Bread and Early Prep
Jul. 15th, 2021 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39Tuesday morning. I woke up only slightly early to work on the challah bread.
Here it is after having risen in the fridge.
I guess it was too early for my tired brain, because I ended up sleepily braiding the dough incorrectly :/
It was supposed to be a four-strand braid, but somehow ended up looking like a three-strand because I got the pattern wrong.
Still, it doesn't look BAD.
After braiding I put it in the dryer with a mug of boiling water to proof.
No wet towel or plastic wrap to cover it, I just brushed it with egg wash every 40 minutes.
Here's the complete loaf:
It looks like a lobster tail! Lol.
Yes, my shaping leaves something to be desired. But considering that I've never braided bread before, and considering that this is my first attempt at challah, I think it turned out pretty good!
I'm especially pleased with the crumb. It's very soft and has a really nice texture. I'm not sure if that's because of alternating flour and oil while working with the dough, but whatever happened it turned out beautifully.
There are a few things that I'd like to change when I make this again (in a few weeks because I REALLY want to get this right):
- I'll braid it correctly, for one thing.
- I'll roll out the dough a little bit to help pop more of the large air bubbles, because as you can see the surface was pocked with them.
- I'll use a different type of oil. This recipe called for vegetable oil, and while that's "OK", the bread turned out more bland than I kind of expect a challah to be. Someone has recommended walnut oil, so I'd like to try that.
- I'll try to improve the shaping, but hopefully that will go along with braiding it correctly.
All in all, I thought this was going to be a fail, and it actually came together very well.
If all I need to work on is shaping/minor visual and flavor improvements, that is really not too shabby. Yay!
Once the bread was done and after cleaning up, I did a little gardening.
I chopped up the poor rootbound mint plant and repotted it, and set the strawberries free in the pollinator garden where hopefully they'll enjoy better success than they had in the hanging baskets. I threw out the long-dead dill, and gathered all of my pots and drop trays to be cleaned out later. I took a hand saw and hacked away at the little palm plant in our front yard, it has put out little babies all around itself and I don't have the right equipment to dig them out so instead I'm cutting all the leaves off. At bare minimum they won't crowd each other at least. While I was out there I weeded a bit, but didn't go too crazy because it's still the rainy season and that's a a battle I can't win.
Then lunch, and while Jameson was at the grocery I had a look at my suitcases. They're a little banged up from my stint in the cruise ship band, but overall still useable for The Next Thing. While doing that my phone notified me of a charge to my bank account, I saw that it was the check for my passport renewal being processed. Good to know that's moving along. I don't "need" my passport right now but I will probably need TSA Precheck in coming months, and you need a passport to get that.
Then it was time to practice the trombone for a bit while a thunderstorm blew through outside and Jameson worked on his Christmas music for his friend. Then I washed out some of my empty planter pots, got a shower, and ate dinner before going into steno class. Class was ok, but I felt distracted so didn't do quite as well as the previous week. After class we hung out a bit, I used the time t research some of the stuff I'll need to buy for Stuff.
Thursday I woke up and immediately realized I'd forgotten to put the trash out. Dammit!
That's a serious offense in Florida in July. But I was planning to go shopping today anyway, so I'll also rack up some bad carma by bringing the trash and dumping it at our old apartment complex. What? They have huge dumpsters that are rarely half full, and I've only got two bags of trash.
My big plan was to dump the trash, then go to a thrift store to try and find some of the things on my list, then to an outlet mall for some things I'll have to buy new, then to a post office for stamps, then to a grocery for ingredients for dinner, then home. There are still several months between now and Stuff and Things, but on days where I don't have much going on I'd like to knock some things out. Plus it's been an extremely long time since I actually "went shopping".
What actually happened is, it took almost an hour to get to the place where I could dump the trash, then the thrift store had nothing on my list and neither did the outlet mall, and by that time I was starving so skipped the post office and hit the grocery for lunch and dinner ingredients.
Online shopping is definitely IT now, isn't it.
I mean, I went to a luggage store and they didn't have packing cubes OR luggage scales! Really??
Back home I unpacked and got to work on dinner. We had healthy turkey sloppy joes on potato buns, with a side of green bean salad. I'm especially happy with how the salad turned out: it was blanched green beans roasted almonds, and feta cheese with a honey mustard lemon olive oil glaze.
After dinner I had intended to practice trombone or steno, but ended up online shopping instead.
There are things that I need for Stuff and Things, and I may as well buy them now instead of waiting until the last minute.
I hate spending money though, so this was hard.
Without going into huge detail: I'm going to be living out of a large suitcase and a carry-on suitcase for nine months.
So I need to decide what my "needs" are, vs what my "wants" are, and then find the most lightweight, most compact, most travel-tolerant ways to bring most of the needs and some of the wants.
Here are some of the things I'm shopping for today:
- compactible luggage cubes (2 large 2 medium 2 small)
- luggage scale
- immersion water heater
- laundry detergent sheets
- neck pillow
- microwavable, collapsible mess kit (includes plate, bowl, mug, silverware, and the plate and bowl seal to create a container for food)
- fleece jacket (for layering, looks nicer than a hoodie)
- trombone cup mute (I should have one of these already, sigh)
- bathing suit (have needed a new one for years)
- mini electric skillet (did not buy, need more info on how practical this actually is)
Most of these things I could use anyway whether or not Stuff and Things happens, but some of them make me flinch a bit.
Bathing suits are so expensive! I hate shopping for myself, spending money hurts, lol.
But I think that most of this stuff is practical, useful, and will very likely be needed for what I'm about to do. Which is still so crazy to think about.
