Lesson 1 & 2: Sablés et Pate Brisée

I feel like I’ve been in school for a month, despite the fact that it’s only been a mere seven days. That’s always the case though, the beginning feels long and suddenly two seconds later it’s the end. My friend once sent me a birthday card that said the first twenty years of life are the longest, which made me incredibly sad because I had just turned nineteen and thus, only had one more year until everything would start moving ten speed. However, as much as I wish it wasn’t, that statement is so very true. I’ve already been here for over a month, school has started, and I’ve started to worry about final exams. I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but the thought of having to memorize recipes and execute them under time and pressure makes me nervous. Actually, just being in the kitchen with a short tempered chef makes me nervous (and stressed), so maybe I should think about getting over that before thinking about exams.

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June 20 2010 | france and le cordon bleu and paris and thoughts | 14 Comments »

Birthday Pies: Dorie’s Twofer Pie

It just so happened that one week after the Tiramisu Black Forest Cake, I got another birthday sweet request.  This time instead of cake I was asked to make mini pies.  The birthday boy was more of a pie person and the party was going to be held at a Wii game room, so it seemed smart to make everything easily accessible. To be honest, this was the first time that I made pie with a real crust.   Not that graham cracker/oreo crumble crust business, but the real deal with pâte brisée.  I’ve always been intimidated by pâte brisée that I think I avoided any and all recipes that called for a flaky pie crust.  However, instead of feeling fright, I was surprisingly happy to stand up to the challenge.  It was sort of refreshing not coming up with any more excuses.  ”Easy as pie,” people say, there must be some truth to that!

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January 31 2010 | dessert and pies and tarts and recipe and thoughts | 4 Comments »