Making a butter block, or skills I never thought I'd need

I've never taken a baking or cooking class. I learned to bake from my parents primarily and the occasional show on the Food Network. Both my parents are exceptional bakers; my dad makes the best apple pie and pecan pie I've ever eaten. The apple pie is so good that recently he was asked to make them for people he doesn't even know (it's a long story). I'm always really excited when I go over to their house and there's pie. My dad gets me. He's also the banana bread maker in the family. It's a gift. My mom taught me everything I know about cakes and cookies. She used to make elaborate character cakes for birthdays when we were younger. I had a Holly Hobby cake that she still talks about. She also taught me the fine art of making snowball cookies, a family favorite for Christmas.

The more complicated and/or random confections I've made over the years have been on my own - the Italian orange cake that takes three days to make, homemade poptarts, learning how to make marshmallows and marshmallow fluff, tomato soup cake. The solitary nature of baking appeals to my more introverted nature. It's also precise and requires a level of concentration that I find satisfying. I never considered myself much of a science person until I started baking as a hobby. Being a home baker is the closest thing to being a mad scientist I will ever get to be.

There are some baked items that I have not tried on my own, mostly because I find them intimidating and the perfectionist in me hates to have any sort of baking failure. I don't make a lot of breads. I've never made macarons despite really wanting to try. I've also never made croissants. Three days to bake a cake - easy! Having to make pastry dough or temperamental meringue cookies freaks me out just a bit. So I did what anyone would do; I signed up for a croissant making class. I've already achieved one of my goals for 2018. It's very satisfying.

As I've never a baking class before, I didn't know what to expect from the experience. Who else takes a croissant making class? Would I completely mess up my group's batch? The class was made up a couple, a group of four (grandmother, granddaughter, mom, and an aunt I believe), a few friends taking the class together, and a few other singletons like me (that's what our chef called us). It was a nice range ages, mostly women (there were two guys), and many of us were experiencing our first class. The chef, Chef Penny, spent time in France before opening her own bakery here in the DC area. She eventually sold the bakery and has been working as one of the in-house chefs at Sur La Table for two years. She's also got a cool project in the works; opening a commercial kitchen to help foster women-run baking businesses. She is an excellent instructor. She explained everything clearly and is awesome at demoing techniques. She also shared tips and what works for her with making croissants. I took a lot of notes.

My group consisted of a couple and another woman, probably a little younger than me (I'm terrible at guessing age). The couple took a class previously, although not a baking class. They were very nice to work with and I didn't mess up our batch of dough. I got to do the initial rolling for our batch. Rolling out dough is one of those things I do pretty sparingly. Most of what I make regularly doesn't require rolling out dough so my technique is not awesome. My baking group was very encouraging, which helped a lot. Practicing today and watching Chef Penny helped a lot. I feel more confident in my rolling abilities after only four hours.

Since I bake alone, I'm not used to stopping and giving other people a chance to try something so I did have to think a bit more about what I was doing and whether I was giving my group equal time. We worked well together and took turns rolling out the dough, measuring, and rolling up our little croissants. We focused on classic croissants first, learning how to cut the triangles (there are specific measurements that help keep the croissants uniform so they bake evenly) and roll the dough into the classic shape. I added French ham and Gruyere cheese to one of mine; it was delicious. After getting the classic croissants ready to proof, we moved onto a recipe for morning buns. Morning buns are, to quote Chef Penny, what would happen if a croissant and a cinnamon roll had a baby. Basically, you fill a 18x11 rectangle of dough with cinnamon and sugar, roll it up tight, and slice into equal pieces. Each piece is placed in a muffin tin and baked until the sugar gets all crystallized and delicious.

While we waited for our croissants and buns to proof and then bake, Chef Penny took us through how to make the dough, how to create a butter block, how to do a French lock-in for the butter, and how to turn our dough (three times). The dough we worked with initially was made in advance since it needed to sit overnight. We each got to take a baby dough home with us and it's with this dough that we practiced locking in butter and folding create the layers (turning). Creating a butter block is exactly what it sounds like; it's a block of butter, shaped into an 8 inch square that is eventually folded into the dough three times. The French word for butter block is beurrage, but butter block makes me laugh so I don't think I'll ever use beurrage.

