My First Bread Adventure

Bread making? Why not, my family loves bread.

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my first bread

It all started with my retirement, how else would I have the time to make bread; and thanks to my dear sister, who treated me to the first home-made bread, fresh from the oven, oops … …fresh from the bread maker. The aroma of freshly baked bread and oh… those crunchy, tasty bread crusts, I definitely never tasted crusts like these before….. even hijacked some additional crusts from my niece. Anyone who loves bread could never say, no ….to freshly baked breads.

Do I have a bread maker, sadly no. Thinking of getting one though, but how often would I be making breads, would I get too lazy once the novelty wore off? So does my love for bread making matches that of eating fresh breads?

I started looking through my limited bread recipes, mine you, I have not baked any breads before. What I need is something simple, not too complicated for my first time, and that could be pop into the oven without a loaf pan.

The Adventure Starts

The recipe, simply ‘The Bread’, that I got from the internet seems to fit what I was looking for.  The only thing I have to buy is yeast; I do not have to look further than my kitchen for the rest of the ingredients.

The Bread

Ingredients :
2 cups of hot water	2 tsp. salt	½ tsp. oregano
2 tabsp dry active yeast	1/3 cup vegetable oil	5-6 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar	½ tsp garlic powder

Method

1. Mix all ingredients except the flour together.
2. Then add 2 cups of flour and mix well for about 2 mins.
3. Slowly add the rest of the flour, one cup at a time.
4. Knead well.
5. Place the dough in a well oiled/buttered bowl, turn over the dough so that the top of dough is greased. Cover it and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
6. Turn the dough onto a floured board, knead and divide the dough into 6 balls.
7. Form balls into thin ropes; braid them on a well oiled cookie sheet. Tuck bottom ends in.
8. Let rise for another 30 minutes.
9. Bake at 375 deg. (190 deg C) for 15-20 mins.

I would like to apologize for not having the original recipe, as I was unable to revisit the website.

 

While preparing for lunch this morning, I could not help thinking about when will I be motivated enough to open that packet of yeast that I had bought.

As the original recipe, looks too much for starters, I decided to start off with half the portion and instead of following the exact recipe, I thought I could proof the yeast first.

Instead, I killed the yeast with water that is too hot.

Wondering whether it was my own stupidity or the yeast that has been on the shelf too long, I decided to try to proof the yeast again and this time round, I used warm water instead of hot water, and voila…. the mixture foamed beautifully after ten(10) minutes. Although the original recipe asks for hot water, the mixture of the first seven(7) ingredients (excluding the flour only) would not be hot enough to kill the yeast.

Other than some minor glitches, the rest of my bread preparation proceeded satisfactorily.

Some things to look out for

Using cup measurements was not so accurate for me and I found that my dough a bit wet and had to add more flour to make kneading easier. Maybe it would be better if I had converted the cup measurements to weights,

You could check out this very useful website for more conversions. http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml

Ingredient	1 cup	1/2 cup
Flour, all purpose (wheat)	120 g	60 g
Flour, well sifted all purpose (wheat)	110 g	55 g
Sugar, granulated cane	200 g	100 g
Confectioner's sugar (cane)	100 g	50 g
Brown sugar, packed firmly (but not too firmly)	180 g	90 g
Butter	240 g	120 g
Vegetable shortening	190 g	95 g

I decided to bake a trifle longer because of the wetness and find the crust a little bit too brown. I could not help wondering about the flavour as I had substituted the oregano with some mixed spices.

 My First Home-Made Bread

I love it, it looks great and it tastes great. It won me a couple of fans too.

My Favourite Ice Kacang

If the Penang Assam Laksa is the seventh among the world’s fifty most delicious food, then Ice Kacang could easily be one of the world’s most delicious desserts. It definitely tops my favorite dessert list.

Ice kacang is a sweet blend of fine crushed  ice and condiments of fruit, pea nuts, red beans, sweet corn,  chendol (green colored rice strips), jelly, fruits of the nipah palm (attap chee), grass jelly, evaporated milk, coconut milk, gula melaka and syrup.

The fruits, the nuts, seeds, sweets and beans usually sit at the bottom of a bowl, or cup, heaped with crushed fine ice, with the coconut milk and milks drizzle on top.

