Friday, June 26, 2009

baking



You may or may have been wondering about the goings on in my kitchen. I feel like I generally blog about baking once or twice a week, but for a variety of reasons, it just hasn't happened lately.

I feel like I've hit a bit of a low point in baking. And this surprises me. I hit low points in my other hobbies all the time. I get tired of scrapbooking, or don't like the way things are coming out, and when that happens I crack out my sewing machine and ride the sewing wave for a while. Or the opposite will happen. Sewing will be driving me mad and scrapbooking will be my hobby of choice. But this doesn't really happen with baking.

Although I do think of baking as one my creative outlets, its also become a reliable resource for food around here. I love having a constant stream of bread that I can rely on for all kinds of things: sandwiches, french toast, croutons, breadcrumbs, snacks, etc. etc.

So, anyway, I have been baking (I knew you were dying to know) but there has been a lot that has flopped. Bread that didn't bake in the middle. Pound Cake that ended up more like Baked Bricks (bleck). Berry bread that was tasty, but looked messy and weird.

There's also the funny dilemma of photographing the goods. I often feel like my baking photography begins to look the same. And I like it to look creative and yummy and interesting.

So, what better way to pull out of a baking low point than by trying something new? I am making Indian food for dinner tonight and thought I'd try to make some naan, the traditional Indian flatbread.

I thought it turned out well! Pretty and light. Though turning on the oven to 450 on a day like today turned out to be a bad idea. We are now heading out to the playground hoping the sprinklers are on full blast.

Have a great weekend!


2 comments:

Loralee said...

Looks so yummy! An alternative to the oven would be the stovetop--you heat it up pretty high, but I cook my naan in my cast iron pan. Quick and no need to deal with the oven.

I got passion for baking, by the way. I really, really like it! I love the variations it offers from standard fare.

Your photography ALWAYS looks good and inspiring. I don't think your baking pictures ever get stale--my mouth always waters and makes me head into my own kitchen!

Mama V said...

Hard core! I love this about you, Robyn! When I found out last year that you continue baking throughout the summer (in a small apartment with no central a/c and few windows no less) I KNEW you had a real passion for baking. And that meal sounds like it was completely worth it. Yum!

I'm with Loralee. At least from a guest's perspective, I never find your baking pictures boring.