An embarrassment of goodies

Those who know me well, know that I love to bake. Well and good, but this passion--like all passions--is not without its Dark Side. Today, I've decided to address these culinary Darth Vaders in this blog (but not all at once)--a sort of caution that even in the happy world of sugar and flour, there are weevils waiting to strike.

Darth #1...Baking is a process--perhaps even an art--whose result is a tangible product. Unlike painting or dancing or music or even writing, the result of this art is also edible, and is meant for consumption. My parents brought me up to believe that the missing 11th Commandment--an oversight on Moses' part--is "Thou shalt not waste food, leave food over on thy plate, nor dispose of any of thy leftovers in thy fridge."

So, what to do with the sundry cookies, cakes, pies, muffins, jams, breads etc.? Eating it all--which would be my first choice by a long shot--is impractical and unsightly, now that my formerly locust-like metabolism has slowed down to that of a hibernating hedgehog. Sharing with family and friends would seem to be an obvious solution, but with everyone around here "watching their weight," gifts of baked goods can be seen as undermining, not to mention cruel in a passive/aggressive sort of way.

Freezing is a wonderful option until your freezer is so full that it resembles a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, and finding anything in it requires the persistence of Columbo.

What's left? Daily bake sales? Mystery packages left at the neighbors' doors in the middle of the night? Fattening up the dog? Suggestions would be welcome.

The Somewhat Sad Tale of Monday's List

This has been the kind of week wherein you--meaning me--begin the week with a tidy little list, yet for every task you cross off the list, five more magically appear. (Which is partly me rationalising not having written anything all week.)

Started out each day with so many good intentions....but things got in the way. First, there's getting Roo (sweetest dog) her cookie & business walk & breakfast & water. Then picking the ripe tomatoes and cutting some roses and dahlias, and watering and then wanting to work out, but it's too gorgeous to be indoors, and besides, now Roo wants a real walk, so the workout plan begins to dissolve. And then you open the fridge for some milk, and realise the blueberries and raspberries from the farmer's market are not going to last another day, and what the h--l are you going to do with all that pear/apple/plum sauce? So you have to get online and search for recipes, which leads to email and......blah, blah, blah. The worst of it is that none of these things are on the list.

Today seemed really productive, but list-wise, it was a disaster. However, I did attempt to make my own sundried tomatoes and rose petals for who-knows-what. OK, that's my week in a nutshell. Maybe I'll get the filing and cleaning done over the weekend....

Practically Pear-fect

Much to report on the blogging front: I finally figured out how to send a picture from my cell phone to my computer. Oh, frabjous day! And I'm getting the hang of posting pics on this blog, which hopefully means no more photo filching off the web. (Unless my camera photos are crummy. G-d, now I have to learn how to improve my cell phone camera picture-taking technique. Is there no end to this learning curve?)

Back to food. As you can see on the right, I've posted a pic of my very own "1st Galette"-- pear, because at the moment I'm drowning in pears. Big success with friends, and very little left to nibble the next morning. The recipe was adapted from the following one I found on the the SELF magazine website:

Almond-Pear Galette

(Serves 8)

Pastry
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling and dusting
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
5 tbsp butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and frozen
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cultured buttermilk
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
Cream
1 large egg white
3 tbsp confectioners' sugar
3 tbsp finely ground almonds
2 tsp melted butter
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
Filling
3 firm, ripe pears, such as Anjou or Bartlett
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
3 sheets parchment paper
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp butter, cut into small bits
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Pastry: Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a food processor 30 seconds to combine. Add butter. Pulse until butter pieces are the size of peas. Add buttermilk and almond extract; pulse until dough just comes together. Form dough into a disk, dusting lightly with flour. Cover in plastic wrap or wax paper and refrigerate 1 hour.
Cream: Whisk egg white and confectioners' sugar in a bowl until frothy, about 1 minute. Add almonds, butter and almond extract. Whisk. Refrigerate.
Filling Peel and core pears, then cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick; toss in a bowl with lemon juice and zest.
Galette: Heat oven to 400°. Lightly dust a sheet of parchment paper with flour; place dough on top and lightly dust with flour; top with another sheet of parchment and roll out dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Peel off top layer of parchment. Invert dough onto a baking sheet lined with third sheet of parchment. Trim around edges of dough. Spread cream over dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange pear slices in concentric circles over cream. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Fold edges of dough over pears, crimping dough to enclose ends of pears. Evenly scatter bits of butter over top of filling. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until pears are tender and crust is golden. (Cover top with a sheet of foil if it begins to overbrown.) Remove; cover edges of tart with foil. Heat broiler. Glaze top of pears under broiler, about 6 inches from heat, 1 minute or until pears are golden brown. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer (on parchment) to rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

