Today was our last real baking lab. Why don't I sound up set... It has been an alright class. It would have been better if I had been assigned to a better teacher. Hopefully next semester will be better. We made plain crescent rolls, chocolate filled pastries, and stuffed crescent rolls with out croissant dough we made two weeks ago. We were suppose to use ham and cheese to fill them but, since I don't eat ham, I used pear, onion, Gruyere cheese, and cream cheese. They turned out very puff as you can see. But I had a tiny corner and they were quite tasty.
I didn't try to the chocolate one or the regular crescent roll since I'm doing the Body-for-Life program. Only been a week so far but I'm hoping that if I exercise and eat like I'm suppose to I'll start seeing results soon :D Anyway, back to baking. I bought the stuffed crescents so I could actually eat one on my free day tomorrow and to share with my mom and Hunter.
We also made a quiche out of pie dough that we made and froze a good 5 weeks ago. I filled mine with thyme, basil, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and cheddar cheese. It needed to be turned half way through but oh well, it was my first quiche and we were ready to get out of there.
I am so ready to start cooking for Thanksgiving! My mom asked me if I wanted to make everything and I said yes of course. I warned her that it was going to be all vegetarian but she said that was fine. I've been looking at several of the blogs I follow and Vegweb for ideas and I think I know what I'm going to be making. No more class till after Thanksgiving but, sadly, I do have work Monday, Tuesday, and probably Wednesday. I'll post more about the "feast" closer to time. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Get your Christmas shopping done now ~.^
Oh and here's a recent picture of my baby Joanna! She even struck a pose for me. She is so cute and getting so big! She just seems to be having trouble shedding for some reason, so I've been giving her baths. They are very good and fast swimmers!
We have been working on puff pasty for the last couple of weeks in my baking class. For those of you who have made it before from scratch you know how long it takes to make that dough...It's ridiculous. But I still might attempt to make a vegan version for Christmas eve or maybe even Thanksgiving. We made puff pastry and croissant dough last Friday and today we finished up the puff by making it into a Napoleon, a Fruit Band, and Voul Au Vent. They were easy to make once all of the dough was ready. The fruit band just took a very long time in the oven. While it looked beautiful before and after baking, I would much rather have had some brie and apricots in puff pastry instead of the extremely sweet apricot and frangipane filled pastry topped with apricot glaze. Way too much.
The week before we also made a mushroom and shallot filling for our voul au vents. They were cute and easy to make as well but I could only stomach one. I think it was due to the butter in the puff. It was like eating very rich Ritz crackers. So yes, I was a very bad veg and tasted my work. I hope that if I veganize the pastry it won't be so rich. Even before I became vegan I did not like butter and now that I'm not use to eating it, it's even worse. I did not take any pictures of the Napoleon partially because I forgot and also because I was not that happy with how it turned out. I didn't try this one either because it was nothing but puff, pastry cream, and chocolate glaze. Yeck, no thank you
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Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! Hunter and I went up to Chapel Hill to the Eccentrik Festival in our Steampunk outfits. It was a lot of fun and the bands were great, especially Unwoman. I encourage everyone to check her out, she has an amazing voice and rocks the electric cello. When I talked to her after her performance she said she had been playing for 20 years! Amazing. I have always wanted to learn a stringed instrument.
I had wanted to make more goodies this Halloween but I ran out of time and people to eat them! So I just made 1/2 a dozen Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting. I started with have cake, will travel's recipe and tweaked it a bit due to not having all the ingredients. They turned out really well and Hunter obviously liked them because he ate almost all of them. :) Don't you just love those lucky people who can eat like that and not gain a pound?!
I'm going to be in charge of Thanksgiving this year and it will be vegan! I might make 2 main courses if there is an absolute need for meat but I am not going to make 50 different side dishes. I hate how Thanksgiving has turned into a stuff-your-face-till-you-can't-move holiday. So I am making a simple, healthy dinner for my mom and brother this year. I've been looking up recipes and can't wait to cook for everyone! :)
I didn't try to the chocolate one or the regular crescent roll since I'm doing the Body-for-Life program. Only been a week so far but I'm hoping that if I exercise and eat like I'm suppose to I'll start seeing results soon :D Anyway, back to baking. I bought the stuffed crescents so I could actually eat one on my free day tomorrow and to share with my mom and Hunter. 
We also made a quiche out of pie dough that we made and froze a good 5 weeks ago. I filled mine with thyme, basil, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and cheddar cheese. It needed to be turned half way through but oh well, it was my first quiche and we were ready to get out of there.
I am so ready to start cooking for Thanksgiving! My mom asked me if I wanted to make everything and I said yes of course. I warned her that it was going to be all vegetarian but she said that was fine. I've been looking at several of the blogs I follow and Vegweb for ideas and I think I know what I'm going to be making. No more class till after Thanksgiving but, sadly, I do have work Monday, Tuesday, and probably Wednesday. I'll post more about the "feast" closer to time. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Get your Christmas shopping done now ~.^
