#sourdough condensed milk bread

[whoslaurapalmer]

personally i’ve been thinking about ✨🥖sunny baudelaire and bread 🍞✨ (a thought that is downright delightful btw) and how subsequently that’d affect the baudelaire household and would like to know your thoughts — does she take up baking? is she any good? we all know sunny is an excellent cook, but cooking is less exact, and to a certain extent, easier to troubleshoot. how determined is she to get the perfect crumb? does she ever move onto bagels, and english muffins and sourdough? does she move from savory to sweet? or do you think she’s already started with sweet and has segwayed her way into the savory with caution? is she cautious at all in the kitchen?

!!!!!!! I think mostly I tend to forget that sunny does predominately COOK in canon and there isn't all that much discussion of BAKING and desserts and bread, and this is mostly bc desserts and bread what I myself do a lot of. (I've got a great breadstick recipe, btw.) BUT the first time sunny uses her teeth in canon IS in fact to open a can of condensed milk for the frosting for beatrice's birthday cake, so!!

i think post-canon it's something she EVENTUALLY gravitates towards as much as just regular cooking. there is a freedom and a forgiveness in cooking, because it doesnt have to be so precise, and i think she's very, comfortable there, post-canon, like there's a safety in that for her bc she knows how cooking operates and it's a comfortable place to work in and explore, compared to growing up and trying to figure out how she and her family and her memories operate. so she would prefer to do something she for sure knows. but I think sunny takes the precision required in baking as a DARE. a CHALLENGE. I think it might be frustrating for her at first bc I think she's a perfectionist like her mother but I think it's something she decides to work really hard on. She wants to be able to Do It. She wants to make good desserts. And bread. Especially bread. Bread is. Home and hearth and family and care and providing and safety and survival and surviving and. Tasty. AND they all tend to have a good chew, in some way. The chew is very important to sunny.

I also think it's funny if she gets like. Subpar bread or dessert somewhere, like at school, and immediately decides she can and should and needs to do better. I also have a headcanon that she makes her own hard candy!!!!! Clearly she would not stand for things like, taffy or mary janes or gooey caramel-y candies (i love a good three musketeer......but sunny probably would not...) but I think she loves hard candy and enjoys just flat out crunching it immediately upon eating it. She's not going to suck on candy.

anyway. oh she loves making sourdough bc of the pattern possibility, in making cut designs on the loaf before it bakes. and she definitely works really hard on perfecting the right crumb. OF COURSE she's big on texture balances and makes sure there's a crunch element in almost all things. lots of nuts, crispy pastry, the right amount of like......apples that mush and apples that don't mush as much, in a pie. she definitely likes making complicated things. oh I recently saw a video of someone SEWING sourdough before baking, like doing a criss cross on top with what I'm assuming was like, butchers twine? two notes here -- sunny does this, with great delight, and sticks herbs in the resulting spaces. she also tries to figure out how to do something gory with it for halloween. Bc my first thought was, oh that would do so well on food network's halloween baking challenge, if they, yknow, had the time to.....make sourdough.........

overall I think sunny lacks a great deal of fear or lacks the........presentation of fear. but especially in the kitchen, especially once she starts baking as well, she's not cautious at all. yeah she's gonna make the, what is it, that like 40 garlic clove soup or whatever?????? Klaus thinks it's great.

RELATED TO ALL THIS THOUGH???? she never eats mushrooms. to avoid long conversations she just lies and says she's allergic to them.

I'm still thinking about that condensed milk can, though. My whole entire heart. I think she goes out of her way to make everyone a gorgeous perfect birthday cake, no matter what. It is probably the only time she will Not put something crunchy in if someone would prefer no crunch.

[la-quarantine-bakery]

Fruity tried favorites: week of 5/1/23

Hawaiian butter mochi cake

Grade: A-

A family favorite, in fact requested by Mom for Mother's Day. I used sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk and tried to adjust the sugar accordingly, but didn't quite manage because it's on the sweeter side. I also used rice flour for half of the mochiko since I had a jar from a while back, and the texture was fine.

Recipe: Hawaiian butter mochi from Wild Wild Whisk

Modifications: half rice flour; sweetened condensed coconut milk for condensed milk; reduced sugar

Sourdough banana bread

Grade: A-

My go-to to get rid of Puffy discard and overripe bananas.

Recipe: the ultimate banana bread from The Clever Carrot (banana for part of oil, coconut milk for some avocado oil, greatly reduced sugar)

[what-marsha-eats]

This classic flavor combo takes a star turn in a dessert that chef Paola Velez describes as "if flan and bread pudding had a baby.” She learned it from her husband’s 101-year-old grandmother. The bread pudding features a lavish custard made with what might seem like an excess of evaporated milk, but the canned milk makes for an utterly dreamy texture in the final product. Mastering the homemade caramel portion calls for some close attention and meticulous stirring—Velez notes that even one undissolved grain of sugar may cause the whole mass to solidify—but the reward is sweet and filled with plenty of tropical vibes, especially if you opt for chopped mango on top.

Includes an instructional video.

[97-liners]

top 5 snacks for those days were one’s really craving good food

there’s a difference between good food and snacks that i eat when i’m just depressed and craving a dopamine hit 😔 i will list my favorite yummy snacks here

1. dried squid (if you eat too much, your pee will smell like it. your whole body will smell like dried squid. don’t be like me and eat like a 5-serving bag in one sitting every single time)

2. goat cheese, some form of preserved fruit, honey, on top of a cracker

3. cut up strawberries, sweetened condensed milk, and a bit of matcha powder. mix it up and eat it straight, or add a bit extra sweetened condensed milk and use it to top pancakes or crepes

4. madeleines from costco

5. sourdough bread, toasted, with the lightest layer of mayo. like, scraping a butter knife over the toast type layer of mayo. preferably kewpie/japanese mayo.

put “top 5” anything in my ask and i will answer

[coffeeandteaarenecessary]

The best tomato soup of your life

So this isn’t caffeinated but sometimes you need good tomato soup to heal your soul and hey- it doesn’t take a million hours to make. Score. Anyways, everything is below the cut-

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Total time: 15-35 minutes (depends on how hot you keep your burner on while making it. If you aren’t a coward you can do it in 5)

Appliances

Stove or some kind of burner

Small pot

heat-safe spatula, whisk, or other stirring device

OPTIONAL:

Measuring spoons

Knife

Cutting board

Tongs or Spatula

Cheese grater

Ingredients

Cambell’s condensed tomato soup

Heavy cream

Salt

Pepper

Tomato Paste

Dried Basil

OPTIONAL:

Milk

Fresh Basil

Dried Oregano

Oyster Crackers

Good White or Sourdough bread

Earth Balance Original Margine

Munster Cheese

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

Parmesan cheese

Tortellini of your choice

Process

Pour contents of the can into the pot

Fill can with heavy cream

Optional, do a mix of heavy cream and milk if you don’t want it to be super thick

