As most of my readers are aware, I recently made the decision to return to my home country of Canada to live.  As you can imagine, this was not easy amidst a World Pandemic!!  Only I would make a decision like that at a time like this! haha

•  1 loaf of whole wheat bread
• some kind of butter spread (I am watching my cholesterol so Benecol with olive oil was my choice)
• 1 small jar of peanut butter (a great source of protein)
• A box of breakfast cereal (I like cheerios)
• Eggs
• Milk
  
• A carton of Orange juice
• A carton of Prune juice (don't ask, lol)
• A package of luncheon meat
• Dijon mustard
• Salad stuff (mixed greens, cucumber, tomatoes, spring onions)
• A packet of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Fresh vegetables (not a huge amount, some broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
• Baby new potatoes
• A bottle of good salad dressing (my choice was blue cheese, but pick your favourite one)
• a small block of good cheddar
• dried figs
  
• a few apples
• a few pears
• Vanilla pudding pots, or yogurt
• Plain pretzels to snack on 
• Plain sparkling water 

My sister very kindly asked me ahead of time were there any treats that I missed from home that I might enjoy when I got here.  Of course there were!  She picked me up some of my favourite Coffee Crisp Bars, a package of Crunchy Doritos, a bag of Dill Pickle Chips (yumm!!), some Bran Muffins,Diet Coke and she threw in a few surprises, including some ordinary plain bottled water.  Plus I had a lovely bouquet of flowers waiting my arrival. She even had the fire turned on. 

One thing I did not think of, and you might want to consider is Salt and Pepper.  DUH!  Such a simple thing. 

You won't be having any herbs in your room/flat and if you are going to cook anything at all a little bit of seasoning would go down well. Of course it is not practical to have a whole assortment of seasonings and spices. 

Last night my sister brought me over some salt and pepper and a slice of leftover pizza for breakfast. BONUS!! (Isn't she sweet!) 

So, don't forget some seasoning!

If you are really lucky you will be in an area that has good takeaway/delivery meals. I am not in one of those aareas,  so I will very much have to rely on my own abilities to provide for myself. 

My daughter did drop me off one of my favourite Sour Cream Doughnuts on her way back from Tim Hortons yesterday which was a real treat! 

A few things you will want to bear in mind: 

1. You will not have top cooking tools/knives/eating utensils/pots/pans. Prepare for bare bones cookery.

2. You will need to be somewhat inventive with what you cook and eat. 

3. This is not forever. Its only for two weeks.

4. Keep it simple.

With all of that I managed to cook myself a fairly delectable main meal yesterday, which I will be sharing with you next time. In the meantime, here is a photograph of just what you can do with a minimum of ingredients and equipment. 

Do take note that cooking in quarantine from a hotel room will be vastly different from cooking in quarantine from home.  This is a completely different experience, but can be just as delicious!

See you tomorrow with the recipe from above! 

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again! 

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I have had a long and hard think about this in recent weeks, and I have to say that I have decided unequivocally that my favorite pie is Lemon Meringue.  This was not an easy decision for me to come to because . . .  well . . .  I love pie.  

IF its in a crust I am all over it . . . sweet, savory and in-between! Lemon is absolutely my favorite however. Classic Lemon Meringue Pie.  No if's ands or in-betweens! 

So what is it about Lemon Meringue Pie that gives it that edge, albeit a tiny one, above all the other pies? What is it about Lemon Meringue Pie that I love so much.

Even more than Chocolate or Butterscotch. Coconut Cream. Banana Cream.  Not even Apple Pie comes close to my love for Lemon Meringue.

 That quivering, mouth puckering and yet sweet, almost translucent filling. It is almost like a jelly, but more unctuous and richer . . . like a golden jewel.  

When we were children, my mother used to keep out some of the filling without the crust, and add a big of milk to it for my brother.  It was thought that pastry was hard for small children to digest.  It looked delicious that way but  . . .

 

Then there is the pastry.  What is a pie without pastry?  I favor my recipe for Butter Lard pastry.  It is crisp and flaky.  

Yes, it does make two crusts, but you can always freeze one disc of pastry for future use.  Wrapped up tightly it will keep for several months.  Simply bring to room temperature when you want to use it and roll out as desired.

 

Lets talk about meringue.  I was awfully tempted to add an extra egg white to mine the other day so that it would be piled gloriously on top of the pie, but I did not.  

If you have your egg whites at room temperature they will whip up with more volume than if they are cold, so always bring them to room temperature first!

 

You want to beat your egg whites stiff, but still moist before you start adding the sugar.  Add the sugar slowly, beating them constantly until you have a thick, stiff, glossy billowing mixture. 

You should be able to hold a perfectly whipped bowl of egg whites upside down over your head without fear of it pouring out.  I have never been brave enough to put that to the test. How about you? 

 

And, oh . . .  I know the temptation is oh so great to want to cut into it almost right away. Do chill it for at least two hours and preferably overnight in the refrigerator if you can resist it that long.  It is really worth the wait. 

Another tip, let it come fully to room temperature before chilling it.  That way the meringue shouldn't shrink back from the edges or weep. 

Those little beads that often form on top of the meringue . . . mom always said that was vitamins. That was her answer to everything bless her.

You will get lovely straight edged, shimmering wedges of pie.  Use a sharp knife and dip it into hot water with each cup and the meringue won't stick to the knife and tear. 

You will get perfect slices. Trust me on this.

