Tuesday, December 4, 2018

A Baking Frenzy


I blame it on The Great British Baking Show. It's your fault, Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry.

You may know that I tend to become...uh-hem...obsessed about certain things. 

What am I obsessed with now? Baking.

I don't watch tv. I stopped watching tv casually in 2003. It's the best thing I ever did. It frees up huge amounts of time that I can spend doing things I love, like reading and writing and drawing. And, now, baking.

Instead of randomly turning on the set and flipping through channels, I periodically ask for suggestions for good tv, set the DVR, and watch a sample show. 

One of those suggestions was The Great British Baking Show. I watched one show and fell in love. I've watched all of Season 1 (American, as shown on our PBS), and I've just started Season 2. 


I've borrowed one of Mary Berry's cookbooks from the library and I've bought Paul Hollywood's book and a book from the show to keep.

And I'm baking. And baking. And baking.

Here's some of what I've been baking lately.


We have picked up thousands of pecans this year, so I just had to try the Maximum Pecan Pie I read about in the Houston Chronicle just before Thanksgiving. Even the crust has pecans in it.

I also made a Tart Lemon Pie from the New York Times at Thanksgiving. The crust came out a little wonky; I couldn't find any beans to allow me to successfully blind bake the crust. I won't do that again. In any case, it tasted better than it looked.



I used Mary Berry's Quick Puff Pastry dough to make up some savory pastries with ham (leftover from Thanksgiving) and cheese fillings, post-Thanksgiving.




Today I whipped up some tiny quiches and small empanadas for my niece's baby shower. I've made quiches and empanadas since I was a young married person. It's so tricky for me to work with these buttery doughs in our Texas heat.


 

I've always been obsessed with biscuits and rolls and bread. My mom made amazing dinner rolls and my Grandma Ashley made fabulous biscuits. I loved this recipe for flaky biscuits that I discovered at the beginning of this year. And I will always be indebted to Emma Cazabonne of Words and Peace, who I met in person at BookExpo in Chicago, for the bread recipe she gave me.


Are you a baker? 
What kinds of baking do you like best?
What are baking cookbooks you like?




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24 comments:

  1. I love to bake desserts but don't do it very much anymore because we don't eat much of them. I would end up giving them away or throwing them away.

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    Replies
    1. We don't eat many desserts here either. But I have extended family and friends who love them.

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  2. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the British Baking Show and have watched all the seasons, including the new ones without Mary and the two female hosts. But it has not got me baking :-) Your baked goods look fabulous!

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    1. I hadn't heard about the new seasons with Mary. I must look for those.

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  3. It is a great show. You have managed very well, wonderful creations. Love Pecan nuts. Do you have them in your garden? Here in Sweden they are rather extensive. I don’t bake much, prefer cooking. Wish I could do more though.

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    1. We picked up pounds and pounds of pecans this year. It was a good pecan year.

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  4. Mmm. Those look so good. I'm going to have to try the maximum pecan pie. (And I copied the link to the recipe.)

    One year I got a big bag of pecans from my aunt's tree (she lived near Dallas). They were so good. Only one year, though, she had five kids of her own, not to mention my 30 other cousins... They made the best pecan pie ever. But then to add a pecan crust! Why didn't I think of that?

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  5. So yummy things! I like pecanuts, but I think, they don't grow here with us in Germany (never seen a tree)...
    I've often baked different kinds of bread in the past, but since I must glutenfree living, I've stopped that, it's not a fun with glutenfree flour and was never successful, sigh! And the flour is very expensive, 10ones more than wheat flour. Cannot buy it always for not-delicious things.
    Enjoy Advent season

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    1. I feel so sad for you. I would be devastated if I could no longer eat gluten.

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  6. Must admit I am a fan myself, we have about 5 of her cookbooks and use them to make some of her recipies. Favorite is the Malteaser cake which I have shown on here aa couple of times. But just to add a bit to my post read this blog post of mine and see if you recognse someone at the end. https://forgottenfairmile.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-great-hall.html
    Bake off is no longer shown with Mary Berry in it any more more is our loss but she is does still do cookery programs now and then.

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    Replies
    1. After I get finished with all the episodes of TGBBS, I will look for more of Mary Berry.

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  7. Replies
    1. Next year I must arrange to do a Twelve Days of Christmas baking event, I think.

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  8. Some fancy baking you got going on here. Looks delicious!!

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  9. I have always hated watching TV and somehow got engaged to the most wonderful man who is a TV FANATIC and knows EVERY line of Seinfeld by rote!
    Anyway...I am utimately watching a little more TV than I would like, and he is watching a little less TV than he would like...but...we are making it work!!

    PS...Your Pecan Pie looks to DIE for!!

    Thanks for sharing!!

    - Lisa

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  10. I'm not a baker but baked goods are my weakness! So probably good thing I'm not a baker. Ha. Your treats all look so yummy!

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  11. I love baking! I've gotten better over the years, but it takes awhile to find an adequate vegan substitute for certain things. My husband and I recently started watching The Great British Baking Show and we really enjoy it! I like that everyone is willing to help the other contestants even though it's a competition. They don't want anyone to fail, but they do want to win. It's wonderful! They also make some really creative and interesting things. Your pecan dish looks delicious, and I love how you've placed the top layer!

    I recently read Love a la Mode, and it's about teenagers in a culinary baking school is Paris! The author mentions Paul Hollywood and a few others throughout the book, and it sounds like something you might be interested in reading. There are a lot of food descriptions that I really liked!

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?

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  12. Your baking accomplishments are truly impressive.

    We are committed fans of GBBS -- binge watched the most recent season when it became available on American TV. Even without Mary Berry it had a lot to offer, though I think I like some of the more classic seasons better, especially the one where Nadia won the top honors. (I guess that being British I mean honoUrs.)

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  13. All of this looks amazing. Makes me want to find out where you live so I can "drop by"! :--)

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  14. I'll have to give the show another chance. Somehow I wasn't in the mood for it when I watched it.. Looks like a lot of good baking

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  15. Giving up casual tv is a good idea. I spend too much time watching in wonder CNN and Fox - generally in the morning here which is mid afternoon there. Cheers from Carole's Chatter

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