Add about a half tablespoon of tomato paste to the pot

Add about a teaspoon of basil

Optional, you could do about 6 fresh basil leaves instead of dried basil

Add a pinch of salt

Add a pinch of cracked black pepper

Turn on burner

Mix everything until everything is a pale pink/orange and nice and hot

OPTIONAL:

Emulsify one tablespoon of butter into the soup

Grate in a little bit of parmesan cheese

OPTIONAL V2: 

Cook tortellini in your soup following packaging instructions

Serve

OPTIONAL:

 Right when it’s finished, add two shakes of dried oregano

Add your favorite soup crackers or the oyster crackers suggested or make an awesome grilled cheese sandwich

Butter outside of bread with earth balance original margine

Put first slice butter down on pan brought to medium heat

put down 2 slices of munster cheese (or as much as necessary to completely cover bread)

Put the second slice of bread so the buttered side is facing up

Do not flip until the first side is golden brown

Flip

Do not remove from pan until that side is also golden brown

Remove from pan and cut on a diagonal

You have now made the best tomato soup ever and it can also double as a yummy breakfast if that’s what you want. Also if you want the perfect grilled cheese sandwich now you know how to make one of those too.

[ellimochi]

Casa Fuego

My friend Andrew and I recently had the pleasure of dining at Casa Fuego – an Argentinian steakhouse with a nikkei (Japanese/Peruvian fusion) bar. It’s a relatively new restaurant that opened in the same building as the iconic Copacabana on Adelaide, by the same owner. 

Casa Fuego is known for their amazing wood-grilled meats and innovative dishes, but also has an amazing cocktail menu and wine list. Their handcrafted cocktails are so unique (like one of my favorites, the TANSO – made with squid ink!) and their wine list has some of the best South American wines that you can get in Toronto (you can’t find them at LCBO). 

SMOKE & COKE Suntory Whiskey, Dolin Vermouth, Mexican Coke Syrup, Oak Bitters

This is the drink Andrew got, so I only tried a few sips. He’s a huge whiskey fan and he says this is the best cocktail he’s had in his life – with the Mexican Coke Syrup adding just the right amount of sweetness. The presentation is also super cool!

LUBINA CON COCO Seabass, coconut, avocado

We started with this ceviche, which had an amazing blend of flavors that compliment each other perfectly. For this dish, they use fresh coconut (both the flesh and the water) and you can really taste the difference! Casa Fuego is also known for their impeccable quality, using the highest quality meats and fish they can get, and it really shows.  

PULPO EN SALSA HUANCAINA Octopus, Huancaína Sauce, Potatoes

The octopus was very tender, and paired well with the sauce.

TUÉTANO DE HUESO AHUMADO Bone Marrow, Garlic Bread, Gremolata

I’m a huge fan of bone marrow, so I loved this dish especially! The garlic bread is made from their sourdough in house, and the gremolata (lemon zest, garlic, and parsley) was a great pairing that goes so well with the fattiness and richness of the bone marrow.

TARTAR DE CARNE Prime Tenderloin, Yuzu Kosho, Squid Ink

The tartare is plated so creatively with wagyu layered delicately over the dish. It has just the right amount of spice, and is served with crispy taro chips. 

ENTRAÑA Skirt Steak, Wagyu

This wood-grilled skirt steak was the star of the meal! It really showcases how well Casa Fuego does meats, as it was cooked to the absolute perfect tenderness. Served with three types of salts and chimichurri sauce (fresh herbs, lime juice, and spices), every single bite of this dish was bursting with flavor that really enhanced the meat. You could really tell the difference in quality of this meat compared to steaks at other places – it was divine.

TRES LECHES CAKE

Even though we were absolutely stuffed, there’s always room for dessert! The Tres Leches Cake (or “three milks cake”) is a traditional South American dessert featuring a very light airy cake served with 3 kinds of milk – evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream. It was so rich in such a perfect way, and is the perfect size to share. 

I finished the meal with an espresso, because I saw a Yelp review that said they did a good one. I mixed some of the sweet milk from the cake in it and it tasted so good (and was so necessary because I was about to pass out from how much I ate haha). 

I’d highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who loves meat, and likes to try unique fusion dishes! The ambiance of the restaurant was great as well – an intimate, dark space with an open kitchen concept so you can see the chefs doing their thing on the grill. They also recently started to incorporate live music Wednesdays – Fridays, and they perform lovely songs (everything from South American songs to The Weeknd covers), making Casa Fuego the perfect date spot!

[sozesty-things]

Two Thanksgiving Mug Recipes / Green bean Casserole / Veggie Apple Bread...

Happy Thanksgiving 🍁 Our 2 Thanksgiving Mug Recipes: 

 1. Green bean casserole in a mug recipe:👇 Ingredients: 1/2 cup condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted 2 tablespoons milk 1/2 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce 3/4 cup cut green beans, canned or fresh steamed 1/2 cup french-fried onions 

 Directions: 1. Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, green beans and 2 tablespoons onions in a microwave safe mug. 2. Heat in the microwave for 3 minutes, or until heated through. 3. Sprinkle with remaining onions. Heat for 20 more seconds to warm onion topping. 4. Let stand for a few minutes and enjoy! #greenbeancasserolerecipe #greenbeancasseroleinamug #muggreenbeancasserolerecipe #mugcasserole #thanksgivingrecipe #vegetarian #microwaverecipe #recipe #sozestyrecipes 

 2. Veggie Apple Stuffing in a Mug Microwave Recipe #vegetarian #Thanksgivingsidedish I

Ingredients: 1 tablespoon melted butter 1/4 cup diced onion 1/4 cup diced celery 1/4 cup diced apple 1/4 cup vegetable broth 3/4 cup cubed bread 1/4 teaspoon dried sage Salt & pepper to taste 

Directions: In a large microwave safe mug, add melted butter, onion, celery and apple. Microwave for 45 seconds. Stir and add broth, sage, salt and pepper. Stir and add bread cubes. Mix well & microwave for 3 minutes. Enjoy! 

 Please Note: 1. We have used Sourdough Bread you can used bread of your choice. 2. Microwave used is 1200 watts. Please check strength of your microwave to adjust the time. 

 #microwavestuffing #singleservestuffing #thanksgivingsidedish #thanksgiving #thankful #thanksgivingsides #mugstuffing #microwavestuffing #stuffinginamug #sozestyrecipes

[mxopifex]

Ok with holidays upon us, darlings, I figured I’d share my two fail safe “Oh shit I got invited to a party and I need to bring food” recipes. For those who, like me, hate to cook but don’t want to show up with a pack of store bought cookies.

Stupid Easy Spinach Dip

16 oz sour cream

1 cup mayo

A pack of frozen spinach thawed and drained

A packet of onion soup mix

Mix all that in a bowl and leave it in the fridge till it’s time to eat. Serve with whatever you like to eat spinach dip on. You wanna make it look extra fancy get one of those round loaves of sourdough and cut the middle out to make a bread bowl and serve it in that. Looks real Martha Stewart that way.

