Friday: Baking Day and Friends to Dinner

Very Puffy Pita Bread!

I took a day of vacation from work, on Friday.  Actually, I'm on vacation till Tuesday, as I want to spend the last few days of daughter's vacation with her.  Had a nice, relaxed morning, playing some on-line games, visiting blogs, etc.

Later in the afternoon, I decided to make another batch of regular white bread (made two loaves, this time, but didn't take any photos) and, a batch of pita bread.  I followed the pita bread recipe in my old Better Homes and Gardens cook book.  I mixed up the dough, divided it into 12 sections, rolled each section into a ball, and let them rest for 10 minutes.  Because it was a rather warm day, the dough rose quite a bit while it rested:   

Four of the Resting Dough Balls

Then, flattened each ball of dough and rolled it into a thin, flat disk, about 6-7 inches in diameter and put them on baking trays:

Flattened Disks of Dough

Baked them in the oven, at 450F, two trays at a time, for 3 minutes on one side, then flipped each one over and baked for another 2 minutes on the other side

Puffy Pita Bread

Each one puffed up nicely, and, for some reason, they stayed puffy!  I baked the next batch for slightly less time, and didn't allow them to turn quite as brown, but, they, too, stayed puffed!  I think, maybe my oven is too hot?  Or, perhaps, it is due to the dry weather?  I even covered them with an upturned mixing bowl, hoping the trapped steam will deflate them, but it didn't work.  But they tasted wonderful and daughter liked them.   She liked my regular bread, too, and ate several slices.  :)

I had invited one of my friends and her family (husband and two daughters) over to dinner.  This is the same friend and daughters who visited my daughter, last weekend, and drove her back home.  For dinner, I served rice, chicken curry, beef curry, spicy sauted potatoes, sauted water spinach, tomato chutney and pita bread.  I had planned to make a flan for dessert, but, all that bread baking in the afternoon sort of took up too much of my time!  I didn't have time to make a flan.  So, I decided to make a quick "rustic" apple tart, instead!

I sliced up two of the apples I had bought, earlier, and was still mixing up the pastry when my dinner guests arrived!  But that was OK.  It only took a few minutes to make and roll out the pastry, arrange the apple slices on it and sprinkle it with sugar and powdered cinnamon.  It baked at 350F for 30 or 40 minutes while we chatted and started on dinner.  My friend asked if she might say a blessing before we started on the dinner, and when I invited her to do so, said a lovely blessing. 

My friend had also made a dessert - a cherry and pineapple dump cake - which was also warm from the oven when she brought it!  I had no idea she as bringing a dessert, so it was a nice surprise.  So we had the dump cake and the apple tart, with ice cream, for dessert, along with some of the walnut pastries I had bought earlier.

I forgot to take a photo of the apple tart.  Oh, well, I guess I'll have to make another one another day and take a photo of it then!  :D  Daughter said to me, "You like to bake; that's your "me" time" and I agree.  I do love to bake. 

Today, I am grateful for:

- Vacation time off from work
- Spending the day with daughter
- Time to cook and bake
- Time spent with friends
- Gardener brought me another new plant cutting for my garden

How was your day?  Do you like to bake?  Have you ever run short of time to make a dessert when entertaining?  What is your "fall back" dessert?