It's 9:41am, and I've made my first attempt at pastry.
I've never made it before, and I've never seen my mum make it either. Being of continental heritage, good ol' English pastry isn't something my family would cook, aside from puff pastry for strudel (which we would buy pre-made anyway). My hubby is an English village boy (secretly wishing he was Hugh Grant) so pastry has had a frequent appearance in his growing-up (and growing-out).
But, there is danger afoot...
The mother-in-law is a bad-ass cook. My mother-in-law was the person to introduce me to quiche, as she made a spectacular gluten and dairy-free quiche. I cower in her footsteps.
One of my bridesmaids gave me the advice before our wedding to never try and cook his favourite meal. Thankfully the beef wellington is far beyond me at this moment in time.
..................................................................
I cooked the quiche, but the middle didn't set properly, and I'm not really sure why. I'll have to try again (huzzah!).
At first I wasn't overly happy about the pastry and the shape in the dish, so after leaving it for a few hours, I decided to roll it out again. I'm glad I did, but I made the mistake of cutting it before cooking it. My husband doesn't seem to believe me that pastry shrinks, but this batch certainly did.
And baking beans are not pointless, I promise you.
Bread
Feeling rather unwell on Saturday, I decided to try and make gluten and lacto-fee bread as I was grossly disappointed by the bread-machine effort.
The chief problem was the lack of warm space to leave the dough to prove. I plugged in an oil heater, but realised I would either burn the house down, or achieve nothing and waste electricity.
Despondantly, I left the bowl of dough on the table, and went back to watching a marathon of Location, Location, Location (I was feeling unwell!!).
Having ignored the dough for two hours, I re-visited the bowl only to find it had risen, though not doubled. I then thought I may as well cook it, and see what happens.
I cooked it. I saw what happened:
All I will say is you really never know until you try.
I've learnt my biggest issue with baking (and cooking generally) is confidence. I now would even say I "love" baking, but only on my own. One of my real dreams is to be baking cakes with our children, if/when we are blessed with them. It's worth learning to bake just for that alone.
TODAY'S LESSON: Try.
..................................................................
I cooked the quiche, but the middle didn't set properly, and I'm not really sure why. I'll have to try again (huzzah!).
At first I wasn't overly happy about the pastry and the shape in the dish, so after leaving it for a few hours, I decided to roll it out again. I'm glad I did, but I made the mistake of cutting it before cooking it. My husband doesn't seem to believe me that pastry shrinks, but this batch certainly did.
And baking beans are not pointless, I promise you.
Bread
Feeling rather unwell on Saturday, I decided to try and make gluten and lacto-fee bread as I was grossly disappointed by the bread-machine effort.
The chief problem was the lack of warm space to leave the dough to prove. I plugged in an oil heater, but realised I would either burn the house down, or achieve nothing and waste electricity.
Despondantly, I left the bowl of dough on the table, and went back to watching a marathon of Location, Location, Location (I was feeling unwell!!).
Having ignored the dough for two hours, I re-visited the bowl only to find it had risen, though not doubled. I then thought I may as well cook it, and see what happens.
I cooked it. I saw what happened:
All I will say is you really never know until you try.
I've learnt my biggest issue with baking (and cooking generally) is confidence. I now would even say I "love" baking, but only on my own. One of my real dreams is to be baking cakes with our children, if/when we are blessed with them. It's worth learning to bake just for that alone.
TODAY'S LESSON: Try.
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