Winter album complete

A few final photos have completed my winter album on my Picasa site.

It seems to have been a quiet winter in the kitchen, in terms of capturing it in photos, but I've found myself cooking quite a few recipes for a second time and it is just a lack of novelty that has stopped me reaching for the camera. My usual approach is to cook a recipe once and then find the next interesting one to move onto, and I'm not sure what has prompted this change, but I really have learnt a lot from repeating recipes and comparing notes to my first attempts - doughs that were dry and crumbly were perfect the second time around, sauces that were perfectly tangy the first time were too vinegary second time around... I'm learning to apply better cooking techniques and to adjust to my taste, and the ingredients on hand, rather than slavishly follow a recipe.

My biggest lessons right now are coming from making my own bread. I've had my first total disaster - an un-salvageable loaf that had to be binned - and am nervously watching the latest loaf, which looks beautiful, fresh out of the oven, for any signs of collapse (a sign of under cooking) as it cools. A friend gave me some sour dough starter and the taste of my long fermented sour dough breads is lovely. I've also wanted to perfect the art of kneading and, although my attempts don't yet result in the bubblegum elasticity of the perfectly prepared doughs pictured in my cookbooks, the baked loaves have been highly successful! More to come when I upload those photos...

But for now, if you have an interest in eggnog, persimmon ice cream, baklava, apricot and pistacio tart, watercress soup or parsley relish then read on here.