Nukerwaven Fudge

14 oz can of sweatened condensed milk

8 oz semisweet baking chocolate

6 oz white chocolate

Teaspoon vanilla extract

OPTIONAL - zest from a large orange

Microwave 2/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk and the semisweet chocolate until it melts. I usually do this by zapping for a minute at half power, stirring, then 30 second zap/stirs until it’s liquid. Add the vanilla and spread into an even layer in the bottom of an 8x8 cake pan lined with plastic wrap.

Microwave melt the rest of the white chocolate and the last of the sweetened condensed milk. If you are adding orange zest put that in now. Then spread it over the semisweet layer.

Cool it in the fridge until it’s solid. You end up with a neat two tone fudge.

Other customization options

Chopped nuts

Mint extract

Crushed Oreos

Both of these make up quick and have gotten compliments from folks who ate them. Never be stuck without something to take again.

[la-quarantine-bakery]

Lots of cupcakes: week of 2/15/21

A lot of cupcake liners were used and reused this week.

Sourdough poppy seed challah

Grade: B

I’m trying to eat less butter in hopes of losing some holiday weight (an ongoing process) so baked a challah that uses vegetable oil, with the side effect of discovering a good recipe for Dad. Except I messed up the proportions - some ingredients were cut by 1/2 while others were cut by 2/3 - so the dough and the final bread was a bit too oily.

Tried out a four-strand braid for the first time. I’m still having trouble elongating challah strands, but the braiding is really fun. Need to do a better job of sprinkling poppy seeds next time.

Recipe: sourdough challah from the Gingered Whisk

Braiding: challah part two: how to braid challah from Tori Avey

Sourdough condensed milk bread

Grade: A-

Needed to use up the condensed milk in my fridge because I don’t like having random ingredients lying around, and after condensed milk mantou I obviously know it’s time to finally try condensed milk milk bread.

The main snafu was the baking: it’s overbaked because the tops were initially only brushed with coconut milk, and I’m not sure if it’s the milk or the coconut but it was not browning. So I applied a last minute egg wash and it needed to bake long enough for the egg wash to turn a nice color. Even then the top isn’t as golden as it could’ve been.

The flavor was nice - sweeter than most milk breads I’ve baked, but not in an overpowering way - and the texture was soft, though a bit on the gummy side. I definitely didn’t do something right with the hydration so something I’ll need to watch out for next time.

Recipe: adapted from easy milk bread rolls from Omnivore’s Cookbook at 30% levain

Baked oatmeal with dates and hazelnuts

Grade: A-

Not much to say here except I’m not sure the hazelnuts really added to the oatmeal. So good.

Recipe: 1-bowl baked oatmeal from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Fa gao

Grade: B+

A bit gummy, a little on the sweet side (I didn’t end up cutting the brown sugar by much as I was trying to use up the hardened sugar in my fridge) but they blossomed nicely. I might try adding in sourdough starter next time.

Recipe: Chinese fa gao from China Sichuan Food

Sourdough matcha cupcakes

Grade: A-

Finally used up the last of my matcha powder from an open container. It was actually a little too strong on the matcha because I was trying to use up all the matcha powder. But I like the taste - not too sweet, somewhat bitter, a nice balance. And got to use up some Puffy discard too.

Recipe: matcha green tea cupcakes with whipped cream from Wild Wild Whisk

Modifications: substituted in 90 grams of sourdough starter and weight for weight applesauce for vegetable oil; almost halved the sugar; accidentally added 2-3 grams extra matcha powder; skipped baking powder

Black sesame and nuts tang yuan

Grade: A

Lantern Festival! Grandma made the fillings so I just made the wrappers. There are different versions of how to do the wrappers, some involving using boiling water to cook part of the dough, but I went with a lazy version where I just mixed in warm and room temperature water until I got a mochi dough ball. It was a bit on the wet side but by the end, the dough dried up and shaping them wasn’t too hard.

Tasted nice, especially with some leftover condensed milk.

Recipes:

Fillings from Grandma

Doughs from tang yuan from Red House Spice 

Shaping from Chinese tang yuan recipe from cherryday

Cornmeal lemon poppy seed cookies

Grade: C

Cornmeal expires soon and this recipe also uses brown rice flour so I thought, why not? Wayyy too dry and tasteless. Needed more sugar for once. I’m not sure I’ll finish this batch.

Recipe: cornmeal cookies from Sugar Loves Spices

Modification: applesauce instead of extra-virgin olive oil; less sugar; lemon juice instead of lemon zest; added poppy seeds

Cornmeal drop biscuits

Grade: B+

Again, wanted to use up more cornmeal. Needed to add more salt and the duck fat caused the biscuits to spread too much, but otherwise it was quite delicious and the texture / taste from the cornmeal worked nicely.

Recipe: cornmeal drop biscuits from Baking Bread by Martin Philip

Modification: duck fat instead of butter

Gingerbread crème fraîche muffins

Grade: A-

A bit overbaked - was supposed to turn down oven temperature after the first five minutes. But they are good looking little muffins and tasted nice. Got to use up applesauce and crème fraîche here, and in the future would add Puffy discard as well.

Recipe: gingerbread muffins with sweet lemon glaze from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Modifications: a combination of crème fraîche, non-fat plain Greek yogurt, and applesauce in place of sour cream and butter; less sugar; no glaze; did not warm the molasses; 20% rye flour

[arplis]

