On the 8th day of Christmas I cooked.
I finally made the pavlova I was going to make for Christmas Day. It turned out okay. It was a bit more sticky and did weep a bit and was not as crunchy as I prefer but I blame the humidity on that. Also, the cream (I cheated and bought already thickened cream) wasn’t quite as thick as I hoped, so combined with a weepy pav and slightly runny cream it was a big sticky mess, albeit a tasty sticky mess.
Today also was the first day of a new challenge I have set myself. Not only am I partaking in the Daily Image 2011 Challenge started by @sirexkat on Flickr I have decided to set myself a Weekly Cooking Challenge. This is something I have thought about doing for a while so why not start the new year on a good note. It is not as challenging as the Julie and Julia project completed by Julie Powell but a simpler idea to cook one thing every week from one of my many cook books, of which there are many (a selection below).
This challenge as 2 basic aims:
- To actually use the cook books I have;
- To try to rekindle my love of cooking, I used to love cooking (and I even have a degree in Home Economics) but in recent years it has seemed more of a chore than anything else.
Week 1 – January 1 2011 – Pavlova
So today’s effort, the aforementioned pavlova comes from The Australian Women’s Weekly’s The Complete Cook. I have always liked cook books from The Australian Women’s Weekly. I grew up with them, Mum has a rather large collection herself, and years ago (in my pre-Librarian days) my dream job was to work with in their test kitchen. A dream I never followed.
The pavlova recipe
My Pavlova
Good luck to all who have started new challenges for 2011 or set New Years resolutions. May we all be strong enough to keep them.
Librarian in the Mirror 