The world as I see it
Follow Carol’s suggestion, ordered a Pullman loaf pan from Chefmade on Amazon. Mixed the ingredients by had first before kicking off the mixer. Mixing at high speed for 15-20 minutes seemed to do the trick. The dough reach the 80ºF, but not yet smooth enough. Looked like it only picked up half of the dough. I think 300g flour is a bit too small for the mixer to mix the dough effectively. Nevertheless, the loaf came out very nicely. Next time will use a full 600g four.
Took an eight-day trip (19 – 26) around Thanksgiving to visit national parks in Utah. We visited Zion during 2017 spring break. This time we will cover Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands.
We flew to Salt Lake City on Friday night, drove about 2 hours before lodging for the night. The next morning we got up before sunrise and arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park at around 9.
We spent two days at Bryce Canyon, a day driving through Grand Staircase – Escalante, two days at the Capitol Reef, a day between Arches and Canyonlands before heading back to Salt Lake City by way of Price.
這個麵包是用 Carol 給我的吳寶春吐司食譜。第一次實驗，只用一半的份量，用400ºF烤15分鐘。這次用 KitchenAid 攪拌機打麵團。要打到外表光滑，內部80ºF (26ºC)。搞不清楚要用低速還是高速。用低速麵團就是軟趴趴的，用高速會成一團，可是又怕太久溫度太高。慢慢快快的打了快45分鐘，就是打不到光滑的程度。後來 Carol 說如果麵團溫度太高，可以把它放進冰箱一下再繼續打。原來還有這一招。下次用高速打到好。麵包有比較鬆，主要可能還是高筋麵粉的關係。可是還是沒達到台灣吐司的程度。
下次改進：液體部分用手工混好再給攪拌機打；奶油切小塊一點，放軟一點，再加；用高速打。
高筋麵粉 (bread flour)
糖
水
奶
鹽
酵母(instant yeast)
奶油
600g
60g
270g
140g
2t
2t
30g
360ºF (180ºC) 30分鐘
Made another raisin & craisin loaf Saturday morning. Attempt to 1.5x the size on Sunday.
Over rise the tough, 2 hours instead of 1. It deflated instantly with a small tap on the bowl. Shaped into three rolls, and the second rise overflowing the pan. Again, deflated quickly with a small agitation. Still not too bad of a loaf.
Always love the majestic look of an oak tree. A few years ago we heard about the Restore the Canopy program but never got around to plant one. Last month we finally brought two red oak saplings home from Crabtree Nature Center. We planted the first one last Monday. Unfortunately, the top got bitten off before the week is over. Planted the second one over the weekend, this time, wrapped a tight wire mesh around it. Must do a Totoro dance to get the tree to grow tall and strong!
Grow strong, little tree!
Let’s try some different flavors. Sprinkled a bit “everything but bagel” on the top and a layer of pepperoni. Actually not sure about the pepperoni, but going to add it anyway. Bake the bread in an 8″ cake pan.
Well, the pepperoni is all burned as I thought. Compare to pizza the bread is bake in low heat over much longer time. Oh well, maybe roll the pepperoni in the bread next time.
Substituting butter with vegetable oil for this one. The dough was so liquid and sticky, I cannot even knead it. I can only stretch and fold it over and over. Added sun dry tomato, sun dry tomato pesto, and a few slices of pepperoni. The bread turned out okay, not great. It’s not as crispy as with butter. Well, no more vegetable oil.
As the traveling restriction started to ease off, we started venturing to the outdoors. During spring break in March, we went to Southern California to visit the girls. During that time we went to the Joshua Tree National Park for a couple of days.
In July we went on a six-day trip to the Glacier National Park. The weather was hotter than we expected. We were sweating even at the peak of the trail. There were many beautiful trails, the most memorable one was from The Loop to the Grinnell Glacier Overlook where we look down at the glacier from the top. It took us 11 hours to hike the 9-mile round trip. We were planning on hiking the Grinnell Glacier Trail the next day to see the glacier from the bottom up but will have to leave that for our next trip. From Many Glacier, we hike to the Iceberg Lake. A spectacular view with many “icebergs” floating on a glacier lake. We definitely will have to come to Glacier again some day.
For the Labor Day week in September, we were in the Rocky Mountain National Park for five days. This time, we bought an annual America the Beautiful Pass. For sure we will be visiting many more national parks in the next 12 months. Similar to the Going To The Sun Road, the Bear Lake Road requires a timed pass for entry between 5 am to 5 pm. We could not get a pass on the first day, so we got up early and got to the Bear Lake by 4:30 am to start the hike to Sky Pond! This is the first time we hike in the mountains in total darkness. It was quite an experience to see the starry sky and rising sun over the mountain range as we ascend the trail. The second day we took a cross mountain hike from Bear Lake to Fern Lake, then on the third day toured the four lakes around Bear Lake. On the final day we drove up to the Alpine Visitor Center before heading back to Denver for our flight back to Chicago.
Next, we are planning for an eight-day trip to Utah for Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Grand Staircase, Canyonlands and Arches during Thanksgiving holiday.
Tangzhong: the quick and easy path to softer, more tender dinner rolls, sandwich loaves, and cinnamon buns.
Yvonne Chen
Was searching for ways to make the soft Japanese bread and found this Tangzhong (湯種) method popularized by a Taiwanese cookbook author Yvonne Chen. King Arthur Baking have a few recipes and blog posts dedicated to this method.
On Friday I used the classic sandwich bread recipe from King Arthur Baking with the tangzhong technique. The bread came out so soft and fluffy we finished the first quarter before it was even cooled off. One issue was that I divided the dough into four parts and the loaf came out kind of flat. Next one I will do only three or two parts.
So, we finished that one the next day. This time I will make one with raisins and craisins. Splitting the loaf into only two parts worked out much better. Need to remember to place the loaf evenly in the middle of the pan next time for it to rise evenly for the 2nd rise.
Edited based on my own procedure
Last time I cut all the ingredients in half to make one loaf, this time, I use the full amount to make two. Use the standing mixer, focused on kneading the dough thoroughly this time.
Did not know how to shape the dough properly at the end. Also, the dough was kind of dry and would not stick together. Though with better texture, but still drier than I like. The crust was really nice, almost like scone.
Update: Wednesday 10/25
Same ingredient, make the dough by whisking dry ingredients into the well of yeast water gradually. Instead of kneading the dough, pulling and folding it over and over for about 10 times. Still it was not sticky at all. Properly divided the dough and shaped it at the end. Came out even better than the last one. Lasted for a couple of days without drying up like the last one.
Everyone needs a hobby. I had done a lot of workout, especially push ups, during the pandemic. Now I want a new hobby, might as well start with making bread.
Starting with this easy recipe. Took about 3 hours from start to finish. The loaf is a bit stiff and too sweet. Will be cutting down on sugar for the next time.
Excerpt from Easy Home Made Bread Recipe