Arplis - News: Cooking with Varlam Shalamov

In Valerie Stivers’s Eat Your Words series, she cooks up recipes drawn from the works of various writers. The Kolyma Stories and my extended time indoors offered me the opportunity to use up some obscure items that have been languishing in my pantry. The complete stories of Varlam Shalamov (1907–1982), published by NYRB Classics in two newly translated volumes, contain some of the bleakest and most powerful writing we have about the Soviet gulag. They’re also terrifyingly and indelibly about food—that is, about starving to death. Shalamov was first arrested in the twenties, when he was a student at Moscow University, and then again in 1937 for Trotskyist activity. He spent the next seventeen years in labor camps, including on the far northern island of Kolyma, where he mined for gold in some of the most horrific conditions in all the gulag. He found no redemption in the camps, writing that they were “a negative school of life in every possible way. Nobody can get anything useful or necessary out of the camps … Every minute of camp life is poisoned.” Yet in the decades after his release, he boiled the horrors he’d seen down to their pure essentials and shared them via this extraordinary body of work. Shalamov is plainspoken—“he knew his material perfectly, and wrote in a way that everyone can understand,” notes the translator Donald Rayfield—but prolonged immersion in the work reveals him as a better Solzhenitsyn; the stories are compulsively readable despite their subject matter, as compressed and brilliant as the Arctic snow. The temptation would be to compare them to “metal number one,” as gold was called by the Soviet authorities—if Shalamov had not so loathed it. I was reading the first volume, Kolyma Stories, two weeks ago as New York City shut down due to the ongoing public health crisis. He was the only writer who didn’t feel frivolous—not because there can be any comparison between America’s sudden food insecurity and the Stalinist gulag’s conditions of prolonged starvation but because I have been depressed by the human behavior on display. To me, social distancing seemed to erupt spontaneously, and I found it heartbreaking. Even if it will later emerge as necessary and the best decision, I’m hopelessly stuck on the idea that distance is bad. I read a Leslie Jamison piece about being sick with the coronavirus and caring alone for her two-year-old, and on an emotional level, I’m outraged that I can’t bring her soup and human kindness.   The recipe called for a Pullman loaf pan, but I had to make do with what was on hand and baked my bread in a Dutch oven. Proper Russian rye bread is not round.   I don’t claim Shalamov’s moral authority for my opinions, but I think often of the first point on a list he wrote in Moscow in 1961, which Rayfield includes in his introduction to Kolyma Tales. The list is entitled “What I Saw and Understood in the Camps,” and the first point is: “The extreme fragility of human culture, civilization. A man becomes a beast in three weeks, given heavy labor, cold, hunger and beatings.” That’s too bleak for our times, but it bears keeping in mind. The third point is: “I realized that friendship, comradeship, would never arise in really difficult, life-threatening conditions. Friendship arises in difficult but bearable conditions (in the hospital, but not at the pit face.)” We have opportunities. I find Shalamov consoling for his gravity, his sorrow, and his moral purity. Our times are grave and sad, though unfortunately for those of us not deemed essential workers, feelings of moral purity are hard to come by. I decided to bake from him in order to encourage others to read his stories, not because I think that baking bread and sharing it on the internet does much for humanity; baking is fun, but as a cook and sensualist, I consider virtual intimacy no intimacy at all. I’ve also had a long-running, long-failing personal project to correctly bake Russian rye bread from homemade sourdough starter, and testimony by all the novice quarantine bakers currently struggling with this implies that my experiences may be of some use. Moreover, while any attempt to faithfully reproduce the staff of life from a concentration camp would be ghoulish, Shalamov specifies that the bread was rye, and I had the medium rye flour, coarse rye meal, and red rye malt necessary for such bread already in my pandemic pantry, waiting to be thriftily used up.   Appropriately, it was snowing on Shalamov baking day. I weighed options for using this can of condensed milk.   Shalamov writes that bread was the “basic food” in the camps, and it appears in nearly every story. “We got half our calories from bread,” he explains. “The cooked food was something hard to define, its nutritional value depended on thousands of different things.” It was bread that kept him alive, specifically the ratio between its quantity and his labor. Men in his stories scheme for bread, fight for it, weep when they don’t get “a crusty piece.” There are loving descriptions of allowing crumbs to dissolve on the tongue. In the story “The Typhus Quarantine,” in which the Shalamov proxy Andreyev wakes up in the hospital and realizes he’s going to survive, he observes that “as little as half a kilo of rye bread, three spoonfuls of porridge, and a bowl of thin gruel were enough to resurrect a man: as long as he didn’t have to work.” I considered making a second dish, oreshki, that I remember from my time living in Moscow: walnut-shaped cookies filled with a caramel made from condensed milk. The inspiration was “Condensed Milk,” a Shalamov story in which the narrator achieves one of his few victories over the forces trying to destroy him, tricking an enemy out of two cans of condensed milk. He consumes both instantly, after having “used the corner of an ax to pierce a hole” in the cans. I also had a can of condensed milk sitting in my pandemic pantry. Moreover, a Russian friend from Irkutsk—where the narrator arrives after his long exile, in the last story of the first volume—once told me that to make the caramel, you boil the sealed can for hours, stopping just before the point of explosion. This sounded like a cooking adventure of the type I am familiar with and enjoy, but for two factors: I’d have to order a cookie mold off the internet at a time when people need the transportation grid for more pressing matters, and it felt inappropriate to Shalamov and his work. Thus, I made bread. It’s the title of a story, and it’s the ultimate human comfort food. There are many styles of Russian rye, but the one I’ve been trying to reproduce has a chewy, spongy, sour interior and a leathery black crust dusted with coriander seeds. I found a recipe that seemed close in a book called The Rye Baker, by Stanley Ginsberg. The first step was to develop a starter.   The recipe did not specify if I was supposed to grind the red rye malt, but it looked ground in the book’s photo, so I did.   The starter method outlined in The Rye Baker is fairly similar to all the others on the internet: You combine flour and water in about equal weights (half a cup of flour to a quarter cup of water, roughly), cover, and leave in a room-temperature place for twenty-four hours. Then you scoop out half the mixture, add another round of flour and water, stir, and repeat. After forty-eight hours, you should see gas bubbles, but even if you don’t, step up the discard-and-feed cycle to every twelve hours. Allegedly, within seven days you will have a puffy, sour mixture that can rise bread. I wish I could report success with this, but instead I’ve had days and weeks of failure—and even, one night, tears, when my husband preheated the oven and accidentally cooked three carefully tended starters I’d placed there to soak up the warmth from the pilot light. Mishaps aside (oh, there were more), I suspect that my fundamental problem was the temperature: the Ginsberg book specifies that “room temperature” is between sixty-eight and seventy-two degrees. Up in Vermont, it’s been snowing, and starters left on my countertop have remained completely inert. Some sources suggest that a starter that looks flat might still be working, but I tried it and got a rocklike, unrisen loaf. Starters nourished in warmer places—the proofing drawer, the oven with the light on, the microwave with the light on—showed some growth and bubbling but either didn’t survive or did not raise bread. I suspect they may have been too warm, since too-warm conditions encourage bacteria (the sourness and bubbles) but not yeast (the growth). It’s also possible that wild yeast is a more mysterious beast than commonly admitted and that my starter just didn’t have enough of it. A last caveat: Ginsburg says the starter should be ready in five to seven days. I tried mine at day seven, and it did not work. However, other sources say you need up to twenty days to establish a culture powerful enough to bake with. There is also the possibility that my starter was okay and the failure was somewhere in the bread recipe or my technique. Ginsberg’s Borodinsky rye bread asks for “a scald” and “a sponge.” For the former, you pour boiling water over rye meal and rye malt and allow it to soften overnight. For the latter, you make a slurry of starter, water, and flour and allow it to rise overnight. In the morning, you combine the two and let them sit for three to four hours “until doubled in volume.” I did so, and the doubling did not happen. I thought my starter was at fault. But then I added a packet of instant yeast (proofed), and though it bubbled, it also did not increase the volume. I would have stopped there, having been down this inedible-brick, wasted-flour road before, but for the sake of this story, I added the rest of the ingredients and followed the rest of the instructions, producing a pasty, bitter, concrete-like sludge, nowhere near the color of the bread promised in the cookbook photo. I had no faith in it at all.   When my starter did not raise the scald-sponge mixture, I added commercial yeast. Luckily, I had some on hand.   But the sludge rose, and I baked it, and the texture and crustiness were perfect. If I hadn’t made other mistakes, it may have even been good bread. Warm, with butter and jam, it wasn’t so bad. I’d like to say that having to provide a recipe for this failed loaf is a caution to me and that I’m going to give up on starter and stop wasting flour, but the truth is that I plan to make another starter tomorrow. There will never be such a time again (I hope, fervently) for sticking around the house tending to multiple long rises and watching the yeast grow. And anyway, I’m sure they would have eaten my bread in Kolyma.     Borodinsky Bread Adapted from The Rye Baker, by Stanley Ginsberg. whole wheat flour water To make a starter: Day 1: Using a quart-size mason jar or other roomy receptacle, combine half a cup of flour (I used King Arthur White Whole Wheat) with a quarter cup plus a tablespoon of water, and stir to make a starchy paste, making sure not to leave any pockets of flour sticking to the sides. Cover with saran wrap, and seal with a rubber band. If it’s hot where you are, you can probably leave the jar sitting out at room temperature. Otherwise, place it in an unheated oven with the door closed and the light on, and leave for twenty-four hours. Day 2: Scoop out a quarter cup of the mixture, and refresh with half a cup of flour and an additional quarter cup plus a tablespoon of lukewarm water. Stir till completely combined, and let sit for another twenty-four hours. Days 3–5: Begin feeding the starter at twelve-hour intervals, with the following change from the above: Scoop out half a cup (rather than a quarter cup) of the mixture, and discard; refresh with half a cup of flour and a quarter cup plus a tablespoon of lukewarm water. Stir, cover, and keep in the oven with the light on. My recipe says you want five to seven days to build a powerful starter. I tried baking with mine on the seventh day, with inconclusive results.     To make the bread: For the sponge: 2 cups medium rye flour 1 3/4 cups warm water 1/3 cup sourdough starter For the scald: 3/4 cup coarse rye meal 1/4 cup red rye malt, ground 1 1/4 cup boiling water For the final dough: scald-sponge (use all) 1 2/3 cups medium rye flour 1 cup bread flour 1 2/3 tsp salt 2 tbs dark molasses 1 tbs red rye malt, ground flavorless oil (for pan) 1–2 tbs coriander seeds     Day 1: The evening before you bake, make the sponge and the scald. To make the sponge, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, cover with saran wrap, and leave overnight in your warm area of choice (“room temperature” if you’re someplace warm; the oven with the light on if you’re someplace cold, like a New York City apartment). Do the same for the scald in a separate bowl. Let rest for twelve hours. Day 2, morning: Using the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the scald with the sponge. It’s essential that you allow the scald-sponge to rise in the mixer bowl because on the next step, you’ll add the rest of the ingredients and knead the dough, and you want to keep as much air in as possible. Cover the mixer bowl with saran wrap, put it in your warm place, and allow it to rest and rise for an additional three to four hours, or until doubled in bulk. Day 2, afternoon: Add the flours, salt, molasses, and red rye malt to the risen mixture in the mixing bowl, then use the dough hook on low speed for eight to ten minutes to create a soft, smooth, deep-brown dough. Cover and ferment in your warm place until visibly expanded, sixty to seventy-five minutes. Day 2, afternoon: Grease a nine-by-four-by-four-inch Pullman loaf pan with butter or flavorless oil (I baked mine in a Dutch oven because I didn’t have a loaf pan). Carefully spoon in the risen dough. Use wet hands to distribute it evenly, and smooth the top. Spoon a tablespoon of water over the top to keep the dough moist, then cover and set in your warm place to rise until the top of the loaf shows broken bubbles, an hour and a half to two hours. Day 2, evening: Preheat the oven to 550, arranging one rack in the middle of the oven and one at the bottom. Place a shallow baking dish or roasting pan on the bottom shelf. Five minutes before you put the bread in, add two cups of boiling water to the pan. Bake with steam for ten minutes, then remove the pan, cover the loaf with aluminum foil, and reduce the temperature to 350. Bake for forty-five to fifty minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and return it to the oven to firm up the sides and bottom crust. Bake until the loaf thumps when tapped with a finger, ten to fifteen more minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool thoroughly before slicing.     Valerie Stivers is a writer based in New York. Read earlier installments of Eat Your Words. #EatYourWords

