National Cream Puff Day - January 2nd

January 2nd is Cream Puff Day, or (apparently) Wreck-your-new-diet Day. Cream puffs are made with a kind of French dough called pâte à choux, which doesn't use a leavening agent, but the steam as it cooks makes the dough rise. Beignets, profiteroles and éclairs all use this sort of dough.

Some of the recipes you gather for your cookbook may have fairly involved directions. As you're reading through the recipes you receive, if things don't quite make sense to you, contact the sender and ask for clarification. Remember, they've probably made that dish a hundred times, and everything makes sense to them. It also helps to have another set of eyes for this part. You can ask someone who doesn't cook often to read instructions, and things that trip them up should be expanded upon. That way, any one of your family members will be able to make anything in your cookbook, no matter what their cooking experience.

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