My Baklava.....

Greetings to all the wonderful readers out there, where ever you may be. As December has come upon us, I decided to try my hand at a little cooking. I've been trying to cook a little more since I've been over here and the good news is that I'm not starving to death (Pizza Hut is only a phone call away). I've been able to make quesadillas (with tortillas from scratch), cavatelli (aka baked pasta), biscuits from scratch, chips, and the occasional fried potatoes.
Well this week I tried to make baklava, a wonderful little dessert. All it takes is a lot of butter, 14 sheets of fillo (a paper thin pastry), some walnuts, sugar and cinnamon and a little bit of syrup. After almost burning the walnuts in the oven and nearly screwing up the first layers of fillo, I filled the center with a walnut, sugar & cinnamon mix. Then added the next layers of fillo. At this point, everything wasn't looking too bad.
Sadly then came the syrup, which I had made from scratch as well (sugar, water and some lemon juice-fresh of course). However, I let the syrup sit too long and it solidified. Then I re-heated it too much and it was a little burnt, but we continued to roll with the punches.
When the baklava came out of the oven, I'll admit, I thought I was a hero. It looked awesome. Then I poured the partially burnt syrup on it and took a bite. It wasn't as good as it looked. While it was still edible, the burnt walnut mixed with a burnt syrup taste, isn't exactly what my tastebuds were looking for. However, after putting the leftovers in the fridge for a night, I found it tasted better!!

Hopefully soon, I'll try it again.