Perhaps I should classify this as Official Cooking Week on domesticat.net. It certainly seems to be what's occupying my waking time. Today, especially; I think I've finally conquered gingerbread. I tasted one of the gingerbread-humans I baked, and they're yummy. Dark, spicy, but soft.

Hard, crackly gingerbread belongs on trees, in my opinion.You can generally tell how serious someone is about cooking when they stop giving recipes with directions based on time and start giving recipes based on temperatures. With some of the recipes that I'm doing now, it's difficult to judge doneness by color or smell; temperature alone is the best way.

I hate trying to guess what stage sugar's in—thread, soft ball, soft crack, hard crack, etc. I'd rather trust my thermometer; it's more accurate than my eyes. When making candy, a thermometer's essential—and a guide like this doesn't hurt, either.