I am learning everyday with my young daughters how to a better parent, homemaker and person. I believe in respectful, gentle parenting, being good to the earth, good to yourself, others and family and instilling good values in my child.
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Baking Blunder
There is an old saying "Anyone who can read can cook" and in part I do agree. I have rarely failed if I can take my time and follow directions. This is why I usually enjoy baking better than cooking, while cooking you can't really go slow. But with 2 little girls running around baking is rarely a leisurely activity these days.
A few nights ago I made soup for dinner and realized I had no bread so I thought I'd whip up some of Paula Deen's Biscuits. Nice and easy, no need to wait for it to rise.
During my baking a fight broke out, a common occurrence when you have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. I ran over to break it up and returned to my baking. I lost my mental place and skipped a simple step. I didn't realize it til the biscuits were done, flat and gross.
I added the baking powder, I just forgot to mix the dry ingredients before I added the wet to them. I have never done this before but can't believe what a crucial step it must be.
The biscuits were inedible. I've made them before, doing nothing different but not forgetting to mix and they were wonderful.
Lesson learned, but who knew that each step is so carefully written out, really makes such a huge difference.
This is how they are supposed to look, not like the hockey pucks I had. :)
Friday, June 24, 2011
Baking Vs. Cooking
Image via Wikipedia
I will right away admit I love baking. I do enjoy cooking a lot, but baking seems to be so much more relaxing and enjoyable. Kneading bread can be so peaceful. Watching cookies bake and the wonderful smell of fresh baked pie fills up my whole home.
With cooking there is a lot of multi-tasking, which I still have not mastered. Having everything taste good I can manage, but being hot and all ready at the same time is something I am still working on. That is not a problem with baking.
Many people say to me that they don't enjoy baking because its simply following a recipe. To that I say "not always." With cooking it can be very easy to change things up, which I almost always do (it is rare I will follow a recipe to a t), but baking is much harder to do so. But even with baking I often do, with very good results. After you get the hang of baking certain items you can try to experiment with different aspects of the recipe. Lots of my experimenting has come when I run out of an ingredient.
Last winter while making my favorite pumpkin cranberry bread I realized I am out of sugar. But I looked hard and found some brown sugar and said "sure why not?" Well I am never making this bread with white sugar again. I got so many complements on this bread, my mistake turned into a success.
While just earlier in the week I was making Blueberry Boy Bait Cake for a breakfast snack. I had everything mixed and put in the pan when I realized I never added the white sugar, just the brown. Since I was making a breakfast cake I didn't worry. I didn't want it to be too sweet any way. Well it came out fine, the perfect sweetness for breakfast or a snack.
I often experiment with adding different types of flour or grains to make something healthier. Adding some flaxseed meal or mixing in some whole wheat flour with the white. My husband is not a whole wheat fan, but with my blend he not once has noticed his white bread is a little brown.
Don't be afraid to experiment with your baking. You can check out several baking books and blend recipes together, or google healthy baking tips for ways to make your cakes and cookies a little healthier for you. But remember what you did and write it down! There is nothing worse then making an amazing cake and forgetting what you did to make it so yummy.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Thanksgiving Bake-A-Thon
Image via Wikipedia
This year I am making Pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie and a side spinach dish. As you can see we love pumpkin, and I personally love to eat with the seasons and what is more seasonal for autumn then pumpkin.
Liv loves our baking days. She loves to mix things. Just last week at a La Leche toddler group I go to she went over to a child's kitchen set, picked up a bowl and a spoon and started to "mix." I couldn't believe it, guess I need to get her a kitchen set sooner then later.
As a child my mom loved to bake and cook, but did not have the patients to teach me along with her cooking. I remember the smells and taste of her dishes, but I also remember getting shoed out of the kitchen when I even went in for something to drink.
Because of this I was never taught to cook or bake, but I have made a huge effort to teach myself. I can not remember who said "anyone who can read can cook" but this is a huge part of my learning since I love to check out cooking books from the library.
I still love the classic cookbook by better homes and gardens. This book is one of the few I own and I often use it as a resource to make up my own dishes from their's with simple modifications or to just read and cook right from the pages.
I also think working in restaurants has helped greatly. I always asked the cooks how they made things, and was very lucky to work with great cooks who loved to show me and tell me how they cooked.
This is a skill that it not often passed down anymore. Too many people have no idea how to cook and get most of their meals from a take-out menu.
Our weekly baking days is a great tradition for Liv and me. And its wonderful to start Liv to understand how to cook and where her food comes from.
Tommorow my kitchen will be covered with flour and sugar and so will my clothes (I need to get myself and apron) but it will also be filled with wonderful scents, laughter and great memories and spending time with my daughter.
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