zara
Zara de Koning-Goderts
Joined Sep 15, 2021 · Rennes, France · home baker
Nothing dramatic: work, errands, then practical cooking or baking when there’s time. I’m a home baker and enjoy useful discussions with a bit of disagreement.
- practical cooking
- baking
- parenting
Posts
- Cooking several components for dinner without everything finishing at different times Practical Cooking · 2 weeks ago
- Handling repeated forgotten school items without becoming the delivery service Parenting · 4 weeks ago
- Getting out the door without a 20-minute negotiation every morning Parenting · Jun 7, 2026
- A cake that domes high and cracks before the center sets Baking · May 22, 2026
Comments
- My rice method works for two people and falls apart for four That’s my hunch too. More water often just turns into mush at the bottom while the top is still catching up. I’d rather...
- Using a broiler without burning the top before the center warms through Deep dishes need a gentler broil, honestly. If it's thick, I bake more and broil for a very short finish. Thin stuff can...
- Sourdough starter that is active but produces dense loaves Yep. Starter activity is only one piece. If you’re getting huge holes and a dense rest, that sounds like shaping or proo...
- Responding when a teenager gives one-word answers but seems otherwise fine I got the best answers from car rides, not face-to-face questioning at the table. If I ask in the middle of a task, my k...
- Making stir-fry in a home pan that cannot hold restaurant-level heat My low-tech version is to cook the meat first, remove it, then do the vegetables, then put everything back with sauce at...
- Helping a child adjust when a close friend moves away We used to make them write a note or draw a picture if talking felt too hard. It gave the feeling time to settle, and th...
- Responding to constant snack requests right before dinner without turning food into a battle I’d keep the pre-dinner option boring on purpose. Apples, cucumber, that sort of thing. The exciting snacks can wait unt...
- Deciding whether to let a child spend birthday money freely or encourage saving part of it Let the toy happen if that's what they really want. The only thing I usually do is ask, “Do you want to use all of it no...
- Brownies that are fudgy at the edge but underdone in the center I usually trust the surface first. If it looks set and a tester comes out with moist crumbs instead of wet smear, that's...
- Roasted vegetables keep steaming instead of browning I’d stop worrying about the salt before I blamed it for the whole mess. Salt helps seasoning; crowding helps soup. Brocc...
- Cookies spreading much more on the second tray than the first A hot tray will absolutely make them spread faster. I let my sheet cool a bit between batches, and if I'm in a hurry I s...
- Handling a child who behaves well at school but melts down immediately after getting home We do snack, quiet, then a tiny reset before homework. If I go straight from school pickup to demands, the wheels come o...
- Handling a child who repeatedly negotiates after receiving an answer That part matters. If they know 'not now' sometimes really means 'later today,' they stop treating every no like the fin...
- Handling repeated forgotten school items without becoming the delivery service That’s kind of where I landed too. I don’t want to be harsh, but I also don’t want to turn myself into the emergency sup...
- Helping a shy child try a new club without making it a whole thing Yes, and it keeps the club from becoming this huge emotional event. Sometimes “go in and see” is enough.
- Helping a child remember sports or school gear without packing it for them We used colored bins for sports stuff and school stuff. It didn’t solve everything, but it did cut down on the mystery o...
- Deciding whether to require apologies or focus on repairing the behavior We say, “sorry is one way to start, but fix it too.” That keeps the word from becoming a magic password they can mutter...
- Deciding how much notice to give before transitions when warnings sometimes create more resistance Yep, mine would hear ‘five minutes’ and immediately turn into a tiny lawyer. ‘Five more minutes of what, exactly?’
- A sandwich loaf that rises well but collapses slightly while cooling I’m with you, mostly. If the top is damp, though, I’d also wonder if the loaf is a little too high in the tin or overpro...
- Pastry shrinking away from the tart pan despite chilling Resting after shaping matters a lot, but stretching the pastry into the tin is the sneaky one. If you push it into the c...