13 November 2005
A picture of the jam tarts I made a while back. I was unusually productive yesterday, but it's so dark that I can't take any photos. Instead, a few words on food.
I added some links on the side to various food blogs. I still feel I'm an outsider watching the foodie bloggers, mostly because I've only recently discovered the community, but also because I'm an amateur in the field of cooking. Er, well -- baking. My mom's always been an enthusiastic baker but a reluctant cook, and I'm following in her footsteps. I do enjoy putting together a nice dish, but I find starters and main courses much less inspiring that a good dessert.
I grew up baking with my mom; I'd gather and mix the ingredients and would then usually wander off to play, leaving my mom to see the cookies/brownies/etc through to the finished product. Sometimes it seems like I've gone from not being able to hold AND scrape out a bowl of batter to suddenly being able to eyeball ingredients and make substitutions on a whim. I'm not sure it's actually happened like this; I'm just glad to finally have an ounce of coordination.
Yesterday, I bought Dough by Richard Bertinet. I've seen the book here and there, and was won over simply by the picture on the cover. Bread falls into the realm of baking, and I'm very excited to properly try my hand at a few recipes (I've made bread before, but just his directions for working the dough make me think I'm in for much better results with this book.). In fact, I spent much of last night thinking about bread making -- I even dreamed I was following the steps he outlined.
Perhaps some fellow Londonites could point me towards some good kitchen/cook/baking shops. I know of Gill Wing, which I quite like, but it'd be nice to have something slightly larger and perhaps cheaper. I've found a couple places through the internets, but they all seem to be in west London and are websiteless -- like I'm going to trek all the way across the city without knowing what the store looks like! I currently need to buy icing bags and tips for piping, a baking stone, a nice stainless steel bowl or two, some pearlescent sugar. . . and a bigger kitchen.
Try 'Pages' - 121 Shaftesbury Avenue, just off Cambridge Circus. Not expensive, semi-trade. Best cookshop in most of London, honest. No website as far as I know; perhaps you could explain about electricity if you go there. They are big and have EVERYTHING. Mmm, everything...
posted by Mermaid King at November 13, 2005 03:55 PM