I didn't have buttermilk, so did the milk-and-lemon-juice trick. Didn't have parchment, either, so I used a super-thin silicone liner. (I bought a few of these at Cost Plus ages ago, and they don't carry them anymore. They were much cheaper than a Silpat, and very convenient, so if you know where to purchase them, please tell me.)

Wanted to tell you more about the pear jam and the gorgeous garden tomatoes. Next time.

Biscotti and Jam

Biscotti Recap: They turned out very dark and very crunchy. The chocolate flavor was intense though. Decided to punctuate the darkness with squiggles of white royal icing, and they looked much cheerier. Hard to love a sombre cookie. I followed the recipe to the letter (almost) which is completely out of character for me. It just doesn't feel right until I futz with it. Next time, maybe creaming the butter with the sugar instead of melting it will keep them a bit toothier. They'd be great with dried cherries, too.

Tonight I'm back to jam. Pear jam, that is. I've been jamming for 2 weeks now. Had to do it. There's so much fruit out in the alley, and no one was picking it up except for the deer. (The alley in question is behind my house, and used to be where the train tracks ran from the local dairy.) All sorts of goodies are back there--little yellow/pink plums that look like the famous mirabelle plums from Alsace; dark purple plums; apricots; 3 different varieties of apple; blackberries, of course; and the pears. Oh, and lemons and oranges, too. And it's all free for the picking. Another reason I think of this place as Disneyland/paradise.

My jam inspiration came by way of a wonderful food blog, "Chocolate and Zucchini," where I learned about Christine Ferber, French jam virtuoso. I have a very long way to go in the jam-making game, but as long as my mistakes are still edible, it will be a pleasant journey.

Baking in July

It's been pretty hot here lately--maybe it's my imagination, but the summers seem to be getting hotter every year. We've already had to use our cools-one-room-only air conditioner 4 or 5 times. Having grown up in New York where the phrase "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" was coined, I fully realize that this is no cause for complaint. However, I've lived in this Disneyland called Marin for more than 20 years, and have become spoiled by the practically perfect weather.

In any case, hot days are not ideal for baking. Since I've been on an extended baking high since last November--and have no intention of going cold turkey--I've had to adjust accordingly. That doesn't mean not baking, though. I do it late at night, (it's 10:00 PM right now and I have a batch of biscotti in the oven) or early in the morning, (much more difficult for a slugabed) or at the home of someone with central air conditioning. At this point, I know only one person with central air conditioning--cousin Eddie, and he lives 5 miles and 3 micro-climates from me. Which proves my point. If none of the homes have A/C, then how hot could it have been?

Back to the biscotti...all-chocolate is not a traditional biscotti. These are a gift for a cacao-crazy lady from Illinois (you know who you are). I've been experimenting with recipes and techniques, and still haven't hit on the ULTIMO. This batch is smelling pretty d--n good, though. Probably too late to sample or I'll never get to sleep.

In case anyone's interested, I found the recipe on another blog. Here's the URL: http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2005/12/biscotti-for-beginners-and-baking-with.html.

G'night.

BLOGGING FOR DUMMIES!

Dearest 2 or 3 people who will read this,
I've discovered food blogs (there are a zillion of them!) and have decided to add my 2¢ to the cacaphony. It will most likely be about food - duh - but will also contain brilliant witticisms and musings on all and sundry. Or not.