nesting kicks in

hubby cutting home-made pizza, with the kidlet looking on in the background

baby-time is getting closer and closer. 2-6 weeks till i get to meet the sprog. and im nesting.

its kicking in in interesting ways. cleaning mostly, and the urge to paint... (which im not going to do because paint fumes make me feel ill even when im not pregnant.) but also the cooking. we had pizza for dinner tonight. i use a recipe found here, modified a little. (i love this recipe. its quick, its tasty, and it doesnt involve hours of rising time. mix and go!) i like my pizza thin, hubby likes his thick, but not as thick as one recipe of this, so i make one and a bit recipes and split it off-centre. also take a little bit off to make a mini-pizza for the kid, since he likes to have his own.

actually, critterbug is very helpful. he enjoys kneading dough, so i let him knead his own pizza, and he helps me roll them out. sometimes he even puts his own toppings on.

the nesting instinct kicked in while i was preparing the dough. once the dough is made, the pizza really doesnt take that long to make. chuck stuff on top, bake for 16 minutes. but MAKING the dough can take a while.

so i made extra. i baked it for about 7 minutes, till it juuuuuuuuuuust started to look cooked-ish, and when it had cooled down, i wrapped it in cling-film and stuck it in the freezer. next time we want pizza, all we have to do is take it out, add toppings, and bake. start with a cold oven so it thaws as it goes.

what im figuring however is NOT to use this next time. next time we have pizza ill make a double batch again, and freeze the extra again. it really doesnt take much extra time, and when we need something quick after the baby's born, tada!!

nesting instincts for the win.

the difference between cooking and baking

because one of my mates who REFUSES TO COMMENT HERE and emails me instead, asked.

for me, baking involves precise measurements. you MUST use 2 cups of flour, or it wont work. you MUST use no more than 1/2 cup milk or it will glug. you MUST use lukewarm water, or the yeast will do nothing.

cooking is more of a make-it-up-as-you-go-along thing. having stir-fry? throw in whatever you feel like. roast dinner? check it every now and then until its cooked.

everytime i COOK, i do something a little different. and sometimes, this means the exact same dish turns out differently than it did last time. when i BAKE i follow the recipe precisely, because im just not that good yet.

also, i cook by instinct.. i guess. i really couldnt tell you why some days i use more ginger in my stirfry and some days i use more cinnamon. or why sometimes the roast has more oil than others. or why sometimes i use twice as much butter in my mashed potatoes, and sometimes i use a lot more milk. i just throw stuff at my food until it feels right.

and thats the difference between cooking and baking.