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/cooking-with-varlam-shalamov-1

[bigyack-com]

What Will We Eat in 2020? Something Toasted, Something Blue

If you’re the sort of person who uses the annual avalanche of food and drink predictions as an anthropological window into the state of the American psyche, prepare for a stripped-down, no-nonsense 2020. Mold and sobriety will be popular. Porridges like jook and arroz caldo are the new comfort foods. Saving the planet will have a new urgency, so bring your own mug to the coffee shop and learn to embrace the term “plant-based.” “There is a sense that the rose-colored glasses are off,” said Andrew Freeman, president of AF&Co., the San Francisco consulting firm that for 12 years has published a food and hospitality trend report. This year’s is titled “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore.”“The world just feels different,” Mr. Freeman said. “The labor market is tight, the political landscape is a mess. All of us are trying to navigate it.”That doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun, though. If the forecasters can be believed, joy will be found in towers of buttered toast piled with ice cream, sourdough doughnuts, CBD-infused everything and even more fried chicken sandwiches.Here, then, is a sampling of what could be in store for 2020.

Country of the Year: Japan

That recent Instagram uptick in soufflé pancakes and the fish-shaped ice cream cones called taiyaki isn’t a coincidence. With the 2020 Summer Olympics set for Tokyo and a rise in travel to Japan, the country’s influence will extend into the American culinary landscape, said Amanda Topper, associate director of food service for Mintel, the global market research company. Trendspotters also predict more interest in food from India, with a special emphasis on spicy Keralan dishes built from rice, coconut and fish, as well as foods from West Africa, Vietnam and Laos.

Cause of the Year: The Planet

As farmers grapple with climate change and consumers grow increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of what they eat, restaurants and food producers are doubling down on earth-friendly ingredients and practices. Vegan dishes and meat alternatives will show up on more menus, both fine-dining and fast-food. Regenerative farmers, who focus on soil health, are the new organic farmers. Chefs are exploring how to cook cover crops like peas and buckwheat, which regenerative farmers plant between harvests as a way to improve soil, control weeds and sequester carbon. Look for more edible and biodegradable packaging, and reusable everything, from cups to cutlery. “The companies that will win in the next 10 years will be those that fuel the new era of conscious consumption,” said Jenny Zegler, the associate director of food and drink research for Mintel.

Color of the Year: Blue

The hue started catching the eye of tastemakers a few years ago, but this year blue and its moody sibling, indigo, are expected to color more food. Butterfly pea powder tea (the new matcha!) is showing up in moon milk, a sleep remedy that is the latest adaptation of ayurvedic tradition. Ube, a purple yam, is the new “It” root vegetable; orach, also called mountain spinach, could be the new kale. Pop culture seems to be driving this one: Pantone has declared classic blue its color of the year, and blue food plays an outsize role in the novels of Percy Jackson, whose musical “The Lightning Thief” is on Broadway.

