Back to Baking

Those who knew me back when (pre-Korea), know that one of my hobbies is baking. That may surprise those of you who know me since moving to Seoul as up until last night, I'd yet to bake anything. But I suppose it was only a matter of time before I'd return to this love. I'd really started to miss it -the chemistry involved in mixing liquids and solids and producing something so fragrant and tasty...

Earlier this week, a co-worker dropped a travel magazine into my hands featuring articles on the Carolinas. A recipe for Peach Praline Cobbler caught my eye, and I'd been kind of obsessing over it since. Finally, last night, I couldn't stand it any longer, and thus set out to bake the dessert.

Armed with the recipe, I headed to E-Mart to pick up ingredients, namely peaches, butter, sugar (brown + white), and pecans; I had flour already at home. As is often the case here, what I thought I was purchasing and what I actually got were not necessarily the same. Case in point:  the peaches, already pre-packaged in a bag labeled peaches, turned out to be nectarines. And the butter -marked butter on the box with lots of other words in Korean- looks, smells, and tastes like margarine. Oh, and my search for pecans turned up empty.

Nevertheless, I was determined and not deterred. Good thing, too. Within 90 minutes, my apartment was filled with the sweet aroma of freshly baked goodness, and I had a highly-edible pastry-like confection to boot. Very rewarding and exciting.

Tonight I feel inspired to do it again. A rendezvous with friends tomorrow is my excuse for indulging in this rediscovered hobby (after all, I need something to bring to the event), but at this stage, any reason will do.