Author: Maria Runs

Yeah, that is right, my sourdough loaf looks like ET. Well, either ET or a skull, but I hate skulls and skeletons so I am going for ET.

I followed this recipe, so step 1 took several days- putting flour and warm water into a jar and stirring, then each day adding more water and flour to “feed” it. No yeast, but it did bubble.

Here you can see the bubbles that appeared, before I covered it in more flour and water.

Then I had to make the dough- 300ml of the starter mix (which was very gloopy so I had to ladle it out), 500g flour (I did half wholemeal and half white), 200ml warm water and a pinch of salt.

It looked a bit messy in the bowl, and it took a lot of kneading, but it did come together to make quite a sticky dough. From things I had read on the internet, the dough would be wetter than a normal bread dough- something I read said to keep it as wet as you could bare.

Then it went back in the same bowl (I don’t like extra washing up, sorry!) which I coated with a little rapeseed oil.

I actually took some photos to see if it had risen or not, because I was having trouble working it out! Anyway, after a good few hours I kneaded it gently and shaped it into the dough shape. I made a makeshift proving basket by lining a pasta bowl with a teatowel, and left it overnight.

Again, I was not sure if it had risen in the morning.

But a look on the camera confirmed it! Or rather, it had spread!

Then I heated up the baking tray in the oven (at 240C- super hot!) and baked it for 35 mins.

It rose so much in the oven, I was shocked- I honestly think it doubled in height! I did slash the top with a serrated knife, but not deep enough it turns out because it sort of burst out the bottom.

I could not resist slicing it while it was still warm.

And enjoyed an end piece with some hummus for lunch. It has turned out really well for a first go- nice and chewy and it does have a faint sourdough taste. I think as the starter mix gets more mature the flavour will develop too.

And seriously, what do you think it looks like? I am still saying ET!

Have a lovely weekend- stay warm wherever you are 🙂

Hello all.

This week for WIAW I chose Monday as my day. It has been pretty cold here so as you will see I have been consuming my weights in tea to keep warm.

Breakfast:

Wholemeal toast with nut butter and apple and mango jam, plus mint tea. Not the best breakfast but I had an appointment with Occupational Health and I was again a bit nervous (about driving there and about the actual appointment).

Snack:

Lovely peanut butter clif bar, and some vanilla and lemongrass tea to calm me down once I got back from the appointment (which ended up being fine although I hate driving/ parking somewhere new and I could not work out their map, and then got told I should have parked in the disabled bay!).

I had a little walk, but that turned out to be not a good idea as I got in a bit of pain and had to sit on a bench for ages before I could walk the last bit home.

Lunch:

Coconut pancakes with coconut chocolate spread, microwaved apple with cinnamon, clementines and (I think ) Teapigs spiced red winter tea. For the pancakes I used this recipe, only I used egg replacer (and only made half), used soya milk instead of coconut milk as I didn’t have any, plus I left out the sugar. They were tasty and very coconutty, but not that filling.

Afternoon snack:

I heated up some chocolate soya milk, and had it with some grapes. This chocolate milk (provamel) is very very sweet, so be warned.

Dinner:

Another mystery dinner (eg something from the freezer defrosted). This turned out to be some chickpea stew which I had with a some tofu marinated in mango/chilli/lime sauce (which did not go very crispy- need to practise this I think!). Plus mandarin and ginger tea.

Dessert:

Rooibos tea and a chocolate peanut butter brownie.

I do wonder how many different types of tea I have! I keep seeing Orange and Coconut tea online, but I have yet to find it in the shops. What is your favourite unusual flavour of tea/ other drink?

Thanks as always to Jenn for organising the link-up- pop over to her website to have a nose. 🙂

 

Hello all, I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

I spent a bit of time baking:

I made the peanut butter brownies from Sweet Vegan .

They were for Sunday tea and they were very popular. So gooey and yummy.

I also made some scones for my parents as they are finally back from their travels. These turned out better than I had hoped- I wanted to use the recipe from The Great British Bake off book , but then (too late) realised I had no eggs. I used Orgran egg replacer, and they turned out fine. Duh, I know it is called egg replacer for a reason, but it still impressed me!

I have also started to make some starter dough for some sour dough bread. I am following this recipe (after seeing it on the TV)- I read loads of my baking books but none of them had a real sourdough recipe (e.g. no added yeast).

You have to “feed” the dough with more flour and water every day, so that is what I have been doing so far, and the above pic was from this morning. It is actually bubbling (although you cannot probably see because I tipped the flour on top) which is amazing as there was no added yeast. I am still on step 1 though, it is a long project!

