"You can't hurry love, and you can't rush puff pastry, either. You can knead too much, and you can be too needy. Always, warmth is what brings pastry to rise. Chemistry creates something amazing; coupled with care and heat, it works some kind of magic to create this satisfying, welcoming, and nourishing thing that is the base of life." Kathleen Flinn

I am reading this wonderful little memoir by a woman who moved from corporate life to living her life's dream of studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. This quote comes from the book The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry. As an avid pie baker, I understand the importance of the 'chemistry' it takes to produce a flaky, delicious pastry crust. Well, I don't actually understand it but I know the environment in which a good crust is born and the ingredients that it takes to make a crust that melts in your mouth..

For instance I know that if you work with the crust too much, it becomes tough, impossible to roll out. If the dough is too warm it gets sticky and you have a mess on your hands…and the rolling pin….and the counter. If you add too much flour to take care of the stickiness, the crust will also become either tough or crumbly. There are many variables that make this seemingly simple food work.All these variables do not do well under time constraints. Rushing to make a good pastry crust usually leads to disaster. The ingredients need certain temperatures and a certain amount of time to come into their own as they come together creating something greater than their individual parts.

All these statements are true of so many things in life. We bring together people or ideas and it takes a certain chemistry for good things to grow. It takes chemistry and timing.  Have you ever walked into a meeting, maybe one you were actually dreading, only to find yourself drawn into a conversation that gets your creative juices flowing?The energy rises in the room and the chemistry begins to happen. Before you know it this person has shared an idea, another has built upon it, a thought here, a question there and voila! Something new is born. It is an exciting process and in some ways magical. Letting the chemistry work and giving the time that is required makes all the difference in the outcome.

The trick is to not knead too much….and not to be too needy.