Toasted

The latest star imported from Asian tea shops is brick toast, built from thick slices of pain de mie that are scored, buttered, toasted and covered in sweet custard, syrup or ice cream. Variations on the dish, sometimes called honey toast, abound in different parts of Asia. In Japan, where it is also called Shibuya toast after the Tokyo district where the style began, a substantial portion of a loaf is hollowed out and filled with squares of toasted bread, ice cream, syrup and fruit. The Taiwanese style is more subdued, topped with condensed milk, custard or cheese. A second cousin is kaya toast, popular in Singapore, made with a thick slab of salted butter and a jam of coconut and pandan leaves that is usually served with soft-boiled eggs.

Not Toasted

Low and no-alcohol drinks are in, but that doesn’t necessarily mean people want to face the next decade without a little help. Look for a rise in mood food and calming beverages awash in CBD or adaptogens, plants that may help relieve stress. “It’s not just a young person’s thing,” said Willa Zhen, a professor of liberal arts and food studies at the Culinary Institute of America. “I think we’re all anxious.”

Growing Up

This could be the year the children’s menu finally dies — or is at least radically re-engineered. Millennials, an unusually food-aware generation, are parents to more than half of the nation’s children. And as Americans opt for less processed food and more global flavors, chicken nuggets and mac and cheese may give ground to salmon fish sticks, agedashi pops and hemp pasta with ghee.

Generational Cooking

First-generation immigrants to America, and grandparents who live in other countries or have recently immigrated, will transform restaurant menus. This is part of a growing interest among chefs with mixed cultural backgrounds to create new dishes based on techniques and ingredients from both sides of the family.

Fresh Flours

Almond flour is so 2019. Look for alternative flours made from green bananas, sweet potatoes, cauliflower and watermelon seeds.

Tech Rescues

Artificial intelligence will flood restaurants, especially fast-food and quick-service operations, adjusting pricing in real time to accommodate fluctuations in supply and demand. Delivery apps and in-store menu boards will suggest foods in the same way Netflix recommends movies. Menu boards will use voice bots and face recognition software to customize and speed ordering. Unmanned rovers will bring you pizza; companies like Domino’s are testing them in Houston and some European cities, and robots are already bringing Dunkin’ doughnuts and Starbucks coffee to college students. Breakthroughs in food safety will result from better use of blockchain, a digital ledger that can track food as it works its way from the farm to the consumer.

And the Rest

Churros. Flavored ghee. Koji, the ancient mold responsible for miso and soy sauce. Cantonese pineapple buns. Makgeolli, the sparkling, fermented Korean rice liquor. Puffed snacks made from vegetable peels. Floral flavors. Halloumi cheese. Edible flowers and botanicals. Cane sugar alternatives. Food wrapped in bijao leaves. Ice cream with hidden vegetables (think mint chocolate chip with puréed spinach).Don’t be surprised if some of these fail to take hold. “The thing to remember is that it comes back to taste,” said Ms. Topper, of Mintel. “We can talk about various trends, but if it’s not something that first and foremost people want to consume, it won’t last.” Read the full article

[jenroses]

Turkey Day Menu 2017: GF and allergy friendly

From http://jenrose.com/turkey-day-menu-2017-gf-and-allergy-friendly/

Courtesy of my sister, who is willing to adapt menus for other allergy issues. Comment here if your needs are different. 

First off, we have multiple allergies and food issues. In short:

Me; Militantly gluten free and no strawberries or sulfites due to allergies. Also allergic to crustaceans (lobster, crab, possibly shrimp?), peanuts, hazelnuts, lima beans, oats, banana, and weird issues around standard commercial dairy and eggs, but I do fine with certain local products on eggs and dairy. I also randomly have issues with tomatoes, garlic, onions, some veggies,  peppers, but there are meds I can take that help reduce inflammation to tolerate those. Some forms of garlic are better than others. I avoid most soy, refined sugar and mold-type cheeses due to inflammation issues.

My eldest: Allergic to soy, egg, dairy, peanuts and wheat.

My middle: No citric acid or citrates, reacts to wheat in weird ways, same for natamycin

Hubby has texture/taste issues (goes beyond dislike, not an allergy) with visible egg, set gelatin, and most cheese (except pizza.)

Youngest is Intensely picky.

A turkey dinner is actually one of the easiest meals to adapt.

So, within those parameters, here is our menu, according to Sis, with bullet commentary by me.

  Turkey: 20 lb Shelton free-range, brined with herbs and spices, salt water, and apple juice or cider with no added citric acid

I don’t usually brine turkeys, but I trust Sis. Dad uses wine on the turkey, I cook at high heat and don’t touch it or baste it or brine it, but I might slip some kind of fat under the skin.

Stuffing: Costco gluten free bread cubes, better than bouillon based broth, herbs and spices, soy/dairy/egg/gluten free sausage, chopped apples & walnuts

I haven’t looked at Costcco’s gluten free bread cubes, but it’s really hard to get bread that everyone can have. Happy Campers is probably the best bet. Elegant Elephant has a sourdough loaf that can also be converted to cubes easily. Middle kiddo and I can both do Franz gluten free. Eldest and I can both do BFree. Bread is very regional, don’t be afraid to investigate. Other good substitutions include riced cauliflower, quinoa, and brown rice. Just substitute those for the bread in your favorite stuffing recipe, and be prepared to either cook the grains in broth and/or adjust the liquid content down.

Sausage: standard breakfast sausage is our usual–use whatever standard breakfast sausages you can tolerate. We use sausage-shaped ones, but loose sausage can also be used. Nuts are optional, sub sunflower seeds if you want the texture but can’t do tree nuts, or omit.

Apples work for us, cranberries and raisins are other options we’ve used in the past.

Better that Bouillon is something we also call “Chicken squishy” (or “beef squishy”) and is well tolerated by all of us. We use the organic low sodium version from Costco. Vegan options exist. Turkey is probably the ideal for this meal.

  Potatoes: potatoes, olive oil, salt

I mean, you can do almost anything with potatoes, ranging from just swipe a little oil on the skins and bake, to peel (or not) and boil and mash. Contrary to popular belief, mashed potatoes are fine without milk and butter, especially if they’re going to be buttered later and doused with gravy. Sub chicken broth or veg broth for flavor and texture if you want creamier potatoes, and Earth Balance for butter if you really want them “buttery”.

Pro flavor tip: While I love a peppery olive oil, if you get the “Extra light Napoleon” it tastes very buttery, a la melted butter.

Sweet potatoes*: plain, roasted whole

*actually Garnet or Jewel Yams (which are sweet potatoes, but very orange.)

The neat thing is that sweet potatoes take zero work. Stick them in the oven at whatever temp and roast until squishy.

