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Well today my attempt to get my oven fixed was thwarted so I bought another one. I could not get a replacement Morgan 42L so I bought a hestar 50 L oven… and I have to say it goes like a rocket. I have carefully placed a tray at the top so that I dont destroy the elements of this one.

The Greek celebration bread was made with a poolish which appeals to me because I am half Polish… I have also created a Barm called unimaginativily… Barney… If I like the bread I will make another one using Barney so I can compare and contrast. I have to say the oven spring in this bread was ferocious and I worried that I might damage my elements with the Bread!! well here are some pictures and enjoy!

Well yesterday I confirmed my worst fear… My oven is no longer in the land of the hot element… well the top elements no longer work:( I am gutted… However theres nothing like buying a new oven to cheer up even the most dour cook… so I will take my trusty oven of almost 2.5 years and see if it can be fixed… if not then a new oven is in order… I will try and get another morgan as it was fantastic… I guess the frequent collisions with the pyrex dish as I made my bread were not that helpful… I will be more careful next time.. I have to have an oven by the weekend as I dont want to get behind in my challenge…

Well I finished my Loaf and it was a sucess this time. I modified the recipe and added Treacle not mollasses and only added 3 oz intead of 4 and adding 2 oz of butter not one.. all in all it was a success… thank goodness I was getting worried that the yeast faerie had abandoned me… next its some greek celebration bread… roll on the weekend (she says on Tuesday):)

Anadama Finally!!

My first attempt…mmm not the success that I was hoping for. The bread tasted “funny” I think it was a combination of the molasses and the wrong  type of “corn flour” I used masa harina… the lime added a certain Je ne sais quoi… it was just yuck… so today I have bought polenta… and we will try again

a good crumb...if only that were enough

Here are some pics of my bread before the first proof and after the first proof. I was rather skeptical at the ammount of molasses that was required but after tasting the dough some of my doubts vanished… we will have to see about the end product though… I am not sure that appreciate the colour…. rather a disturbing shade of brown… another hour and the proof will be in the eating.. until then I sit with baited breath:)

Before the proofing

After the proofing

I have joined a number of people to complete The Bread Bakers Apprentice’s Challenge.  The challenge is to make all of the bread’s in Peter Reinharts book of the same name. There is a flickr group which is located here with pictures of the breads that the group make. I have to say… i’m excited I am going to start my Anadama Bread tonight!!

Well we are back in Vientiane again for two nights until we go back to Malaysia. I am enjoying the croissants and the coffee as well as the Laap… or as the Thai’s like to call the larb.. mmm salty/sweet/sour… slightly crunchy and delicious.

Sticky rice or not cooked enough rice as one member of our party likes to call it is also V delish…. I love the container called a Kong that it arrives in and its glutinous nature.. whats not to love and I totally disagree with the its not cooked enough idea…

Today as we traveled from Vang Vien home of the endless friends episode we once more had a sweat box of a time.

Well Sonkran is over and the water fights have stopped thankfully… it was getting tiresome carrying things in plastic so they didnt get wet. Some of the excellent pattiseries have opened again and so this morning I had a croissant ordinaire…mmm delicious.   We are off to Luang Prabang today… flying for $78 USD.. much better than a windy road.

armed and dangerous!!

The biggest water fight in Asia. We landed in Laos to find that we were in the middle of the Buddhist new year celebration’s. What fun imagine being able to pour water on anyone you see. No fights ensue unless they are water fights which involve whole hotels or families. It’s great. Here is a picture of an old man getting into it as a big water warrior.

Well, up early this morning to make bread and to make biscotti… mmm almond biscotti not quite as nice as pistachio biscotti but almost as good.

Well today we are off to Brick fields to the blind masssueses and then to the Gardens to replace my burkini bottoms that Dad has commandeered for sailing.

mmm biscotti!