Hello everyone! For those of you who have read my blog posts before, welcome back! For those of you who are new to this page, I hope you enjoy this blog! I figured since most of the people reading this blog this semester were not in my class last semester, I would take this time to introduce the concept, in addition to providing a recap of what I have done leading up to this very post.
I am a HUGE fan of traveling and baking. I finally had a trip to my dream destination (Italy) planned for June 2020 to celebrate my eighteenth birthday/Christmas/high school graduation. However, COVID-19 did not seem to care that my dream vacation was rapidly approaching and we had to suspend our trip. When given the opportunity to write a passion blog last semester, I instantly knew I wanted to combine my longing to see and experience other cultures with baking; I decided to take a trip around the world without ever leaving my kitchen!
My first “destination” was obviously Italy, where I took on the task of trying to perfect the infamous tiramisu. I then traveled over to Brazil to attempt brigadeiro. Following that, I went to Ghana and created what my grandmother says, “the best peanut brittle ever” (she was a huge fan of that dessert and still talks about how she wants me to make it for her again). Destination number four was Israel, where I made cocoa rose malabi.
After every new recipe that I created, I would write a review. In that review, I rank the difficulty of the recipe (beginner, intermediate, or advanced) and the taste (on a scale from one to ten). In addition to those posts, I also payed tribute to my family’s own culture by baking one of my favorite recipes ever: challah bread. During weeks where I was too busy and stressed to dive into a new recipe, I wrote about different experiences I have had while baking, and even touched on why it was so important to me.
Looking ahead, I have some tasty desserts planned that I am really looking forward to! I think these new destinations will challenge my skills as a baker but I am excited to see and taste the final results! I hope that I will be able to convince some of you to try new recipes; they do not have to be the ones I bake necessarily, but maybe it will inspire you to bake something out of your own comfort zone. I have really enjoyed getting to explore new cultures through baking and I hope you will like reading my future blog posts! As my family says in Hebrew, “להתראות” (Leitraot)!
Hi Ashley! I am new to your blog, and I am so glad I chose it for the single response in class today. I haven’t had lunch yet and all of those dessert pictures are making me extra hungry! Just yesterday, I said to my mom that I wish I could learn to bake or cook like my Grandma or Cousin Carol do all the time. They are so skilled and as a beginner, I feel quite intimidated. That’s why I am so excited to read about your baking journey around the world and how you approach baking. Maybe I can try a recipe on my own or two to start out! I am also gluten and dairy-free, which has been quite hard to accommodate over the years when baking since there always seems to be flour, milk, cream, etc. involved! Maybe I’ll see a new recipe that I can alter with a substitute to finally create a tasty homemade treat of my own!
I too was supposed to travel this Summer (a roadtrip with my dad), but COVID thwarted my plans. In the first half of the COVID-19 lockdowns, I was one of the people who responded to social distancing and shut-downs with baking. My focus: sourdough. I created, kept, and used a sourdough starter through the late Spring and Summer. Sourdough loaves were the highlights of my weeks and leftover starter was put to use making sourdough pancakes (they’re now one of my favorite things to make for breakfast). I learned so much about breadmaking and chemistry (who knew?!) by keeping up the starter and there were so many recipes I could make with it. I 100% recommend trying it, even if it isn’t part of the eating around the world blog. I also can’t wait to try some of the recipes from your blog!