Skip to main content

Hot July in New York

Yesterday was really exhausting despite the fact that you did not do that much kitchen work compared to previous days. You couldn't. You feel sluggish and irritable, the humidity gets to you, you feel sleepy but you know you can't and it really sucks to turn on the oven because it will heat the room 10 times more. Today and the next few days to come will not be any different. You do not want to listen to politics on tv because it will only aggravate you. How's that for a pretty summer? Well, one thing is for sure, if you can sue the weather, i am 100% positive it will be locked up by now. Since you can't do that, you set your mind into something more positive, no, not typing on your computer or laptop because the heat of the machine gets to you as well. (love it during winter though). I think i will just soak my feet on a bucket full of ice for a change, eat chips with salsa (it's healthier than melted cheese), drink plenty of cold water and fruit juice and ramble just like what i am doing right now. What really got to me though was the fact that someone or something had eaten the leaves of my three apple trees. They were fine during Spring up until late June, i guess the heat is making these critters or animals bold enough to come close to the house itself. I feel terrible right now, i asked my nephews to help me build some sort of a fence around the trees, (the deers i think are the culprit, they make their way through a creek inside our property). Oh well, c'est la vie. I guess that could be the reason why no one around here has an apple tree, only us.
Those leaves are gone by now. They are starting to grow back, i just hope the deer will not come back.
For those who are curious, the Bread flour that i am using right now is this Honeyville grain brand, it comes only in 50 lb packages, i bought one last April and i am now down to my last 10-12 lbs.
Larger volume, able to absorb more water. That's what i like about this flour. Because i don't want to lose its elastic benefits on my breads, i am mixing in a little All Purpose, (using 100% All Purpose is not an option) to save every bit of the Bread Flour until my trip back to Manila on October 1. You guys can start calling me up around 2-3 days later for my October to March baking classes, let me adjust to the time difference and sleep it off for a few days. Yup, 12 pm/or noon in Manila is 12 midnight in New York, a 24 hour difference. The number to call is 9383639, ask for Shirley and i will be right there with you answering your questions. My first week will be spent entirely purchasing supplies again, in between snackings of Nilagang Saba and lunching on Grilled Bangus and Pinakbet. For a complete list of the schedule, just go to my website at www.breadmakinglessons.com

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

3rd Class Flour, What's It All About

For starters i cannot make this Hard Monay if i did not bring any 3rd class flour or soft weak flour to New York. Once i ran out of 3rd class and tried Cake Flour, it turned bad, do not even think of using All Purpose, it will be soft but not chewy as this one made with yes, 3rd class indeed. So third class is hard to find here in the US if you will use that term. You have to say or look for soft wheat flour, that's it, not hard wheat flour, not cake or All purpose but something in between these two. It is easy to find in the Phil., just ask your local bakery suppliers and they know it is Tercera. Tercera is not for bread, bakers use it basically for cookies, cakes and other pastries, but we bakers know how to create bread recipes using part of this flour with the bread flour or hard wheat flour. It makes a softer version of any of your fave breads, with a cheaper price tag. Plus if i own a bakery, i get to use the third class for my cakes and cookies, lowering my food cos

Cutting Pandesal, Baston Style

So how do we really do the Baston style "singkit" cut? First start with a slightly stiff dough, if your dough does not have eggs or eggyolks, a hydration of around 55% is ideal. I have seen bakers use less water, but that will make your Pandesal too dry and dense after 1 day or so so try to keep it slightly on the soft side, but not too sticky. Why? If you use a sticky dough for the Baston style cut, the dough will spread and will have a flat look rather than a rounded shape we are all familiar with. In Tagalog, "lalapad" ang dough so medyo flat ung Pandesal. So after you mix the dough, divide it into 2 to 4 portions if you are mixing  kilogram. Experienced bakers divide their dough into 500 gram portions, i do mine the same way. Flatten the dough, focusing more on the length and not on the height. The height of the dough should be around 2 to 3 inches only. Next, fold the dough while pinching the edges making sure the dough surface

Kape at Pandesal

When someone emailed me about Kape at Pandesal, i suddenly felt home sick. Just these two words. Dipping Pandesal in coffee. Who got this phenomenon or practice started? We all know the colonial Spanish era and Gregorio Zaide mentioned our fondness for idling around in the history books (Juan Tamad and siesta), but for breakfast? Who wants to jump up and down when you wake up? This is the answer. Dunking the warm, crispy Pandesal into hot, steaming coffee. How did this thing start? Who invented it? What made the Pinoys dunk their Pandesal? Maybe the Pandesal in those days are rock hard, or maybe it is one way to sweeten the bread. Baka may alamat dito. Is it because the Pandesal is salty in those days? After all, sal means salt right? The Italians love to dunk their Biscotti in coffee, but the Biscotti deserves it. Seriously, Biscottis if not dunked in coffee can give you a free tooth extraction. But the Pandesal? Okay to some, it cools down the coffee. Don't tell me they