One of the principles in our company is to learn new things and teach others - so we are always trying to make ourselves smarter while making our customers smarter in the process. We are a small group - only 9 of us. While we were unsure why, we were each asked about something we wanted to learn more about. I had chosen cooking/baking - others chose everything from US history, psychology, business, and Renaissance art. The president of our company bought us each a book on that topic and we were asked to read about it and come to the next meeting with an overview of what we learned so we could all learn something as well.I chose to learn more about making puff pastries. It seemed a daunting task due to the technique and time it took to make it (hours), but the journey was enjoyable. I started by talking to Jimmy - who walked me through the entire process and encouraged me to give it a try. I watched youtube videos, and studied the recipes. While the ingredients were pretty simple, it was the process of making it that was so fun and interesting. The first picture is the dough with 1 lbs of pliable butter in between (yep, 1 lb of butter). The second picture is the folding process to create the multiple layers of butter and dough that turn your pastry into a flaky masterpiece. The trick is keeping the butter cold, so you have to keep putting it in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes (which is why it takes so long). After stuffing it with sweet treats, I eagerly waited to see how they would turn out. The last picture is the final output. They were delicious and everyone at work loved them. So much fun and I look forward to the next brunch I attend so I can make some more.
