Linda Collister

Some interesting recipes - I haven't tried any yet, just read through - though she has very firm opinions on how things ought to be. Fresh yeast ("well, I _suppose_ you can use active dry, if you insist"), stoneground flour, lots of citrus for flavor...I don't disagree with many of her points, but some of them seem to be making things difficult for the sake of being difficult. She also gives very detailed instructions on most of the breads - and then there's a couple (mostly shaping show more instructions, rather than full recipes, but still) where she just says "form it into a loaf and bake it", with none of the "form it into an 8 by 5 oval, slash it in this pattern, prick around the base, glaze with this" sort of detail most of the recipes have. Nonetheless, I see a lot of really good-sounding bread here, and none of it (well, OK, I skimmed over the layered pastries, with their multiple rolling-out and layering with butter) seem particularly difficult. I suspect I'll adopt at least a few of these as standard recipes. show less

And That's That. Sweet treats for the month are done.

I really enjoyed trying to bake in the same way a penguin tries to fly. See the sky, try to fly and then wonder why. But in all fairness, whenever my baking attempts would fail, I'd just watch an episode of GBBO or GCBS (New fan of the Canadian version) or even GABO (Aussies for the win) and watch chaos ensue in some episodes and then the showstoppers would come out of the oven and you know even though the judges would critique them - I show more knew I could NEVER...well, for now I could never make those show stoppers.

I think I'll limit my baking to a once a week little foray into sugar - for my sake and the sake of my poor oven constantly wondering "what the hell is burning" or, "hhhmm are you sure it's suppose to look like that" or "I think you took it out to soon" and so, here I am, at the end of a bake. Time to turn the telly on and watch Noel be adorable with a group of bakers.

Which season to watch? shall I watch Rahul's season...yes, yes I think I shall.

On your marks, get set .... baaaake! show less

I borrowed this book from a colleague, mainly to see if it was worth buying. Whilst there were a couple of good recipes, many were ones I already had in other cookery books so it wasn't worth the expenditure.

For someone new to baking however, this is a good introductory book and I actually think it is better laid-out than the previous GBBO book.

Since many of these recipes call for a food processor, my interest dimmed immediately and then there are the "adult" cookies: Oat cakes, Parmesan herb crisps, Whole wheat cookies, Pogaca (w/ red cgile flakes), Walnut cheddar shortbreads, Swedish pepper cookies, Honey almond squares (looking like granola bars), and Macadamia & white chocolate chile cookies. Nope definitely not for children.

All the recipes call for specific mixing of ingredients, except for the Classic chocolate chip cookies: show more "Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon". Really? I was always taught to cream my butter w/ the sugar first! Ans since when does Scottish shortbread contain rice flour/ground rice/cornstarch?

But I suppose since the book was only $3.99 @ T.J Maxx, then it might have been a good deal? Oh wait, never mind, I found it in the FOL book sale donations! show less