One of the things I (Erin) am looking forward to about moving overseas is trying new foods. I thoroughly enjoy trying new foods and learning new ways to cook and bake. Unfortunately most of my experimenting and learning recently has come from necessity. For Christmas a dear friend gave me a vegan baking cookbook. No we are not going vegan, but due to a cow's milk intolerance, none of the boys in our family nor I (since I'm nursing) can have any cow's milk products. I was quite uncertain how we'd be able to enjoy baked goods without butter or milk. Well my new vegan baking cookbook taught me how to bake cookies, cakes, and even scones without butter, milk, or even eggs (though we eat eggs without problems). It has been so interesting to learn about baking without these standard ingredients and to actually have delicious baked goods to eat! Then just yesterday I learned another new way for baking, without the oven. What, you say, how do you bake without the oven? Well, to be honest this too was out of necessity. Our oven decided to quite working, which I didn't think much of until I came across a recipe in another cookbook I just got from my thoughtful mother-in-law. I prepared cinnamon rolls from my regular recipe. I then placed the rolls in a metal pan covered with tin foil which sat on top a little rack in a large stock pot filled with two inches of water. I then boiled the water, "steaming" the cinnamon rolls until baked through. It was AMAZING, it really worked. The cinnamon rolls cooked through and were delicious. The only difference was the tops and edges didn't brown or turn crisp, but they were baked! Who knew you could bake on the stove.
Part of the reason these new methods are so exciting to me is we don't know what types of conveniences or even ingredients we may have to live without while overseas. I am very excited to learn there are ways to make some of our favorite foods!
