Sometimes I just out-clever myself. For instance. I'm still making minor adjustments in the kitchen to make our pantry more whole-grain friendly. I've frozen some whole-wheat pita breads to have ready for lunches, and I bought cereal and seeded wheat crackers. I figured I'd dump 5 pounds of whole-wheat flour in a canister within reaching distance on the counter and see what happened.

Stuff happened. When making scaloppine, I dredged the slices in whole-wheat flour instead of white. A little more flour went into gravy for a roast chicken. Then I began experimenting with cookies and cupcakes. Easy moves, and that's what it takes to begin new habits.

Beware, however. Flour is a building block in baked goods, and you should not swap the white and whole-wheat flours, one to one. Take cookies, for instance. The cooks at the King Arthur Flour company suggest you try substituting whole wheat flour for one-third of the all-purpose flour in your recipe. If you like the result and want to venture further down this road, go for it. Cookies made with whole-wheat flour tend to be denser, harder and drier. As for cakes, well, it depends.

I found an Orange Cornmeal Cake recipe that calls for olive oil and wine. It tastes very Spanish and is delicious. Make it either way, with all white flour, all whole wheat or a combination.

While dumping the flour into the canister, I noticed a recipe for whole wheat bread on the wrapper. It makes a dark, dense loaf just right for morning toast. When the loaf was halfway gone and a couple of days old, I sliced it down, soaked it in a milk-egg mixture and fried up some French toast.

Both recipes are good for the solo diner's repertoire. Easy, tasty, just enough for one over a day or two, but good enough to share.

ORANGE CORNMEAL CAKE

For an even crunchier topping, use coarse brown sugar in place of granulated sugar when you sprinkle sugar over the batter. Pick up a few packets of brown sugar from the coffee shop. Serve plain as a snacking cake, as a breakfast cake or for dessert with sections of Clementine or oranges or tangerine. The combination of wine and olive oil produces a subtle, fruity taste.

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for pan
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 1 cup sugar, plus 1/3 cup for top- ping
  
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (or orange juice)
  
• 1 1/4 cups white or whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
  
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan or springform pan with oil; line bottom with a round of wax or parchment paper, and brush paper with oil.

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, 1 cup sugar and wine until smooth. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and orange zest until well-combined. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and whisk gently until just mixed.

Pour batter into prepared pan; sprinkle top evenly with remaining 1/3 cup sugar (topping will be thick). If using coarse sugar, use only 2 tablespoons for "sparkle."

Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool in pan 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake; invert cake gently onto a plate, and remove parchment paper. Reinvert cake onto a rack to cool completely. Keeps well at room temperature. Makes 8 to 10 sliver servings.

CLASSIC 100 PERCENT WHOLE-WHEAT BREAD

This loaf is dense and fragrant. It is an adaptation of the recipe on the back of the bag of King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour, which is available at Whole Foods Market. I use molasses just because I like a dark loaf that is not too sweet. As soon as the bread has cooled to lukewarm, cut off the heel slice, pile on chunks of cold butter and add a swizzle of honey. Oh, my, but that is good.

• 1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast)
  
• 1/2 cup warm water
  
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  
• 1 cup milk, warm
  
• 1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
  
• 1/4 cup honey, molasses or maple syrup
  
• 3 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
  
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a small dish and sprinkle the sugar over the surface. Set aside. In a glass measure, combine the milk, olive oil and honey, molasses or maple syrup. Set aside. When the yeast is foamy, add it to the milk mixture.

Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to mix. With the motor running, add the milk mixture to the flour. A dough will form and become a ball.

Transfer the dough to an oiled surface, oil your hands and knead it for about 6 to 8 minutes or until it begins to become smooth and supple.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise until puffy, though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 60 minutes, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

Punch down the dough and shape it into a log. Set the dough in a lightly greased 8 1/2 -by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for about an hour or until it's crowned about 1 inch above the edge of the pan.

Bake the bread in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 40 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a wire rack before slicing. Makes one loaf.