A Bit of Baking

This weekend I managed a bit of baking. Baking is one of those things I enjoy because I'm not required to do it all the time. In fact since the move I haven't had a chance to bake anything. But this weekend I decided on a crustless apple crumble cheater's pie from The Pie and Pastry Bible -- the source of all my pie recipes. I started with four huge granny smith apples, which I sliced to 1/2 inch thickness just as the recipe specified. I should have known this was a mistake. I normally slice thinner and was kind of surprised at how thick these slices came out.

The result is that the pie ended up a bit underdone, with the apples too crunchy and the liquid not caramelized enough. Still it was edible and we definitely ate it. I wasn't responsible for taking the pie out of the oven because I was with my little girl at the library (getting her first library card), so I can't take all the blame. Next time I will either slice thinner or bake longer.

Ah, who'm I kidding? Next time I'll make a real, no cheating pie with a double crust. The crust is the best part of a pie and I make a great all-butter crust.

This weekend was also our first trip to the local farmer's market. Amazing. It's so wonderful to live in a place that has lots of local agriculture. More sustainable too. I'm used to New Mexico and Colorado, areas where local growing is limited. New Mexico, in particular, is suffering from a major long-term drought that's making even modern living seem unsustainable. Colorado has plenty of beef, but the primarily agricultural area is West of the Rockies.

We got local honey and kale to go with our hens for dinner, but made a mental list of all kinds of stuff we want for next week (wonderful apples and strawberries, lovely cauliflower, free-range chicken, local goat cheese).

My latest scherenschnitt is bugging the hell out of me. It's just small and annoying and tedious. I'm not feeling the love and am trying to decide whether to push through or put it aside and start something else.