We've just taken our 3rd try at home made croissants out of the oven.
The plain ones are our best effort in both appearance and taste. The
almond ones have actually been going downhill, especially in the way
they look.


We decided to go with Julia Child's recipe this time. We started with
the recipe posted here. Then I got out an old paperback of _The French
Chef Cookbook_ and realized that there were differences. It was hard
getting started as Jim and I were arguing. I wanted to choose a recipe
and follow it as closely as possible. Then, if we didn't like it, we
could change one variable at a time. His idea is to change everything
at once, but he doesn't put it in those terms. He insists that we are
following the recipe except that we're just changing ...


Anyway, trying to keep this about food and not my relationship, one big
difference between Child's recipe and the Baking Illustrated one is that
Child has you let the dough rise before rolling it out for the butter
square and the 1st turn. She says it makes for a better tasting dough,
and I agree. The slight bitterness from tries #1 and #2 is now gone.


We're still trying to figure out how much butter to use. This is one of
those things that will probably be a while before we get right. If you
use too much, you run the risk of incorporating the butter into the
dough when you want layers of flakiness. If you use too little, you
don't get that wonderful buttery taste. Trouble is, in addition to your
personal taste, how much is the right amount also depends on your skill
in rolling out the dough and making the turns. How much the dough rises
depends on how warm the kitchen is. How humid the day is affects the
stickiness of the dough. You have to get good at gauging everything by
look and feel.


The good news is that no matter how much you screw up, you're still
likely to end up with good tasting rolls. As long as you don't burn
them to a crisp, everything is edible.


The simplest way to make the almond croissants is with a simple tri-fold
shape, but the first time we made them, we experimented with a braid,
and they came out well. Then the 2nd time, Jim tried the braid (that
was the night I was zonked on antihistamines), and it all mooshed
together into one great tasting pan sized pastry. This time I was
making them again, but I must have lost my touch. They didn't moosh
together, but they don't have that pretty look about them either.


_The French Chef_ recipe is pretty interesting. She doesn't assume you
have a mixer and gives instructions on hand kneading. Since today was
our first time of trying our new one, we were incorporating a bit of
both recipes there. She doesn't assume you have parchment paper either.
Her instructions are to butter the pan.


Also, we're still using our original bag of King Arthur all-purpose
flour despite instructions to use Gold Medal or exactly the right
proportions of bread flour and cake flour. We'll stick with it until
it's time to buy more. As it is, flour doesn't cost much, but we can't
see having a cupboard full of 3 different kinds.


Oh, and I also picked so many raspberries today that I had to run them
through the blender, press through a sieve to remove the seeds, then
pour them into ice cube trays. We're laying in stores for the winter.


--Lia