CHAPTER 9

SAVORIES

MOST OFTEN, BAKING MEANS SWEETS—CAKES, COOKIES, PIES, PASTRIES—all the goodies we’ve visited thus far in these pages. But one of my very favorite categories of baking has very little to do with tapping into the sweet tooth, and entertaining savory cravings instead.

When cooler weather hits and saucy, one-pot meals are in regular rotation, savory side bakes are a savior, allowing you to skip yet another boring store-bought loaf of “artisan” bread that’s at least a day old. When you want to really make friends and influence people, nothing will do that better than making your own dang sandwich bread. When you’re invited to a holiday party and find out—horrors!—it’s a potluck, mere hours before you have to drag yourself out the door, bringing something freshly baked and savory instead of sweet is always welcome when the dessert buffet is bound to stretch ten times further than the dinner table (much like the chapters of this book).

And when you’ve had the kind of day where all you want for dinner is something bready and at least half a bottle of wine, it’s a grand excuse to warm up the house with a hot oven and spicy, salty, cheesy, herby scents.