Thi sandwich I am sharing with you today is not a supper dish for the faint of heart. It is loaded with fat and calories.  Every once in a blue moon, however,  it's nice to treat yourself to something special like a Croque Madame.  

  

Fingers scratching across a chalk board has to be about the worst sound on earth. It makes me cringe just thinking about it.  

Not all apples are create equally. There are apples which are really good for eating out of hand, or dessert apples as they are called over here.  Some good examples of those would be Fuji Gala or Honey Crisp. You can also eat Granny Smith's if you are fond of apples that are a bit more on the tart side. 

 

 A short crust type of pastry works best in this recipe. I favour my Butter Lard pastry. It makes just the right amount for this recipe and works very well for either savoury or sweet bakes. 

It has a really beautiful texture. 

  

The peeled and cored apples get rolled in some lemon juice before rolling the in cinnamon sugar.  The lemon juice helps to preserve their colour and the cinnamon sugar gives them flavour!  

They also get stuffed with a mixture of brown sugar and butter for even more flavour. 

 

You place the coated apples onto squares of the pastry and stuff them with the brown sugar and butter. I sometimes will cut the squares out with a fluted cutter for added interest. It makes them prettier. 

The four corners are them brought up to cover the apples in their entirety. Make sure you crimp the edges tightly together to seal them completely. 

 

These delicious dumplings have to be just about my most favourite thing on earth. If it's in pastry then I am all over it. I always find one of these very difficult to resist. What is your impossible to resist dessert?  

 I will be honest here and admit that twenty years ago when I first moved over here to the UK, I had never had a croissant. Oh, I had had Pillsbury Crescent Rolls to be sure, but never a freaking awesome buttery flaky French Croissant.

I first experienced them when I was working at the Manor in Kent, and then I tasted an actual French one on the ferry across to France.  I had gone over with my friend Julie and she said that one thing that we needed to do on the boat was have a coffee and a croissant.

 I nixed the coffee (as I don't drink coffee) but I did take her suggestion on the croissant. I ordered an almond one because I love almonds. I died and went to heaven. 

If there is one thing that the French really know how to do it is bread, pastries and croissants. I am no suprised that they all go for Continental breakfasts. If I had that on tap every day I would too!

 I have never made my own however.  I thought though that one of the last things I would like to make, while I still have beautiful butter and flour available to me, was to make my own croissants from scratch.  Why not! 

Why not indeed!  I went searching for a recipe. I looked first at the book Baking with Julia. This award winning book (and indeed chef) was known to be one of the world's best bakers. The recipe was very convulated and required the use of fresh compressed yeast.

Scratch that. I have never known where to buy fresh yeast here in the UK, although I am certain that it is available. I kept searching for a recipe. 

Next I tried Dorie Greenspan. I have several of her books. No recipe for croissants in any of those, which was quite surprising as she used to be Julia Child's right hand assistant once upon a time, and actually wrote Baking with Julia.

 Finally I decided to try David Leibovitz.  He lives in France and is known to be a great baker. I found this recipe for whole wheat croissants.  I didn't have any whole wheat flour however. 

I decided to wing it and just use a mix of white bread and all purpose flours.  I had nothing to lose. I went for it. 

There is actually not anything all that difficult to making croissants.  They do require a lot of time and effort, but really they are not hard at all.

I broke my time up into three areas which made them all the easier to do. It was not as daunting that way.  The first day I made the dough which was simple enough. 

 The second day I laminated the dough by adding butter. You roll the dough out into a diamond shape, with four corners.  Then you bash out a block of butter into a small rectangle and place it into the centre of the dough. 

A good rolling pin will be your friend in all of this. I have a lovely beechwood one, which is heavy and one of my favourite kitchen tools of all. I never want to be without it. 

You will need to do the butter thing three times, leaving the dough to rest in the refrigerator in between each. Once you have done that you can shape them. 

Shaping the was really each actually. Just roll the dough, cut it into triangles and then roll the triangles into croissants.

 My first few were a bit wonky, but once I got the hang of it the rest turned out fairly good I thought. I am showing you my best one. 

I chose to put the shaped croissants in the refrigerator and bake them the next day because I was a bit beat by the end of all that and in all honesty, I had lost the light.

 Anyone who is a food blogger knows that light is everything when it comes to taking good photos. I am not the best photographer in the world. I lack the patience to set everything up in a fancy way.

Basically you see what you see. I do my best and sometimes I get it right, sometimes not so right. At the end of the day the food is the star, but I can't make it look like the star without good natural light.

 Sometimes it is worth waiting overnight just to get that perfect light. Just let the shaped croissants come to room temperature before glazing and baking. 

Now, after all that work, here is where I just about really messed up.  I forgot to set the timer for the second part of the baking.

 So they ended up being a bit darker than they should have done. They were still delicious however.   

A few minutes longer and it would have all been for naught. They might have burnt! That would have been very disheartening to say the least, especially after all the time I had already put in.

Nevermind, I caught them before they turned and I was eally pleased with the end results. These were fabulous served with some soft butter and Bonne Maman Peach Jam.
Even today the leftovers were really nice, just eaten plain and scarfed down with a diet coke as I write. I know, I am incorrigible, but at least I got them baked. Who knows when I will have the courage to bake these again!  
 

I am not entirely sure I would have the patience to make these again, but you never know. Hope springs eternal and they are excellent. I think everyone or at least any keen baker should make croissants from scratch at least once in their lifetime! What better time than the present when we all most of us have plenty of time on our hands!