A little direction..

When I was a kid, my parents had a sign shop next to a Dunkin' Donuts. As a very small girl, I enjoyed donuts - blueberry cake to be exact. Mr Carlton, a janitor at my elementary school, could never say no when I asked for a share of his morning breakfast. Thus, I became hooked on the blueberry cake donuts.

A few years later my sweet tooth became a little more numb, and I began to explore the other offerings of Dunkin'. From twists to bagels, to donut holes and boston creme, I became a pastry connoisseur. Eventually, I landed on a permanent favorite: Croissants.

There is something about a Croissant, cut in half, and toasted, that is the most delectable pastry you could ever dream of. Add a little egg and cheese and you have the perfect meal.

So this weekend, I had a few extra hours and plenty of flour, so I attempted my first batch of croissants.

The recipe I used was useless to say the least. "Mix the yeast with some water." Some water? "Add the next 5 ingredients" All at once? Slowly? Mix together first, then add?

This recipe was nothing like the bread recipes I am used to, and given my love for croissants I wanted to give it my best! I needed a little more direction..

But, I decided to follow some of the basics I know of - "some water" really meant about 1 cup at 110 degrees. The yeast water needs to stand for 10 minutes until creamy. The next 5 dry ingredients should be mixed in a bowl first, then added slowly to the yeast water, etc. etc.

Eventually, I got to a real debacle: "Roll the chilled butter flat, to about 1/2" thickness." Roll... cold... butter? Do these people realize how solid cool butter is?

I improvised, and eventually got a slightly melted layer of butter onto the dough. Later, I looked for even more guidance and learned to chill butter means this:

"Add 2 tablespoons of flour to 1 cup of butter. Beat until blended. Refrigerate overnight."

Needless to say, I am overly grateful that I purchased this semi-useless cookbook on the bargain shelf. But I think I will use the pretty pictures of tasty foods as decorations, not bona-fide recipes.