Cooking and baking are very satisfying,

I find.

Last week I made a lovely Swedish almond cake for a meeting at work. The second pic shows a piece on a plate on my desk. You can just see the mess.

Next up, something very healthy: tuna + butter beans (my new favorites) + spinach + asparagus + red onion + tomatoes. Here it is in stages:

Today I made two loaves of the white whole wheat bread. Slightly different sizes, you'll note, because the pans were different. Anyway: one loaf to eat, one to freeze. 

Finally, tonight's dinner: spinach salad with dried cherries, feta, and pecans; orzo salad with sautéed onions, dates, spinach and parmesan; and a very nice pumpkin soup. I used the Mayo Clinic recipe, so, yes, very healthy, though I cooked the onions in olive oil. Also, I added some curry to cut any sweetness.

Many pleasing dishes

Even effortlessness requires effort. That I'm fine with. Fussiness, however, I don't care for. Same goes for food. Thus:

White bean and tuna salad with spinach, etc.

Gnocchetti with asparagus, etc. No, I didn't make the gnocchetti, but it's nice to think so.

Simple spinach salad with sautéed haricot verts and red peppers.

More of the favorite bread. This time without sesame seeds.

And finally the famous NY Times chocolate chip cookies. The two distinctive features, as you may know: bread flour + cake flour and the overnight resting of the dough. A little salt on top helps too.

And then for a just-right combination of effort and effortlessness, some magnolia blossoms, just out.

Three things, each more simple

First, last night's dinner: whole wheat gemelli with tuna, asparagus, arugula, dates, feta & almonds. Very quick. A pot for the pasta and one for everything else.

Then, today for Little Lunch (meaning, there'll be another---very much like First and Second Breakfasts), a very simple tomato and feta salad (thank you, Barefoot Contessa) and a half sandwich (toasted oatmeal bread with hummus).

Finally, a snack that needs a better, more cheerful name: Protein Bites. Oats + peanut butter + honey + coconut + wheat germ (or flax seeds) + chocolate chips + vanilla. Mix. Wait. Form the bites and freeze them... which is why the two in the second pic seem a little lonesome: I had already frozen the rest for later snacking emergencies when I remembered to snap a photo. 

Sometimes I wonder if such "dishes" truly constitute "cooking," but, sigh, who can worry about such things? Real ingredients = real cooking, that's what I think. Simple is fine.