Obsession

Hot cross buns,
Hot cross buns,
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns

That was my favorite nursery rhyme from childhood, no shit. Apparently I was a carboholic even then, back when carbs were called 'starchy foods'.

This year I decided I wanted to make hot cross buns for the holiday. I've done some baking -- heck, I've even been paid to bake -- but I've never tackled the HCB. It didn't seem that complicated, and it probably wouldn't have been if I could just once get through a set of instructions as written, without trying to improve the process. Because I know so much more than the PROFESSIONAL BAKERS WHO WROTE THE RECIPE.

The first batch tasted all right, but then again, anything glazed with honey butter is pretty much incapable of sucking. Unfortunately, they resembled not so much hot cross buns as hot cross discs. Oh, and I was too lazy to make the icing for the crosses, so they were just hot discs. And after half an hour they weren't even hot. Just discs.

Since I am nothing if not stubborn, the second batch using my new and improved recipe is already in the works.

How far am I willing to go? How many discs am I willing to eat because I can't bear to throw them away? Well, in the words of Michael Scott, "This is a dream I've had since lunch. I'm not giving up on it now!"