This was the first hands on class in our house in New York, and although i was a bit apprehensive about it since the chill was still in when we started (3 sessions locked in at 63-65 F) only this last one made it to the real summer temperature which was a blessing.
I had to scramble all sorts of tricks in my bag to speed up the proofing, (you will be amazed at the speed i was working) just so the dough will rise on time and my student, Jocelle Uy will still be able to leave for home before night time.
I was surprised that we manage to finish as if we were in Manila. Goes to show that a little prayer and lots of planning work. It was my first time to try this, i never accepted students here before because of the problems with proofing temperature ( i don't have a proofing cabinet, just an improvise one) and even with the make shift baking rack cum heater, i know there would be problems if we will make 3 to 4 kilograms of dough in a day. If say, the batch is way smaller, then no problem. I can fit all the dough in a cabinet, stick a heater inside and the dough will rise on time. But 4 kilograms??? Nah.
Another problem was the flour and other ingredients. I managed to sneak in 10 kilograms of Wellington, bread improver, 1 kilo of milk powder, 1 kilo of all purpose flour bleached for the siopao (the all purpose here is disappointingly dark even if it is bleached), 5 kilograms of third class and instant yeast. Now, you see i have been begging her to pay her deposit so i can bring in the whole cavalry. She wouldn't. All these were just tira tira from my hands on class in Manila, and so i told her if she will make a deposit, then i will bring the whole list of ingredients we would need. I will place them all in my check in luggage. She did not pay so well, i ended up buying milk powder here which is not for baking so the cost was like 10 times more, extra 10 lbs of bread flour because what i brought was not enough, and the margarine and shortening were both not for baking breads because it is 0 trans fat so......
Which brings me to my point. Please, if you want to take the hands on class in New York and this she said she saved a lot of money because i only charge 150 a day ha, please please pay the deposit. I happen to prepare a session before, these 2 pinays from Chicago did not pay the deposit. i bought the ingredients etc.,etc, and they did not arrive. They cancelled because she does not have a driver. Fine. I was stuck with a 50 lb bag of Honeyville grain bread flour and everything else. Unless someone pays the deposit, i will not consider you enrolled and i will not prepare for the class. The milk powder i got here was not fine so some of the granules, can't explain how it looks like, like the Maxwell instant coffee granules sort of, powdery but not fine and it is hard to dissolve during mixing.
When she came in on our 3rd day session and showed me her siopao, she was very unhappy with the results. I wanted to tell her, look, i could have maybe spared you an extra kilogram of all purpose flour but i did not bring any because you know.... not gonna lift and push that heavy load in the airport for nothing. The bleached all purpose she used, she thought will look like the one we made in class but it did not. I already told her, the bleached kind here is still way too dark compared to our all purpose in Manila that's why i bring with me 1 kilo every time i come to New York and that is just for my nephew John. If i was 100 % sure she was enrolling, i could have brought 5 kilograms. Heck i gave away my all purpose to Manang for her hotcakes since i did no't want to bring too much luggage.
You see, going through immigration in New York is irritating since i have to lift the boxes (2 40 some pounds )on to the trolley. I am barely 5 feet tall and i have slight scoliosis. That is torture.. Then, if you ride Asiana, the guy there will automatically tell you that since you are a Filipino, you must have Siopao, Chicharon or any type of meat in your luggage. How come you have no Chicharon? You're from the Philippines, you bring Chicharon. So annoying!!! Anyway, then he will ask you to lift your boxes on to the conveyor, then pull them both back on to your trolley. With my bad back, (i had radiation 13 years ago) and the long flight with no sleep, you are near category 8 explosion at this point asking yourself why you were so stupid enough to bring in that much luggage.
That is why this last trip, i did not bring that much. Two smaller boxes, i think i left out at least 50 lbs worth of luggage but then,,, i was willing to bring extra if someone will enroll in the class. I am used to working with the ingredients in Manila, so i must and should bring most of what we need in class because i owe it to the student. Glad to know she is coming home after 12 years and i already told her the big difference once she tries shopping for ingredients in Manila. Iba kasi yung shorteing and margarine that we used. Dito is 0 trans fat everything, sa atin all hydrogenated, and no 0 trans fat. Big difference there. It was a good thing she can shop bulk at Restaurant Depot because this outlet stocks up on good quality bread flour although i will not dare use a brand i have not tested when i teach. I have to at least test the flour 2-3 times before i use them in my class so good thing i brought 10 kilograms with me which i normally do since sayang if i will just leave it to stale in Fairview.
All in all, i was very happy. I made a new friend and i love her attitude and her commitment to this new found craft. She used to be a nurse but she vows to pursue baking even if there is more money in nursing. Good for you. Whatever makes you complete makes it all even better. Not very often i stumble on people who love bread as much as she does so it was a blessing to have a student like her.
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I had to scramble all sorts of tricks in my bag to speed up the proofing, (you will be amazed at the speed i was working) just so the dough will rise on time and my student, Jocelle Uy will still be able to leave for home before night time.