Anyway, time to hit Send on this and wave good-bye to my money and get some sleep before work tomorrow.
Here it is after having risen in the fridge.
I guess it was too early for my tired brain, because I ended up sleepily braiding the dough incorrectly :/
It was supposed to be a four-strand braid, but somehow ended up looking like a three-strand because I got the pattern wrong.
Still, it doesn't look BAD.
After braiding I put it in the dryer with a mug of boiling water to proof.
No wet towel or plastic wrap to cover it, I just brushed it with egg wash every 40 minutes.
Here's the complete loaf:
It looks like a lobster tail! Lol.
Yes, my shaping leaves something to be desired. But considering that I've never braided bread before, and considering that this is my first attempt at challah, I think it turned out pretty good!
I'm especially pleased with the crumb. It's very soft and has a really nice texture. I'm not sure if that's because of alternating flour and oil while working with the dough, but whatever happened it turned out beautifully.
There are a few things that I'd like to change when I make this again (in a few weeks because I REALLY want to get this right):
- I'll braid it correctly, for one thing.
- I'll roll out the dough a little bit to help pop more of the large air bubbles, because as you can see the surface was pocked with them.
- I'll use a different type of oil. This recipe called for vegetable oil, and while that's "OK", the bread turned out more bland than I kind of expect a challah to be. Someone has recommended walnut oil, so I'd like to try that.
- I'll try to improve the shaping, but hopefully that will go along with braiding it correctly.
All in all, I thought this was going to be a fail, and it actually came together very well.
If all I need to work on is shaping/minor visual and flavor improvements, that is really not too shabby. Yay!
Once the bread was done and after cleaning up, I did a little gardening.
I chopped up the poor rootbound mint plant and repotted it, and set the strawberries free in the pollinator garden where hopefully they'll enjoy better success than they had in the hanging baskets. I threw out the long-dead dill, and gathered all of my pots and drop trays to be cleaned out later. I took a hand saw and hacked away at the little palm plant in our front yard, it has put out little babies all around itself and I don't have the right equipment to dig them out so instead I'm cutting all the leaves off. At bare minimum they won't crowd each other at least. While I was out there I weeded a bit, but didn't go too crazy because it's still the rainy season and that's a a battle I can't win.
Then lunch, and while Jameson was at the grocery I had a look at my suitcases. They're a little banged up from my stint in the cruise ship band, but overall still useable for The Next Thing. While doing that my phone notified me of a charge to my bank account, I saw that it was the check for my passport renewal being processed. Good to know that's moving along. I don't "need" my passport right now but I will probably need TSA Precheck in coming months, and you need a passport to get that.
Then it was time to practice the trombone for a bit while a thunderstorm blew through outside and Jameson worked on his Christmas music for his friend. Then I washed out some of my empty planter pots, got a shower, and ate dinner before going into steno class. Class was ok, but I felt distracted so didn't do quite as well as the previous week. After class we hung out a bit, I used the time t research some of the stuff I'll need to buy for Stuff.
Thursday I woke up and immediately realized I'd forgotten to put the trash out. Dammit!
That's a serious offense in Florida in July. But I was planning to go shopping today anyway, so I'll also rack up some bad carma by bringing the trash and dumping it at our old apartment complex. What? They have huge dumpsters that are rarely half full, and I've only got two bags of trash.
My big plan was to dump the trash, then go to a thrift store to try and find some of the things on my list, then to an outlet mall for some things I'll have to buy new, then to a post office for stamps, then to a grocery for ingredients for dinner, then home. There are still several months between now and Stuff and Things, but on days where I don't have much going on I'd like to knock some things out. Plus it's been an extremely long time since I actually "went shopping".
What actually happened is, it took almost an hour to get to the place where I could dump the trash, then the thrift store had nothing on my list and neither did the outlet mall, and by that time I was starving so skipped the post office and hit the grocery for lunch and dinner ingredients.
Online shopping is definitely IT now, isn't it.
I mean, I went to a luggage store and they didn't have packing cubes OR luggage scales! Really??
Back home I unpacked and got to work on dinner. We had healthy turkey sloppy joes on potato buns, with a side of green bean salad. I'm especially happy with how the salad turned out: it was blanched green beans roasted almonds, and feta cheese with a honey mustard lemon olive oil glaze.
After dinner I had intended to practice trombone or steno, but ended up online shopping instead.
There are things that I need for Stuff and Things, and I may as well buy them now instead of waiting until the last minute.
I hate spending money though, so this was hard.
Without going into huge detail: I'm going to be living out of a large suitcase and a carry-on suitcase for nine months.
So I need to decide what my "needs" are, vs what my "wants" are, and then find the most lightweight, most compact, most travel-tolerant ways to bring most of the needs and some of the wants.
Here are some of the things I'm shopping for today:
- compactible luggage cubes (2 large 2 medium 2 small)
- luggage scale
- immersion water heater
- laundry detergent sheets
- neck pillow
- microwavable, collapsible mess kit (includes plate, bowl, mug, silverware, and the plate and bowl seal to create a container for food)
- fleece jacket (for layering, looks nicer than a hoodie)
- trombone cup mute (I should have one of these already, sigh)
- bathing suit (have needed a new one for years)
- mini electric skillet (did not buy, need more info on how practical this actually is)
Most of these things I could use anyway whether or not Stuff and Things happens, but some of them make me flinch a bit.
Bathing suits are so expensive! I hate shopping for myself, spending money hurts, lol.
But I think that most of this stuff is practical, useful, and will very likely be needed for what I'm about to do. Which is still so crazy to think about.
Anyway, time to hit Send on this and wave good-bye to my money and get some sleep before work tomorrow.
