A Kitchen Disaster

I would really, really, like to do.....something. I'm quite at a loss for words. Mom asked Judy and I to make a batch of bread so we could give some of our beautiful loaves to their swimming teachers. After cooking supper, I taught Judy how to do so. The loaves were beautiful before they went in the oven. About halfway through the baking process, the power flickered. Just long enough to turn the oven off whilst my bread was baking. I didn't think about it, ( I was thinking of my bed!) and I went to check it and I proceeded to open the oven. Horror of horrors, the bread was flat, and was only half cooked because the oven had turned off fifteen minutes ago! ( I hadn't opened the oven until then because that messes up the loaves ability to rise properly) It had continued to rise in the oven. So much so that bread dough was on the bottom of the oven. Ugh! The kitchen smells smoky and burnt, and the bread is...well...there is no right way to describe it. Jeanette delicately described it as flat bread.

I'm going to go take it out of the oven. There is really nothing that can describe what I feel towards those six loaves of bread right now. (Can you become bitter over bread?)
I'm now going to go to bed and I'm thinking of Julie and Peter's visit. A much more encouraging topic to sleep on. And no, I don't think I'll be posting any pictures.:)

French cooking terms

AU-BLEU.-Fish dressed in such a manner as to have a bluish appearance.

BOUILLI._ Beef or other meat boiled; but, generally speaking, boiled beef is understood by the term.

CROQUETTE.-Ball of fried rice or potatoes.

DESOSSER.-To bone, or take out the bones from poultry, game, or fish. This is an operation requiring considerable experience.

FONCER.-To put in the bottom of a saucepan slices of ham, veal, or thin broad slices of bacon.

GALETTE.-A broad thin cake.

MAIGRE.-Broth, soup, or gravy, made without meat.

RISSOLES.-Pastry, made of light puff-paste, and cut into various forms, and fried. They made be filled with fish, meat, or sweets.

SAUCE PIQUANTE.-A sharp sauce, in which somewhat of a vinegar flavour predominates.

I found all of these most interesting terms in the book "Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management." It was written in the Victorian era, and has information on everything from the dairy-maid and her duties, to remedies for thin hair.
Now, I'm curious, how many of these terms has my dear Jeanette heard of before?

The Making of 6 Cherry Pies

So, we made our pie crusts and we baked 6 cherry pies to take to the Home School Legislative Day at the Capitol tomorrow. I had much help from Jed, Jeff and Judy with the crust, and thankfully, as you will see, Janessa put most of the pies together. Had I done them all, it probably would have turned out quite sad.


Jed has developed quite an interest in cooking. Here he is using my new food processor to make the pie dough. I think he's going to be a great cook. I just got him his first cookbook....I'm looking forward to cooking more with him!


Here Judy is putting ingredients into the processor. Not sure why she's smiling....probably because she didn't want me to take her picture.



And here is Jeffrey.....he was having entirely too much fun pushing the buttons.

Today I attempted to put the pies together. I say attempted, because although the crusts were flakey, well, you can see here that perhaps Jeanette needs to brush up on her pastry skills. It's obviously been a little too long......


Yes, you're seeing this correctly. I think the pastry was a bit too dry so it didn't stick together when it started baking which resulted in the eruption of Mt. Cherry Pie. Good thing I put the baking sheet under them........(Jeanette smiles sheepishly.)



At the end of the day, it was clear who the prize-winner really was. These are Janessa's pies. As usual, she has a much better feel for pastries, and in this case (well, generally in most cases), far more patience than me!


And that ends our story of the Making of 6 Cherry Pies.

Hungry for Homemade Bread??

Jeffrey and I made twelve loaves of bread yesterday! We purchased a new grain grinder, and have already put it to good use. They turned out nicely. I think I've been out of practice as some of them weren't as "pretty" as my previous ones. Most people wouldn't care as they taste pretty good. But girls are always looking for beautiful things, eh? Jeffrey thought the entire experience was quite fascinating. Someday I'll let him do the bread by himself. Now that should be interesting.

Bread is the king of the table and all else is merely the court that surrounds the king. The countries are the soup, the meat, the vegetables, the salad, but bread is king.”
Louis Bromfield, American novelist (1896-1956)