My treasured memories and palate centre overflows with images of this sweet dessert. Its flavour and textures are so inviting.

The best Ice Kacang is from a stall under a shady tree along Jalan Kulim, a few hundred meters after the District Hospital, near Clinic Dr. Joe Fernandez at Bukit Mertajam.

It has my very best vote as the Ice Kacang uncle at the stall has concocted this sweet dessert in the perfect mix that has drawn many followers.

Very delightfully satisfying…………as it melts inside your mouth. It is so-delicious it keeps me coming back for more.

Be thankful for the gifts you received

The gifts that I received were beautiful and of course useful for most people, and for me too.

The sad thing about it is that the money spent on it was collected from a group of friends, although the amount of contribution may not be much for some, it is more substantial for others.

I have given some of them to relatives; otherwise I would have to find some easily accessible space to keep them. Easy access would mean that you could make better use of them. I would be lazy to use them if I have to dig and rummage for them through my cabinets.

Could not help reflecting on why someone did not send me a set when I got married,……

ha ha ha…….but then they would not have kept up their aesthetic looks for so very many years………....mind you, would they have looked so good today? :-):-):-)

more special gifts from special friends  for me

In some ways it is like the government spending our taxes on something that does not really benefit……do not get me wrong, I said in some ways only, hope I do not ruffle the wrong feathers.

Having said that, isn’t it the thought that counts.
You know the happiest person, is the person receiving them.

Thank You My Dear Friends.

Roses represent the lovely thoughts from my dear friends. Orange roses, indicate enthusiasm, desire and fascination

How to Protect Yourself when at the Beach or Out Doors

Many women and some men too, cringe when they think of being outdoors under our Malaysian sun.

What can you do to protect yourself if you are for example going to an island for that idyllic seaside holiday?

Ultraviolet (UV)

There are 3 ranges of UV rays, UVA, UVB and UVC.

UVA rays are long-wave, and can penetrate deep into our skin.

UVB rays are medium-wave, and only penetrate the superficial epidermal cells. UVB is the one responsible for delayed tanning and burning.

Short-wavelength UVC is the most damaging type of UV radiation. However, it is completely filtered by the atmosphere and does not reach the earth's surface.

Doctors and experts usually recommend that an SFP30 or higher to get sufficient protection. Full-spectrum/broad-spectrum will do the job for both UVA and UVB.

Check ingredients for : avobenzone, cinoxate, ecamsule, menthylanthranilate,octyl methoxycinnamate, octyl salicylate, oxybenzone, sulisobenzone, or zinc oxide and titanium dioxide.

Use adequate amounts, and apply 30 minutes before going under the sun. Re-apply again at least after 2 hours or less if you are in the water.

Avoid exposing yourself between 10 am and 4 pm. Do not forget the benefits of sunlight, the only natural source of vitamin D, for strong bones and teeth, and for better absorption of calcium.

Where are we heading as stocks tumbled further

It has been said that there is now a more than 50% chance of a 2nd recession in the US.
Are the governments running out of rabbits in their hats? What is being said about the downgrading of the US sovereign debts?


'Is America still the stable, reliable country it once was, or is Standard & Poor's economic analysis US$2 trillion off the mark.' Check out the original article by Professor Paul Krugman.



Professor Nouriel Roubini , 'The S&P's downgrade of US sovereign debts has added to global financial stress and significantly increased the risk of a double dip recession, aggravated by the sovereign debts of Spain and Italy.'



Leehwa : How low and how long will it go? How far and wide is its reach?Is it too soon to be accumulating stocks here in Malaysia? We are not immune to a global recession. Who is going to do the rescue?

Quote Philip Finch, a global bank strategist for UBS, 'What we need is comprehensive, co-ordinated and credible plan', to get over this turmoil.

Click for more : New York Times.com/2011/08/11_Financil Turmoil

More like 2 months than 3

I would not consider my retirement from my birthday, as there were so many loose ends to see to, and to take care of before I can settle down to some form of routine.

So officially, 1st July 2011, he.. he... are you cheating...

No, that's when I did not go back to the office to work......