Wednesday, December 3

Flakey Cooking??

When I was a young school girl, it was accepted that "Girls Cooked" & "Boys Woodworked".

I don't really know who made the rules, or decreed who did what.

I suspect my mother looked upon it all, with somewhat jaundiced eye.
She was somewhat of a Rebel for her age group.
She was quite 'handy'.
She could not see, why the sexes were separated, to 'limit' their skills.

To be fair to the very small, school, she attended in the 30's, she was offered some skills in Poker work, Wood work, & I do believe her brothers, & other males~including my father~ were offered cooking & sewing classes.

There were varying degrees of success or failure at these said classes~ all offered at a very small, rural school, where farming was the norm, & girls were girls & boys were boys!

However one of the skills my Paternal Grandmother was said to possess, was the ability to make light, fantastic, Flakey Pastry!!

My mother strived to make Flakey Pastry. It almost never worked out for her.
We would laugh & tease, at each attempt. Occasionally, she would manage a flake or two! & we would point it out, & savour~ the flake/s!

This is not a picture of my mother's Flakey Pastry.
It is my (bought ) Flakey Pastry!


Soon after I married, I tried making Flakey Pastry.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover I could make a creditable, & light, delicious Flakey Pastry.

My mother's lip would curl, when she mentioned my paternal Grandmother's ability in the pastry making stakes.

I felt quite proud of my newly discovered ability, & was quite surprised at my mother's seemingly dismissive learning at the news, of my talent.

I was later to learn of the underlying currents, between my PGrandmother, & my mother. I could finally understand the curl of my mother's lip, when she discussed the Paternal G's pastry making ability.

I could see, why she would not value any virtue of my Paternal Grandmother.

I was very proud of my talent, nonetheless.

However I have let the talent lapse. It is much easier to buy, & use, the pre,cut, rolled & prepared slices of Flakey Pastry.

Shame, I know, but surely, the way of the modern world.

Take the easy way out. Much faster. Less effort. Less drama.



Queen, Too Much Love Will Kill You.

23 comments:

Pamela said...

My mother and her mother always made their own pastry, my mother still does and cringes when I have made something with bought pastry. I have made my own and must admit it is soooo much better than the store bought ones.

Teodo said...

I'm a bad cook.........but I like very much to eat these
Flakey Pastry that in Italy we call PANZEROTTI.
ciao ciao

VioletSky said...

I watched my mother get so flustered and frustrated at trying to make flakey pastry that I never even attempted it, assuming I guess that it was impossible if you were from the Irish Sea instead of the Mediterranean Sea.

Kitty said...

"Take the easy way out. Much faster. Less effort. Less drama."

But maybe also less pride in our achievements (ie the final result) and less skill developed?

I've just bought some flaky pastry, I have never even attempted to make my own, so you've done far better than me.

I was thinking of you this morning, and sent a telepathic kick to the BD. x

Thimbleanna said...

Isn't it funny how many of the old tried and true things seem to take to long and now it's just easier to buy them??? Your pastry has made me hungry, store bought or not!

fifi said...

mmmm, pastry...


if I attempted to create pastry I am sure it would turn into a foul grey lump.

Cooking skillz: I haz none

Mike said...

Those pastries look really good.

My wife has started baking again and I couldn't be happier. She makes some killer homemade bread.

We more or less share the cooking duties, but I leave the baking to her and she leaves the "making a mess" to me.

It works out quite well.

Q said...

Sometimes I think it is fun to stir up a batch of something from scratch and sometimes I like the fast and easy way...all depends on my mood.
My mother was a terrible cook so any thing I made was great! She was a fantastic seamstress and everything I sewed was secong best!
Sherry

Strider said...

Why is it that Grandma always made the best stuff? That's how I remember it too!

ancient one said...

Take the easy way out. Much faster. Less effort. Less drama. More time to do other things....LOL

Anonymous said...

You made me laugh Meggie -- Mary's " flaky pastry " truly did involve spotting the flake ( singular mostly ) haha -- and yet in other ways she was a marvellous cook .
On the other hand Lou Roberts Greasy Flaky Pastry Pies remain in my memory as true wonders -- I can taste them still and also his marvellous apple or apricot pasties . YUM !!

The Sagittarian said...

The happiest day of my life was when I discovered ready to roll pastry in the supermarket!!

Ian Lidster said...

Boys did woodwork and girls did cooking when I was in school, too. But, I have always maintained one advantage I had in having an alcoholic mother was that I had to learn to cook so my younger brothers and I could eat decent meals.

Marja said...

Thanks for the picture I didn't know what flakey pastry was, not in my vocabulary and it doesn't get in there easily because I am not a kitchen princes. In Holland you don't get cooking or anything at school. We usely bought everything. I am happy my kids learn to cook although I haven't reaped the awards of it yet

ancient one said...

I have an award for you over on my blogspot.

Marja said...

Dear Meggie I've got a well deserved award for you too

Finn said...

What a great post Meggie! You have me sitting here chuckling about "moms, mother in laws and pie crust...LOL. Luckily my mom rarely had to experience my mils pastry.
My mom was no great hand at pastry, and in reality, I can make a flakier crust than she ever did, but she didn't live long enough to see that transpire.
It's a great post!! Big hugs, Finn

Tanya said...

The only pastry we get around here is from the freezer. Can't get shortening for one thing though I suppose I should use butter. No body would realize what flakey is anyway.

Ali Honey said...

Queen is one of my favourite groups!

yep I buy the pastry - if we ever have it these days.

I remember the pastry treats your brother is mentioning here - if we ever bought our lunch at school it came from the local bakery up town...very special treat.

Anonymous said...

Is this like phyllo dough or puff pastry dough? I love flakey pastries, they are my favorite, as opposed to doughnuts or cakes, etc. It's that yummy crust and sometimes the creamy fillings that are so tempting to the palate for me!

Warty Mammal said...

Oh, dear; this is all too human a story. The deep and dramatic undercurrents in a relationship revealing themselves in a conflict over making flaky pastry. It would be funny if it wasn't so painful. It's great that you have the talent, though. Do you have any secrets you can pass on?

My pastry is ... okay. Not wonderful. May I tell you a deep, dark secret? Once I was preparing dinner for my in-laws and wanted to make pie, but didn't want to make the crust. However, I didn't want my mother-in-law to think her son had married someone lazy, someone who didn't know how to make a pie crust. Thus, I purchased a frozen pie shell, defrosted it, put the pastry in my own pie pan, and hand-crimped the edge so it would all look handmade. She declared that it was delicious and that she herself had never had much luck making pie crusts.

I will probably go to hell for that.

Anonymous said...

Hi Meggie
I am a good cook but confess to frozen pastry. I am the daughter of a chef and a cook. I will be burned at the stake lest they ever find out. (Well, you get the idea...)

Anonymous said...

I'm all for frozen pastry that will flake and must confess to never trying my hand at anything other than a shortcrust right from scratch.