Once roasted, the skins slip off and they can be sliced or mashed and amended as people like after. One of my favorites involves mashed sweet potatoes with coconut milk, coconut sugar, and spices like ginger and cinnamon. For dairy-and-citrate having people, slice the cooked sweet potatoes and layer with butter, maple syrup, orange and/or lemon zest, orange and/or lemon juice, ginger, nutmeg and paprika.

If you must have them with marshmallows, see my marshmallow recipe. Make the marshmallows with vanilla, not peppermint.

One year we made purple yams, garnet yams, and Japanese sweet potatoes, and mashed them separately and let people pipe them onto their own plates.

This was more work than it was worth given how picky my children are, but a lot of fun for those who both like sweet potatoes and like playing with their food.

Gravy: tapioca or rice flour, better than bouillon based broth, herbs and spices, assorted drippings and giblets

Most of the liquid should come from the turkey, plus the cooking water from any boiled potatoes if you have it, which can be boosted with Better than Bouillon if needed.

Holler if you want to know how we do gravy.

Cranberry sauce: cranberries, sugar and/or honey

I’m lobbying for maple syrup.

Homemade cranberry sauce is the absolute easiest thing. Put cranberries and sweetener in a small pan on the stove. Simmer for 10 minutes. Adjust flavor with more sweet, spices as desired. It really is that easy. It goes from whole berries to sauce sort of all-of-a-sudden. Cook for a minute or two longer to thicken.

Not middle-child safe as cranberries are inherently high in citric acid.

You can make a similar sauce with frozen blueberries.

Applesauce can fill a similar ecological niche on the dinner plate for those who can’t have citric acid.

Green beans: fresh green beans, garlic, mushrooms (I’m hoping for chanterelles), olive oil, salt

Probably using some sort of frozen garlic as I react less badly to frozen garlic than to fresh or dried.

If you can find a safe cream of mushroom soup, use that if you want a more casserole-y thing

Pacific Foods has a yes-dairy-no-gluten condensed cream of mushroom soup.

Adding coconut milk (full fat) to the above would give a similar effect.

This will taste outstanding even if it’s not creamy.

If dairy isn’t a problem, use butter

Add a little wine if you can tolerate it

And the best mushrooms you can get.

Brussels sprouts: Brussels sprouts, uncured bacon

*side-eyes hard*

I hate Brussels sprouts.

But they’re hypoallergenic

I guess

Raw sauerkraut

Plain, lactofermented sauerkraut is delightful and will help with digestion. It also adds a bright acid note to a heavy meal

We buy it. Sonoma Brinery is fantastic, but Trader Joe’s also has a very good version.

Oregon Brineworks Ginger Roots would be fantastic and pretty alongside a turkey dinner.

Vanilla ice cream

Sparkling cider

We watch for added citric acid but lots of brands are fine

Wine

“Well Red” from Trader Joe’s is no-sulfites-detected and passably drinkable

“Our Daily Red” is a cooking wine that is no sulfites detected but kind of awful tasting

If you can find Orleans Hill Zinfandel, it may be the best NSD wine I’ve ever had.

Gluten free pies:

We buy gluten free crusts that everyone can eat. IDK the brand

Where you can’t buy safe crusts, chop sunflower seeds or whatever nuts can be tolerated very fine (not paste) and toast them with a safe butter substitute and press them into the pan a-la crumb crust.

If they’re not staying up, just line the bottom like a cheesecake

Or do a straight up custard

It is possible to substitute gluten free flour for wheat flour 1;1 and palm oil, coconut oil or Earth Balance (we do the soy-free) for the fat, and then follow almost any pie crust recipe. Or google “gluten free pie crust” if you want.  We just buy crusts, it’s easier and the texture is more consistently what we want.

Pumpkin (eggs, pumpkin, brown sugar, vanilla, spices)

Note that this is a dairy-free recipe.

It’s basically just exactly the recipe on the Libby’s label but substituting eggs for the dairy

It’s a lot of eggs

It tastes better that way

and sets up VERY well.

Not safe for my eldest

Egg-free pumpkin (tapioca starch, pumpkin, brown sugar, vanilla, spices)

Note that this is corn-free, vegan, soy, egg, dairy and gluten free.

I would use coconut sugar

Apple (apples, brown sugar, spices, rum)

When I make apple pie, I mix the rum (or whiskey, but that’s not necessarily gluten free) with butter, sugar and a little starch to make a “hard sauce” that gets mixed in with the apples

People have gotten tipsy off of my apple pies

We have used booze to stop the apples from browning (it may not work but people think the browning is booze)

(they’re probably right.)

If citric acid is an issue, don’t use lemon in your pie

If it’s not, definitely use lemon in your pie.

Cherry (cherries, tapioca starch, sugar, almond extract)

Use almond flour for the crust if you want to really punch up the cherry almond goodness.

[thescarlettbitch]

Okay! So my cake turned out really good, if you like sponge-y cake, which I do. So, as promised, my recipe.

🐝Ingredients 🐝

4 Eggs (Yolks and whites separated)

3/4 cup All purpose flour

1/2 cup Sugar

4 tbsp Honey

1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp Butter

🐝Directions🐝

Separate the egg yolks and whites and ensure that there is no yolk in the egg whites.

Using a hand mixer, start whipping the egg whites at medium speed for about 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks is formed. Set aside. Tip: we've found it works better if your materials are cold, and definitely use a mixer as whisking it would take forever.

In another bowl, add sugar to the egg yolks and whip them using a hand mixer.

When the sugar mixes in, add the honey, softened butter and condensed milk and continue whipping until you end up with a pale yellow mixture.

Sift the flour into the yolk mixture. Using a spatula, mix the flour well into the yolk mixture.

Now add 1/3 of the whipped egg whites and lightly fold it into the flour-yolk mixture. This step helps loosed the batter.

Add the rest of the whipped egg whites and FOLD it into the batter.

Transfer the batter to a standard loaf pan with whatever you use to prevent sticking.

Now, tap the pan on the counter to eliminate air bubbles. (Or shake it, gently. This is what I did because our pan is glass and I ain't tapping that shit).

Bake at 325°F for about 45-55 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Yes, the top turns golden at about 30-40th minute mark during the process. Your cake is NOT BURNING. Continue till done. Tip: my toothpick did not come out clean because I drizzled honey over the top, but it's still done. It also got harder to push it through halfway down, so I'm pretty sure it got a little over done.

Cool the cake on a wired rack (or whatever I out it on a plate but now the bottom is sticky because of the honey, not my smartest move but it's whatever).

Cut into slices and serve.

🐝In Conclusion🐝

While I did overcook it, it was still yummy and moist and very sweet, and I will be modifying the recipe for my birthday in October, so look forward to that!

I did have to substitute a few things, to here is the original recipe I found. I'm sure with a few creative substitutions, this recipe could be used for a number things. For example, I will be making another one and setting it out for an offering.

I added a drizzle to the top while it was cooking and the only thing that did was make it stick to the plate I put it on, but it did taste really good either way. I've actually ate about half of it already lmao.