The turns are what give the croissant its layers and flakiness. The technique we learned today involved three turns, two letter folds and one book fold. We folded the butter block into the first letter fold, refrigerated for an hour and then completed a book fold while everything finished baking. I did the third fold, another letter fold, when I got home. While not "easy," like making chocolate chip cookies, once I knew the techniques, I didn't feel intimidated by them. It's rolling dough to a specific measurement (reminder: invest in a ruler for my kitchen), folding it in a specific way, and waiting to do the process all over again. Croissants are not quick and that's what makes them even more delicious.

And delicious they were. We got to sample our work and it was amazing if I do say so myself. I tried a classic croissant while still in class. It was flaky and messy as it should be. Croissants should be messy; that's how you know it's good. Chef Penny and her kitchen assistants also made the scraps from our batches into monkey bread. I sampled some of that too; it was delicious.

This is a photo of one of my croissants; the inside should look like a honeycomb (which it does) and the outside is dark, indicating that it caramelized. A darker bake is better, it's more flavorful and frankly, prettier. Those were just a few fun facts about croissants I learned today.

Tomorrow, I'll make my baby dough batch of croissants. I'll roll them out and cut and roll them as I learned today (they should look like the Eiffel Tower as you roll them into the crescent shape). Next, I'll do the entire process myself. Taking this class was one part of a larger learning experience. I have to take my new skills and practice them. I have to mess up a few times (I'm sure I will) before I get a passable croissant. I'm totally onboard for this challenge.

So, I promise between now and March I will make at least one batch croissants from start to finish. I'll invest in some European butter (preferred because of its higher fat content), get a kitchen ruler, dust off my kitchen scale (not required but recommended), and get rolling.

And because I couldn't help myself, I also bought a Madeleine pan today. If the Transporter can have one, why can't I?

Coming in February: Stuff I Love returns! There's an appropriately themed Lazy Movie Weekend, we'll talk crafting and wine drinking, and a few little surprises for the month of February. Check it out!

There's no end to this quest, just another chapter

This time last year I was contemplating what 2013 would bring and hoping that this year would be a good one. I was also thinking about personal growth and how I would tackle my 34th year on this planet. I settled on being the leading lady of my own life. Eventually, I selected a few key ways I thought I could quantify this quest. Throughout the year, I've chronicled my progress on these items along with my musings on movies, music, and how we're all doing everything wrong. As the year draws to a close, I can honestly say that I feel less like the best friend and more in charge of my leading lady life. I did a lot of what I set out to do: try new things, bring new people into my life and spend time with those already there, be more adventurous in fashion, and travel somewhere I've always wanted to go. My year looked something like this:

• I wrote a novel in a month (November). Now I know that I can write a novel and now I can go back and edit this one and start on the next idea (which will not be written in a month and will require heavy research and maybe a visit or two to Detroit).
• Traveled to Paris (alone) for a birthday champagne toast at the summit of the Eiffel Tower. I did other things too but seriously this was pretty cool and definitely a highlight of my year. 
• Designed and created my first Lego purse. I had so much fun with this and will return to the world of Lego purse creation in 2014. I have several that I'm designing right now and hopefully will have them done by the end of January. Who knows where this will lead?
• Became an information desk volunteer at the National of Women in the Arts. You should come visit. 
• Wrote 66 Island posts this year (including this one). 
• Made some new friends, joined an album club, and went out more than I probably have since college. That's pretty good for an introvert like me.
• Shopped my closet, found a pair of boots I love, and added skirts and dresses into the rotation so I don't wear jeans every day of my life.
• Read 50 books this year. The national average is 4. And I took November off.
• Convinced several senior leaders to participate in a contest where one of them would have to dress as Santa and another as an elf. For the children (for charity). Shocked when most of them came through and it was a successful event overall. 
• Gave a short presentation on this blog at a work event that was very well received. This was the highlight of my professional accomplishments this year.

That's a lot of stuff. What's been most revelatory for me is that I focused on what I wanted to do and accomplish and not so much on what others might expect or want me to do. That's a change for me; I'm a natural counselor in the sense that I'm usually most concerned for others and what they're doing and how their actions impact their lives. And how I can help. That's why I was so good at being the best friend. What I discovered this year is that you can be both the leading lady of your own life while still being the best friend in others' lives. You don't have to sacrifice one to be the other. Like everything in life, it's about balance, focusing on what you want, and telling people the truth.

