Imitation (T)art
Do you ever judge the success of your cooking ventures by how closely the result matches the picture in the cookbook? Me too. I'm not even sure how people manage to get excited about cooking without the pictures. Particularly when there are so many beautiful ones out there. I watched Baking with Julia this morning and sighed on cue as she helped make a flourished chocolate cake with a pastry chef colleague. And sometimes it is just all about the flourish!
Anyway, here's a recent holiday effort to make an apple tart courtesy of Smitten Kitchen via Alice Waters, via Jacques Pepin. Unfortunately, the picture didn't come out like I'd hoped, and I (gasp)skipped a couple of steps, so this version is missing the fold-over crust. I'd give it a "6." But, as they say, it's good to have goals.