This past Monday morning, I was baking for a private dinner that evening. My plan was to make individual chocolate tarts for dessert and the dough (from a recipe I'd never tested, mistake #1) crumbled instead of rolling.
And then what happens when you don't deliver?
In my case, I tend to sling insults at myself and feel like a failure.
I mean, it was only tart dough, but I was cooking for a business group, so it had some import. Plus, I'm supposed to be a professional.
As I made the tart dough again from a professional formula I know and trust, I realized that I haven't exactly had a lot of pastry practice of late. And that, I've come to realize is most of what it takes when it comes to baking and cooking--and just about everything else we do in this life.
I once heard a radio interview with Portland chef Naomi Pomeroy who said, essentially, that what separates professionals from home cooks is that they get a lot more opportunities to practice. Training and experience aside, it's true.
This is why I am dedicating 2012 to practicing all my important things, like writing, yoga, running, parenting and pasta.
Yes, pasta. Fresh, homemade pasta in all its wondrous varieties is something I'd like to be able to do without looking at a book for a recipe or formula. I long to become like that Italian homemaker who simply scoops some flour onto the counter, cracks in a few eggs and eases it all into a dough that she rolls into translucent sheets.
All it will take is doing it more. So that the next time I make butternut squash ravioli, like I did over the holidays, there will be more pleasure and less strain.
This video is a good way to learn the process of making pasta from scratch if you're feeling rusty.
So, what skills do you want to practice well in 2012?
Pasta practice update: Last night I made a semolina pasta dough and then Molly, Cece and I all worked together to roll it out and cut fettucini for supper. It was better than playdoh because you really CAN eat it! And it was fun.
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