. "Achingly bittersweet …  De Jongh’s artwork is glorious, and the book is full of historical touchpoints and photos that tie the fictionalized story to real events." ―Forbes. Another way to understand the Dust Bowl. 
    
And a bit more:

Baked Goods
BY Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Flour on the floor makes my sandals 
slip and I tumble into your arms. 

Too hot to bake this morning but
blueberries begged me to fold them

into moist muffins. Sticks of rhubarb 
plotted a whole pie. The windows

are blown open and a thickfruit tang
sneaks through the wire screen

and into the home of the scowly lady
who lives next door. Yesterday, a man 

in the city was rescued from his apartment
which was filled with a thousand rats. 

Something about being angry because
his pet python refused to eat. He let the bloom 

of fur rise, rise over the little gnarly blue rug, 
over the coffee table, the kitchen countertops

and pip through each cabinet, snip
at the stumpy bags of sugar,

the cylinders of salt. Our kitchen is a riot
of pots, wooden spoons, melted butter. 

So be it. Maybe all this baking will quiet
the angry voices next door, if only

for a brief whiff. I want our summers

to always be like this—a kitchen wrecked
with love, a table overflowing with baked goods
warming the already warm air. After all the pots

are stacked, the goodies cooled, and all the counters
wiped clean—let us never be rescued from this mess. 


And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's Sometimes ...

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.