We've recently got yeast and a sourdough starter at my dad's house so I will be playing around with different breads and such :)

I have my Beltane cake in the oven! I'll post about it soon, providing its as good as it looks! Sadly I have to celebrate early as I'm going to my dad's house and will be unable to celebrate there.

[cmonboardbread]

“Sourdough milk bread test #4 yields a very, very tangy bread. Perfect with this Hong Kong Toast! Growing up this was how my we had toast: Simply buttered, sprinkled with sugar, and condensed milk. Now that I’m older, I’m adding a sprinkle of Maldon salt bc I’m a big kid now and love sweet with salty! 👩🏻” 

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credit: @mightyinthemitten .

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CB Bakery is your guide to bread and baking. We bring together the best homemade bread recipes and the most exclusive bakeries. For instructions on how to make bread dough, visit the CB website [link in the bio]

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Make sure to check out our baking-themed products at www.cmonstore.com

[theexploringegg]

Day 52: A World Wonder

That all-too familiar sound of my phone alarm alerted me to me to the early start. It was dark outside, and very quiet. I pulled on my clothes, not really caring all to much about my appearance. Hiza and Chonie were still up (they take a nocturnal approach to work) so I was thankful to receive a ride on the back of H's bike through the eerily quiet streets of Yogya. My destination was Sassi's workplace, one of the popular hostels in the city, where I was to get collected by the tour bus. Around 4am we departed: a small mini-bus full of bleary-eyed tourists. In just an hour, we were at the the Borobudur site. I had opted to watch the sunrise over the temple, distant in the horizon, before entering. The sunrise was kind of disappointing as it was cloudy but it did add a mysterious feel to the view. At 5.30am, we got brought to the temple itself. I couldn't get over the sheer size of it- a massive stone pyramid shape with hundreds of Buddha statues, topped with a spiked dome. Curious figures were ascending and following the steps around the structure, making their way to the top where the view was magnificent. After a brief cup of hot, strong, local coffee, I did the same. The engravings in the stone walls were again so detailed- it was fascinating. At the top, Buddha figures sat overlooking the scene and two monks clad in their bright orange robes were deep in meditation. I was annoyed at one lady who was taking up-close shots of them on her SLR for around 10 minutes and from all angles like they were some kind of tourist attraction. My time at the temple initially seemed long, but passed really quickly as I spent time exploring every single piece of art along the pathway around it. At 8am, it was bright and sunny, and I enjoyed a hot cup of jasmine tea with fresh fruit to revive me. The bus brought us back to Yogya, and I met Sassi about 10am. She picked me up on her bike and took us for breakfast- a jackfruit and green bean curry with rice and the ever-popular krupuk called sayur lodeh. I felt surprisingly awake for having had such a brief sleep. After picking up a card, we went back to the coffee shop from the day before. This time I had a manual brew which the guy let me do myself using their German dripper contraption (a Walkure). Sassi had one of their iced chocolate drinks which was sweet and rich. Saying goodbyes, I ordered a Go-Jek and rode home, trying to chat to my driver who didn't really understand much of what I was saying. Nevertheless, he was friendly and got me back safely. Before entering the house, I made some purchases from the supermarket, picking up some Indonesian condiments and medicine which I knew and loved. That afternoon, I arrived to not one, but three lunchbox deliveries that my friend Ezza had sent to the house. I opened mine with excitement: ayam pepes, rice, veggies, tempe and fruit were all prepared and packed inside. It was fun to eat it- I felt like I was on board a plane while sitting at home. I lazed around, and spent the time writing cards and sorting out my rucksack, throwing away from clutter I seemed to have gathered up. The tiredness finally caught up with me, and after a refreshing shower I took a nap, asking Chonie to waken me in time for meeting Sassi. My faithful service Grab was my way into town, taking me to a sourdough bakery/gelato shop called Cono Gelateria where I waited for Sassi to arrive. A mixture of tiredness and hunger made me feeling like I was starving, so I ordered a slice of pizza and a banana/cheese bread which were both lovely, although nothing on my sourdough treats in Nottingham. It would be my last time seeing Sassi, so I gave her a parting gift and waved goodbye as she took off for her night-shift at the hostel. I was on the back of a motorbike again, and came home to Chonie and Hiza who were both resting. I had been playing with my Vietnamese dripper and had picked up some condensed milk earlier, so made us all coffees. It was late, and we craved a supper so used Go Jek Food to order nasi goreng and butter prawns from their favourite store. I was shocked to find that Go Jek could be used for a number of services- Go Domestic (need a cleaner?), Go Post (need someone to collect your mail?), Go Line (want someone to queue for concert tickets for you?) and Go Beauty (need a beautician?) to name only a few. People are definitely getting lazier. Our poor delivery man had waited over an hour for the food (the restaurant was busy) and we cheered with delight when it arrived. Chonie cooked a massive sunny-side up egg for me (soft in the middle, perfect) while Hiza made a fresh sambal (more like a tomato and onion salsa). The fried rice, prawns, egg, sambal and a squizzle of kecap manis made one of the most comforting and delicious meals of the trip. I feel hungry even thinking about it now in retrospect! My intention was to write, but I procrastinated as ever and went for a walk around the neighbourhood with Chonie who explained to me about the community clubs where residents would meet to discuss, organise events, so night patrols and even give tips to whoever was on duty to buy a cup of tea (the excess being used for a community picnic once a year). It was a really sweet system. The sounds of a 4 part choir trickled through their local chapel, and we gazed inside at the young people practicing. It was a weird coincidence, but we actually passed the home of the Grab driver who had left me into town that night- he was standing outside smoking and we laughed when we realised he was a neighbour too. Back home, Chonie showed me her wedding photos and told me about their special days- how she had come from Sumatra to Central Java to Hiza and had to shake hands with the whole village community: 80% of guests she didn't even know! I learnt how their street had been blocked off and the woman of their neighbourhood had helped with the cooking, one house was opened for hair & makeup, and the ladies had dressed up to show the villagers who had arrived by bus-loads to the house. Chonie looked beautiful in her traditional Javanese dress- her hair scraped into points on her forehead like leaves- "They even shaved bits of my hairline!". She wore 5 large pins in her hair, standing like a crown at the back of her head, and her red and gold clothing sparkled. I felt honoured to learn about such traditions and culture. Excusing myself to go to sleep (how I had survived the day with such little rest was beyond me) and dropped off on the mattress very quickly. The sound of morning prayer did not waken me in the slightest.

[mythyhuynh]

Sourdough milk bread test #4 yields a very, very tangy bread. Perfect with this Hong Kong Toast! Growing up this was how my we had toast: Simply buttered, sprinkled with sugar, and condensed milk. Now that I’m older, I’m adding a sprinkle of Maldon salt bc I’m a big kid now and love sweet with salty! 👩🏻 #f52digin (at Detroit, Michigan) https://www.instagram.com/mightyinthemitten/p/BvkFN6mjKgw/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1b2qj5pk1e8b0