I Was About Ten Minutes Late

My votes for Week 2 are in:

Morning hours, part 1: Scones and Biscuits

Cheese Biscuits: Top prize. Excellent. Aesthetically pleasing. Light and layered, with nice cheddar flavor. An apt complement to a most delicious lunch Chef made us during the morning hours: Pasta with Fresh Tuna and Vegetables in Tomato Cream Sauce (though I don't know she's officially named it that). She's just cooking on the side while her baking students are doing their thing. I'm paired up with Dee, a restaurant lifer, her identity possibly based on Toula from My Big Fat Greek Wedding; she's more precise than I (in a good way), and I'm possibly more...passionate...than she. Chef has dubbed me "Messy Martha," despite me not being blond, Christian, or ex-con material, but together, Dee and I made:

Scones with Fresh Berries Inside: Second place. I think they could have been good, but the dough was too thick, so they looked almost like big white-flour dumplings. Fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries saved these suckers!

On second thought, they were much better fresh baked, and I probably wouldn't have eaten them the next day if they hadn't been filled with whole berries, so I'd tie them for third place with:

Scones with Dried Apricots, Cranberries, and Raisins: Different scone recipe from above. To be fair, I didn't try them until the second day, so to give them the benefit of the doubt, I did as suggested by Chef: I panfried them in a bit of butter, which I think was their saving grace. Daughter Judy didn't respond well, either, thinking them too dry (she ran to our neighborhood Tartine, on West 4th and 11th Streets, for an award-winning croissant), but I liked mine dipped in my hot morning tea. (Earl Grey, with a little milk and half a sugar.)

Morning hours, part 2: Quick Breads

I couldn't judge these on taste, because we took home our respective loaves afterward, unopened, untested. But in terms of visuals:

• Almond-Poppy Seed, hands down, made by Dee.
  
• Both Apple Spice.
  
• 1 Date Nut and 3 Banana Nut—tied for not looking that great, but they probably wouldn't have been my first choice anyway, even if they had looked good.

I made one of the Apple Spice loaves, which looked good, but heavy, and tasted, at least yesterday, okay, but heavy. I might like it better in a day or two, when I have no other baked goods left to choose from.

Lunch hour

Well, Chef's lunch was incredibly spot-on, and now I think it would be nice if someone besides a take-out kitchen would cook for me (and Chef, on occasional Saturdays). Took a break afterward to 1) pay my weekly installment at the office on the floor below, which turned out a bit problematic and time-consuming when after fifteen minutes or so, they only charged me 1/100th of what I was supposed to pay, and 2) wonder where that $20 was, the bill I could have sworn I'd seen in my wallet that morning before I left my house ten minutes behind schedule. Hmmm. I can't say for sure, so I won't, but next week, I'll definitely keep my money in my pocket.

Afternoon hours: Muffins

• First place looks: Double Chocolate
  
• First place taste, consistency, subtlety: Pumpkin

• Second place looks: Carrot Nut (with no nuts)
• Second place taste, consistency: Double Chocolate
  

• Third place looks: Pumpkin
• Third place taste: Carrot Nut, no nuts

• Fourth place overall: Corn

I wasn't even going to try the pumpkin muffins (Dee's and mine)—though well shaped, they weren't particularly inviting—but they were amazing. Smooth and subtle tasting. A definite recipe keeper, and I hope by now Dee has forgiven me for being a bit more...hands-on than she. Will have to figure out how to make them more attractive.

The double chocolate were the most seductive, and Daughter Judy ate two of them immediately, but there was a lot of tunneling going on (too much air in the batter), and upon further inspection, they didn't look well mixed. Made by the seemingly cool new guy, I would try them again myself, using better chips.

Aftermath

Was tired, but forced myself to carry on with my 2009 exercise routine (though have yet to do it today), which is The Tracy Anderson Method Mat Workout DVD (Madonna and Gywneth Paltrow's trainer's DVD, though surely a watered-down version of the A-listers'). Any thoughts I might have had that I could lay down on a "mat" during this workout were immediately replaced by an "Oh, shit," exclamation, and the sorest thighs I've had in years.

I'm committing to this DVD for the duration of the Baking/Pastry Arts Class. Check back with me in thirteen weeks.

P.S. Must get a kitchen scale, and remember to bring a calculator next week for baking mathematics instruction.