Yes, its true, i just learned that on ´Brianiac´that I´m watching (in Spanish of course lol) (it´s a TV show for those of you who like my parents don´t kow that lol).
I spent this morning at the ´rural house´ patio de tita the families hotel about thiry minutes from here. It´s possitively beautiful there, with a view of the ocean and a bannana plantation to boot! (perhaps I´ll have to try the bannana expirement for myself w- one of the bannanas and the pool! lol). BTW Dad, could you type up a few of the bread recipes from the joy of cooking for me? Like one for the regular white bread and another for whole wheat bread? We´re having a get together at the rural house on Saturday and they just installed a new outside oven and I told Loreto that I´ve made bread before and she got very excited :).
Also, A few book recomendations for everyone! If you are studying Spanish I highly recomend getting the Barrons Spanish Verbs book, in addition to over 300 fully conjugated (in all tenses, there are FOURTEEN in spanish, VS 6 (I think, I know there are only three simple, and I think there are only three complex in English too) in English!). When you get it, follow what is says in the beginning and read the introduction pages where it talks about the verb forms, you won´t believe how helpful it is! It turns out that that the future tense is rediculously simple, as are most of the other ones (if you have them crealy explained!). Dad, if you get this book and study it I´ll bet that within a few months you´ll stop having problems explaining the past present and future in spanish to your guys!
Also, for anyone who likes a good romance book, you absouletely MUST read Dear John the newest book by the guy who wrote the Notebook (which I know is really poorly written, but this one is FABULOUS) I forget his name right now, but go find the book. It was published just last year, and his writing has imporved soooo much you won´t believe it. Normally I wouldn´t have bought it becuase of how bad the Notebook was, but it was the only slightly appealing book in english (there were only like 20 to choose from :O Our assumption that I can just buy english books here was SOOOO WRONG! Or perhaps I just haven´t found the right place too...but I don´t know!). I think I read Dear John faster than I´ve read any book, it gets inside your head, and leaves you constantly wondering whats going to happen next, there are twists and turns that you would never expect, and it deals with real life things. In addition, it has some stuff written from the perspective of a soldier in the Iraq war which I found extremely fascinating (and distrubing!) Nicholas Sparks really did his research this time.
Ok, thats my update for now lol. I´ll try to move the video camera more slowly next time I Vlog (If I can make it work again :O)
Take care,
Molly
Edit: It was Nicholas Sparks the wriiter, not Nick Cage the Actor who wrote Dear John and the Notebook. Thanks Lindsay :) I would be forever further confusing the adult population without you! Loves y Besos
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2 comments:
Molly,
Thanks for the science and arts report from Spain - bananas and Dear John. I look forward to trying both of these ideas out.
As for bread recipes, Dad and i will work together to try to get you one tonight. He's at a conference today and tomorrow and working late on Wednesday but, if you or he point me to the right recipe books I'll type them out for you.
Hope your first day of school was not too overwhelming. It sounds like you are quickly catching on and getting yourself involved in your family and community.
Love as always,
Mom
Bread Baking... Q. 1 - Can you get dry yeast? If not we'll go to plan B.
The main thing is to let the yeast do it's work. Give it time.
Your first task is to count the recipe backwards and figure your schedule. In this case, 30 minutes to mix dough, 3 hours of rising, 40 minutes of backing, 20 minutes of cooling. Four and a half hours total.
Here's my other tip. When it's your turn to punch the dough down and knead, put both hands and your whole upper body into it. Don't cheat the dough, you will feel the difference in texture when the dough is ready to rest. I remember so clearly your grandma Laura Molly bent over the kitchen table, rhythmically kneading a ball of dough big enough for two loaves of bread and a pan of rolls.
Thank you for posting. I think about you across each day and treasure any bit of news.
Start with a clean surface at least a couple feet wide.
Let all of the ingredients come to room temperature before adding.
Preheat the oven. With an outdoor oven I would rotate the loves end for end and switch sides halfway through baking to ensure even baking.
Grease the baking pans. If you don't have bread pans, empty food cans make great bread pans. Wash them well and remove the labels. (Old hippy trick)
The 1 cup equivalent measure is about 250 ml for liquid, 120 g for dry. Teaspoon 5 ml, Tablespoon 15 ml. This will get you close enough
WHITE BREAD (Enough for two loaves)
Start with a large mixing bowl.
Add 1/4 cup of bathtub warm water.
(Not from the bathtub- just a guide to temperature) Stir in four teaspoons of active dry yeast (or one envelope of quick dry yeast) Let stand until yeast is dissolved- about 5 minutes.
In a second, smaller bowl...
Heat 1 cup of milk to that bathtub temperature. Add 1 cup of equally warm water. Add two tablespoons of softened butter (or shortening or manteca...whatever you can get) Add two tablespoons of honey or sugar. Add one tablespoon of salt. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Slowly pour and stir the milk mixture into the big bowl with the yeast. (Make it dramatic with flourishes appropriate to a four hour magic trick.)
Have at the ready 5 cups of bread flour (medium grind- not pastry flour)About 600 grams.
Here's where things get sticky. Add 3 cups of the flour to the liquid mixture. Stir with a sturdy wooden spoon. Gradually add flour until the dough is moist but not sticky. Your looking for it to make a ball, but still be quite moist.
Grab a large pinch of the remaining flour and throw it across the counter top you cleared and cleaned in step one. (Don't worry, your hands will come clean as the dough takes shape.) Use your hand to spread the flour around.
Pull the dough out of the bowl and plunk it down in the center of the counter. Knead for 10 metric minutes. Grandma Laura Molly's kneading pattern goes like this: Fold the dough in half from front to back. Push with the heels of your hand to stretch the dough forward. Turn the dough one-quarter turn (90 degrees) Fold the dough in half and stretch it out again. Shake out your arms from the shoulder down. Ten minutes will feel like an eternity the first few times. Keep going, the dough is starting to spring back.
Oil the big bowl. Drop the ball of dough into the bowl. Roll the dough over once to coat with oil. Cover loosely with a dampened tea towel. Let it rise in a warm place (like Las Canarias) for an hour or until doubled in size.
After the dough has doubled in size, it's time to punch it down. Pop it a good one right in the middle. Know put it back out on the counter and knead it for about three times around the circle- fold knead turn, fold knead turn...
Return the dough to the bowl, cover and allow to rise again until once again doubled in size.
While the dough is on it's second, grease your pans. Grandma would through a little cornmeal in the bottom of the pan.
Your dough has doubled again, now it's time to form the loaves. Punch the dough down. I cut it in half with scissors. Form two loaves, place them into the greased pans with the smooth side of the loaf facing up.
Cover them again with the damp tea towel and wait another hour.
Get the oven preheated to about 200 degrees C. Place the loaves in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, if you suspect the heat is uneven, rotate them end to end and left to right half way through baking.
When you remove them from the oven, turn the pans upside down to get the bread on the cooling rack. Test the bread for doneness by thumping on the bottom. It will sound hollow when the bread is baked.
Allow to cool on a rack.
Enjoy.
Te amo mucho mi hija, Dad
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