practice makes... what?
thus commences the baking blog:
sooo i baked my first loaf of bread two days ago! i was very nervous, but everything turned out wonderfully! it was french olive oil bread (with bits of olives!). more on the dense side, but that's ok because it is a dipping bread. GREAT with cream cheese =) i couldn't believe that it went so well and really gave me the confidence in thinking that maybe i COULD have my own bakery one day.
the second attempt went not so well. actually, horribly. i attempted italian brioche, and while i was kneading, a million things went wrong. this is where maegan learned to "read twice, measure once" as she added 1 3/4 cup of butter instead of 3/4 cup. BAD. VERY. BAD. i tried rinsing it off and sqeezing/sloughing off all the excess butter but there was still way too much. once i got past that i realized i forgot to add the sugar. please. maegan, tell me how you forgot the sugar?! i didn't know how long i had been kneading so i was just going on how the dough reacted to me poking holes in it, and for a novice baker that's intimidating. i wish laura was with me. XD i decided to follow through with the entire process just to see what would happen, so i threw it in the fridge as the resting period was an overnighter. this morning i spend a freaking hour trying to cut out the triangular shapes to make the crescent-like rolls so they could rise for another hour. (whyyy did they take so long?!) and finally popped them in the oven. the end result LOOKS very pretty, but tastes... off. i knew it would. c'est la vie.
the third attempt was started right after i threw the brioche in the fridge. that was...1030 at night? haha. BAD idea. the wine i had that night had started kicking in so i was doddling around the kitchen like a dumbass. something simple because it was late at night, so i made french-style ciabatta. yes, i know, ciabatta is an italian bread, but the recipe says french style. so suck it.
that process was very simple, except the kneading time was VERY long. it called for 22 minutes in a standing mixer which means forever by hand. haha i really was employing laura's advice to "poke a hole and if it stays it's probably good". i was so tired by this point (11 20PM? I know, it's early for you, but i work a lot) that when i poked a hole and saw that it only bounced back a LITTLE, i called it done. i let it rest, punched it, shaped it and let it rise, which was easy enough. i'd say that the hardest part was getting it onto the baking stone. most breads are put directly onto the preheated stone in the oven. this called to quickly lift, flip upside-down, and place onto the 425F degree stone. riiiight. end result: i probably needed to knead (haha) longer. the bread was a little more dense and dry than i expected. besides being a little deformed on some pieces (okay almost ALL of them) they looked good.
haha and my dad made me giggle very much when he gave me his idea for my store. he said "you should make the best shakes in the world, the best pastries in the world, and call it Shake N Bake"
i love you, dad. XD
so i got a copy of the schedule today. i got off for the entire vacation time i requested. lmao.
i guess that's kind of good that i don't have to quit as i need the money, but it did make me realize how ready i am to leave the store. and all because of one person. that sucks... i love most of the people who work there, because we all pick on each other and it reminds me of home (hollins), except for cindy.
i'm so ready to not have to work with her any more.
i'm so ready not to be a pawn of corporate america.
i'm so ready not to have my soul sucked out any more.
and now i've found out i might not be able to go to washington in the spring. it really makes me upset... i really want to go because i feel like..i don't know. i would be happy there or something. i miss risu terribly and i miss elise, too. i have this terrible urge for some soul cleansing (mostly from working in retail), and i feel like a place with gardens and drum circles and faeries, free spirited art, wholesome foods, magick, and reese-persons would be amazing. at least that's what it sounds like when they describe it to me.
and i very much want a warlord prince. u.u or at least a nice pagan person. i'm flexible like that. =)
sooo i baked my first loaf of bread two days ago! i was very nervous, but everything turned out wonderfully! it was french olive oil bread (with bits of olives!). more on the dense side, but that's ok because it is a dipping bread. GREAT with cream cheese =) i couldn't believe that it went so well and really gave me the confidence in thinking that maybe i COULD have my own bakery one day.
the second attempt went not so well. actually, horribly. i attempted italian brioche, and while i was kneading, a million things went wrong. this is where maegan learned to "read twice, measure once" as she added 1 3/4 cup of butter instead of 3/4 cup. BAD. VERY. BAD. i tried rinsing it off and sqeezing/sloughing off all the excess butter but there was still way too much. once i got past that i realized i forgot to add the sugar. please. maegan, tell me how you forgot the sugar?! i didn't know how long i had been kneading so i was just going on how the dough reacted to me poking holes in it, and for a novice baker that's intimidating. i wish laura was with me. XD i decided to follow through with the entire process just to see what would happen, so i threw it in the fridge as the resting period was an overnighter. this morning i spend a freaking hour trying to cut out the triangular shapes to make the crescent-like rolls so they could rise for another hour. (whyyy did they take so long?!) and finally popped them in the oven. the end result LOOKS very pretty, but tastes... off. i knew it would. c'est la vie.
the third attempt was started right after i threw the brioche in the fridge. that was...1030 at night? haha. BAD idea. the wine i had that night had started kicking in so i was doddling around the kitchen like a dumbass. something simple because it was late at night, so i made french-style ciabatta. yes, i know, ciabatta is an italian bread, but the recipe says french style. so suck it.
that process was very simple, except the kneading time was VERY long. it called for 22 minutes in a standing mixer which means forever by hand. haha i really was employing laura's advice to "poke a hole and if it stays it's probably good". i was so tired by this point (11 20PM? I know, it's early for you, but i work a lot) that when i poked a hole and saw that it only bounced back a LITTLE, i called it done. i let it rest, punched it, shaped it and let it rise, which was easy enough. i'd say that the hardest part was getting it onto the baking stone. most breads are put directly onto the preheated stone in the oven. this called to quickly lift, flip upside-down, and place onto the 425F degree stone. riiiight. end result: i probably needed to knead (haha) longer. the bread was a little more dense and dry than i expected. besides being a little deformed on some pieces (okay almost ALL of them) they looked good.
haha and my dad made me giggle very much when he gave me his idea for my store. he said "you should make the best shakes in the world, the best pastries in the world, and call it Shake N Bake"
i love you, dad. XD
so i got a copy of the schedule today. i got off for the entire vacation time i requested. lmao.
i guess that's kind of good that i don't have to quit as i need the money, but it did make me realize how ready i am to leave the store. and all because of one person. that sucks... i love most of the people who work there, because we all pick on each other and it reminds me of home (hollins), except for cindy.
i'm so ready to not have to work with her any more.
i'm so ready not to be a pawn of corporate america.
i'm so ready not to have my soul sucked out any more.
and now i've found out i might not be able to go to washington in the spring. it really makes me upset... i really want to go because i feel like..i don't know. i would be happy there or something. i miss risu terribly and i miss elise, too. i have this terrible urge for some soul cleansing (mostly from working in retail), and i feel like a place with gardens and drum circles and faeries, free spirited art, wholesome foods, magick, and reese-persons would be amazing. at least that's what it sounds like when they describe it to me.
and i very much want a warlord prince. u.u or at least a nice pagan person. i'm flexible like that. =)