Yesterday evening, I proposed to my husband that we begin a tradition of making a special New Year's Eve dinner like others across the world. We do not care for the traditional black eyed peas and ham with greens (eew...greens!), and at first we wanted to come up with a new dish we've never cooked (like prime rib). After pondering, we decided to stick to something we know well: lasagna. Kevin makes killer homemade spaghetti meat sauce and combine that with the goodness of lasagna and you've got heaven. I offered to make a baguette of French bread from Mark's cookbook to accompany dinner. How perfect!
Well, not so much. While I'm savoring the aroma of Kevin's sauce simmering on the burner, I also am resisting the urge of using my baguettes of bread as baseball bats. I followed the steps in the recipe, but this time the magic didn't work for me. My bread looks beautiful, but the crust could chip a tooth and the insides are still doughy. I can't get them any hotter than five degrees below what he suggested. I'm wondering if the temperature is off, something I've always wondered about our oven. I also used a pizza stone as was suggested, but next time (yes, I'm going to try it again...later) I'll use a lightly oiled cookie sheet instead.
So, while it wasn't great this time (and for a minute it took me nearly everything in my mind not to smash it on the ground in a temper fit, haha!) I know this is how cooks learn. As Ron Clark says, learn from your mistakes and move on. I think tomorrow's pancakes will help me redeem myself :)
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