Pain au Chocolat

My first attempt at a croissant-type dough.  Found the recipe online at a French baking site, and my first batch of dough turned out tough---easy to tell even after it was blended in the mixer.  I think I put in too much flour, though I added what the recipe recommended.  Tried a second time, putting in less flour and the dough was way more manageable.

Many folds later, one cup of softened butter later, multiple rollings of the rolling pin and voila....they turned out very nicely.  Yeah, buying puff pastry would've been easier, but this was much more satisfying.  Thankful the recipe only makes a dozen.  One cup of butter divided up 12 ways is still a lot of buttery goodness.

And actually, trying a new pastry/cake/bread recipe from time to time is a goal for 2014.  Would like to make it a regular thing---like every week, but that might make it more of a demand sort of
thing rather than a pleasure.

Goals for the third of January

To try once again to get into Emily P. Freeman's book called A Million Little Ways---Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live.  For the life of me, I can't get into this book.  I even went to Amazon and Good Reads to see reviews to see if anyone else had posted anything that even smacks of a tiny bit of a doubtfulness. The answer's no.  And when I ordered it, I was so excited.  Got the book, read into it and it fell flat.  Anyway, am setting myself a goal of a chapter a day, thinking that surely I'm missing something.  Anything.  Maybe it's not my style.  I just don't know.

And am making Pain Au Chocolat tomorrow.  That yummy French Croissant-style bread with chocolate in the middle. I wanted to find a detailed recipe the other day and one site said to get a croissant, slice it open and spread it with Nutella.  Are you kidding me?  Not even.  And I found a recipe that calls for you to take four days to make it.  No.  Finally found one that takes a total of 3-4 hours.  That sounds perfect.

Thinking I want a goal of making something during the year as a routine.  I'm thinking bread.  Of all the things I make in the kitchen, bread's my favorite.  Maybe one thing a week.  Maybe not, but as I said, it's a goal.

New things to think about.  I'm liking that.