Baking is pretty good for me because once I have weighed everything out I can sit at the table and get on with it- no heavy lifting either! But I need people to give all the baking too! 🙂 I have a friend visiting tomorrow so I will make something for her too. I have ordered myself some fabric squares and I am going to start (once they arrive) sewing them together to make a patchwork quilt. Or maybe just sew them together and then use it as a duster? Just kidding! Anyway that will keep me occupied.

Today I was very lucky as my parents invited me over, so I got to have breakfast and lunch with them, and lots of company in the day time 🙂

I got to see all their photos (they went to New Zealand), and as a prize for looking at them all (they always do that!) they gave me this really pretty necklace which is apparently a good luck charm (I need one at the moment!) and some mammoth chocolate bars.

What sort of souvenirs do you bring back from holidays?  (For yourself or as gifts). I used to collect mugs/ cups, but we ran out of space a long time ago, and I never like getting rid of them so have an abundance of pen holders (e.g. cups in the living room etc), so now we try to buy a magnet from each place we visit. But I find it hard to choose nice presents for my parents/ other people.

Happy Saturday all.

I made the most of Andy being home to make us some lovely bread for lunch (I don’t think it lasts that well and in the week I would not eat it all by myself!).

I used pretty much the same recipe as the cinnamon and raisin bread that I have posted on here before.

I like to activate the dry yeast first- most recipes say it is not neccessary but I find it gets better results. So first up I put around 90/100ml warm water in a cup, and add in a handful (15-25g) raisins and a tsp yeast. Leave it to bubble a bit, for around ten mins. I like to soak the raisins first because then they plump up, and also are less likely to catch in the oven I find.

In another bowl weigh out 150g strong plain bread flour (I did half white and half wholemeal) and add in your spices. I used cinnamon, cloves and mixed spice.  Tip in the yeast mixture and stir for a bit, then put into a board and knead for 5-10 mins. It might be craggy at first but it will come together.

Then put back in the bowl and cover- leave for an hour. I would usually use some rapeseed oil in the bowl to stop it sticking, but I had run out, so I melted a tsp coconut oil and used that instead.

Once it has doubled in size, tip it back out and knead for a bit- at this stage I added in some shredded coconut (not much, maybe 15g?) and some pumpkin seeds for crunch. Again, maybe 10/15g. Once it is all incorporated in the dough, put it in the loaf tin. It needs to be left for another hour, so it will rise again.

Preheat the oven to 200C, and then bake for 35 mins.

Leave to cool for a bit before slicing, otherwise it won’t cut very well.

Then spread with whatever you love the most and enjoy. I had one with rainforest nut butter, and one with a little coconut oil and some apple and mango jam. Delish.

Next time I would use more coconut, but I had hardly any left in the packet!

Bread making always gets bad press I think, but I never find it that much work. The worst bit it all the waiting around while it rises (makes it harder to make if you are at work, although I have made the dough in the evening and left in the fridge overnight as it really slows down the yeast, and means that if you get it out of the fridge and put it in the loaf tin as soon as you get home from work, it is ready to be baked about an hour later (so enough time for a run/ gym class etc).  So, give it a go 🙂

Anyway, today for the waiting I alternated between watching some football and reading this book:

The lovely Lara sent it to me- it is getting me all enthusiastic about running- there will be no stopping me once I am better. I feel like I will be back to square one (eg one min run, one min walk) once I am well enough to run again, and I know I did it once so I should be able to do it again, but this book is helping me see that I will make it again. Plus it is giving me a lot to giggle about 🙂 So thanks Lara. 🙂

I have also been enjoying lots of cups of tea, including this tasty drink:

Raspberry and strawberry rooibos tea. Because it is loose leaf tea I get to use my tea infuser thing too. 🙂

Also I found this photo on my camera- so enjoy. It was a lunch from in the week- I think I suddenly realised I was hungry and so it was shoved together with the things I could find the quickest- sunflower ryvitas with baby avocado/ rocket and caramelised onion hummus (the hardest thing to eat!), cucumber, grapes, apple.

And this is a random question- (if you drink tea) do you take the teabag out before you drink it? Laura mentioned that she leaves the teabag in, but the idea of having the teabag accidently touch my teeth/ lips really freaks me out. Often on TV shows now (often Modern Family) the people will be drinking tea, and they like to show it is tea by having the label hanging out of the cup, but I hate that idea. Even if I get a tea in Starbucks or somewhere I will take the bag out (but I suppose with black tea if you leave it in too long you get that “stewed” taste). Andy always laughs at me for this (at home he would take it out, but out and about he would not be bothered so leaves it in which is fine unless we share a cup!). So- teabag in or out?

PS Now I have the hokey cokey in my head.