I was surprised that we manage to finish as if we were in Manila. Goes to show that a little prayer and lots of planning work. It was my first time to try this, i never accepted students here before because of the problems with proofing temperature ( i don't have a proofing cabinet, just an improvise one) and even with the make shift baking rack cum heater, i know there would be problems if we will make 3 to 4 kilograms of dough in a day. If say, the batch is way smaller, then no problem. I can fit all the dough in a cabinet, stick a heater inside and the dough will rise on time. But 4 kilograms??? Nah.
Another problem was the flour and other ingredients. I managed to sneak in 10 kilograms of Wellington, bread improver, 1 kilo of milk powder, 1 kilo of all purpose flour bleached for the siopao (the all purpose here is disappointingly dark even if it is bleached), 5 kilograms of third class and instant yeast. Now, you see i have been begging her to pay her deposit so i can bring in the whole cavalry. She wouldn't. All these were just tira tira from my hands on class in Manila, and so i told her if she will make a deposit, then i will bring the whole list of ingredients we would need. I will place them all in my check in luggage. She did not pay so well, i ended up buying milk powder here which is not for baking so the cost was like 10 times more, extra 10 lbs of bread flour because what i brought was not enough, and the margarine and shortening were both not for baking breads because it is 0 trans fat so......
Which brings me to my point. Please, if you want to take the hands on class in New York and this she said she saved a lot of money because i only charge 150 a day ha, please please pay the deposit. I happen to prepare a session before, these 2 pinays from Chicago did not pay the deposit. i bought the ingredients etc.,etc, and they did not arrive. They cancelled because she does not have a driver. Fine. I was stuck with a 50 lb bag of Honeyville grain bread flour and everything else. Unless someone pays the deposit, i will not consider you enrolled and i will not prepare for the class. The milk powder i got here was not fine so some of the granules, can't explain how it looks like, like the Maxwell instant coffee granules sort of, powdery but not fine and it is hard to dissolve during mixing.
When she came in on our 3rd day session and showed me her siopao, she was very unhappy with the results. I wanted to tell her, look, i could have maybe spared you an extra kilogram of all purpose flour but i did not bring any because you know.... not gonna lift and push that heavy load in the airport for nothing. The bleached all purpose she used, she thought will look like the one we made in class but it did not. I already told her, the bleached kind here is still way too dark compared to our all purpose in Manila that's why i bring with me 1 kilo every time i come to New York and that is just for my nephew John. If i was 100 % sure she was enrolling, i could have brought 5 kilograms. Heck i gave away my all purpose to Manang for her hotcakes since i did no't want to bring too much luggage.
You see, going through immigration in New York is irritating since i have to lift the boxes (2 40 some pounds )on to the trolley. I am barely 5 feet tall and i have slight scoliosis. That is torture.. Then, if you ride Asiana, the guy there will automatically tell you that since you are a Filipino, you must have Siopao, Chicharon or any type of meat in your luggage. How come you have no Chicharon? You're from the Philippines, you bring Chicharon. So annoying!!! Anyway, then he will ask you to lift your boxes on to the conveyor, then pull them both back on to your trolley. With my bad back, (i had radiation 13 years ago) and the long flight with no sleep, you are near category 8 explosion at this point asking yourself why you were so stupid enough to bring in that much luggage.
That is why this last trip, i did not bring that much. Two smaller boxes, i think i left out at least 50 lbs worth of luggage but then,,, i was willing to bring extra if someone will enroll in the class. I am used to working with the ingredients in Manila, so i must and should bring most of what we need in class because i owe it to the student. Glad to know she is coming home after 12 years and i already told her the big difference once she tries shopping for ingredients in Manila. Iba kasi yung shorteing and margarine that we used. Dito is 0 trans fat everything, sa atin all hydrogenated, and no 0 trans fat. Big difference there. It was a good thing she can shop bulk at Restaurant Depot because this outlet stocks up on good quality bread flour although i will not dare use a brand i have not tested when i teach. I have to at least test the flour 2-3 times before i use them in my class so good thing i brought 10 kilograms with me which i normally do since sayang if i will just leave it to stale in Fairview.
All in all, i was very happy. I made a new friend and i love her attitude and her commitment to this new found craft. She used to be a nurse but she vows to pursue baking even if there is more money in nursing. Good for you. Whatever makes you complete makes it all even better. Not very often i stumble on people who love bread as much as she does so it was a blessing to have a student like her.
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I miss my loaf pans, the silicon on top were supposed to be non-stick but they stick like hell. The shortening here even makes it worst because after baking, it leaves a sticky gluey like substance to the pans and molds. Yuck!
These are Tasty loaf bread dough, left is with garlic chive butter topping, plain in the middle and the right one has a spanish bread cream cheese filling.
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Using the same dough, i asked her to review her cinnamon roll lesson and did not help her with this. This was not the dough we used to make the cinnamon roll but i want to she her (to her suprise) that she can use any dough. Kaso mo, when i asked her to cut the log into 12 pieces, she only managed 10 cuts. Ha ha ha. We have to borrow two extra cuts to fill in the pan. Okay lang.
This is her final exam. If you noticed, the two in the center were much smaller because we took it from the other log. That one i have to cut into 14 pieces.
More photos next time.....
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