People often lament leaving a certain time in their lives. I read a lot of articles this year in which the author discussed his/her desire to relive their twenties and I can honestly say I don't want to go back. I'm more confident and interesting in my thirties and I'll probably be even more awesome in my forties and fifties and beyond. It has taken me 34 years to be good with the person that I am and this year has been particularly helpful in that journey. I am not perfect and I don't have to be. It's not easy to say that but it's true. Leading ladies aren't perfect - that's just something the movies has made us believe.

The quest doesn't end because the calendar does. I just move to the next chapter. A new year is all about possibilities. I don't have to have it figured out to know that it's going to be a great year and I'm going to do some amazing things. I just know. And knowing is half the battle (as G.I. Joe tells us). 

Thanks for visiting the Island in 2013. I hope that you'll come back in 2014. Lots of good things are coming your way: my love letter to Treme and New Orleans, a post about waffles, some more Lazy Movie Weekends, we'll make it to the 200th post, and I'll make my annual attempt to answer Pumpkin's questions on Answer Your Cat's Questions Day. It's going to be an exciting 2014 here on the Island!

Happy New Year from the Island! 

Make smart life choices - have a DD or take a taxi if you're out partying like it's 1999.

Paris, Je t'aime

There is a moment in the film Paris, Je T'Aime when Carol (the amazing Margo Martindale) discusses the moment she fell in love with Paris. It goes a little something like this:

Sitting there, alone in a foreign country, far from my job and everyone I know, a feeling came over me. It was like remembering something I'd never known before or had always been waiting for, but I didn't know what. Maybe it was something I'd forgotten or something I've been missing all my life. All I can say is that I felt, at the same time, joy and sadness. But not too much sadness, because I felt alive. Yes, alive. That was the moment I fell in love with Paris. And I felt Paris fall in love with me. 

I have never been to Paris but in my heart I know exactly what Carol means. I have been in love with Paris since I was a little girl (oh the cliche I know). I have no idea why I focused so specifically on Paris or even exactly when it happened but traveling to Paris is one of those life dreams/goals that has always been there. Maybe it started when we moved to Louisiana and I started taking French in school (the 4th grade y'all). Of course now my French is terrible (this is what happens when you don't practice).

In my mind Paris is magical and wonderful. I envision twinkling lights, the Eiffel Tower, and smartly dressed Parisian couples walking arm in arm down the Champs Elysee. I will immediately be smarter, funnier, and more interesting the moment I land. Despite the fact that my French is terrible I will be able to order perfectly in every cafe. I will finally understand why people wear scarves unironically. I will master the art of the casual glance and wearing red lipstick without issue.

And so finally I am going to Paris. I've been saying that for years but it's finally happening. This June I will celebrate my 34th birthday in the City of Light. Well not my actual birthday - I'm going a week later. I don't know why it's taken me so long to go. I never imagined that I'd go to Rwanda before going to Paris but maybe that's the way that life is supposed to work. You end up going somewhere when you're supposed to go. Now that I've picked my dates, am about to book my flight, and am still deciding on where to stay, the planner in me has been unleashed. What to do while I'm in Paris?

Do I take a literary walking tour of the Left Bank, stopping to see Paul Verlaine's garret, the original Shakespeare & Company, and many of the haunts of Hemingway? Do I spend the day wandering Pere Lachaise visiting with Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, and Oscar Wilde? What about all the markets and cafes and cookware shopping? Did you know that I can go to store upon store and just buy cookware and cookbooks like Julia Child? What about the Eiffel Tower? Shouldn't I see it at sunset and during the day? Is it wrong that I have no desire to go to the Louvre although I know I should probably go? What about Chanel? Do they offer a tour of Paris according to Amelie? That would make my life so much easier. Decisions are the worst.

My other conundrum about this trip is what to wear. Obviously, I need a very comfortable pair of walking shoes and probably something other than jeans. Why can't I just dress like Gwyneth Paltrow in View from the Top? Because I'm not a flight attendant, can't wear hats, and look awkward in yellow. Comfort is important but so is style in the fashion capital of the world.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I have months to plan and ponder and muse about how to spend my Parisian days and what to wear while doing it. For now, I just want to channel Carol and her fanny-pack and her love of Paris. I want to imagine myself sitting in a lovely park enjoying a bright and sunny Paris afternoon. And feel the city fall in love with me as much as I have fallen in love with it.