I Has A Hobby
Feb. 26th, 2011 07:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
masterofmidgetsYou know what I haven't done in a while? A picspam post! Time to fix that.
Now that I'm finally (and for an all too brief time, because I have drafts due this week and then finals start, alas) caught up with my work, I thought I'd take the day off to do stuff around the apartment. And by do stuff, I mostly mean cook. And bake. I made this sourdough recipe from KAF a few weeks ago and really liked how it turned it out, but there were a few things that needed tweaking, so I thought I'd try it again. I'm glad I did, because it was even better this time.
(apologies for the somewhat dodgy picture quality. Our kitchen/dining room is poorly lit, and my camera is old and cheap)
After kneading for the first time. The big drawback to this recipe is that it takes a loooong time - I started a sponge before I went to bed last night, finished the dough and kneaded it as soon as I got up, and had time to watch two different football matches while it was rising.
INTERLUDE: MUFFINS
I don't know what it is about me and muffins, but we do not get along. Maybe it's some peculiar personal failure, maybe I just need better muffin recipes, I don't know, but I always end with muffins that are either flat on top, like little muffin-cakes, or weirdly conical, like these. My mom reminded me this afternoon that Joy of Cooking has a Troubleshooting Muffins section, so I may try that; otherwise, I suspect I'll have to resign myself to a life of ugly muffins. Appearance aside, however, these made a delicious late breakfast with some sausage and milk. And yes, I eat at my desk. That is Doctor Fate lying on the bookshelf. :)
Shaped for the second rise. I don't know why I make two boules when I'm using a single loaf recipe (I adjusted this down to 3.5 cups of flour, because that's about as much as I can get through in a week. Fucking baker's percentages, I swear, what a pain). Force of habit, I guess.
Right at the end of the final rise. It looks so flat! Just like last time, it rose more out than up.
INTERLUDE: DINNER
Saturday night is beef night around here! Sometimes I do something a little more involved, like bulgogi. Tonight I was lazy and just grilled it like a steak with Roomie's grill pan. Very Rare Steak+fried polenta with hot sauce+broccoli= OM NOM NOM.
Fresh out of the oven. OMGWTF OVEN SPRING. Seriously, I cannot believe how gorgeous these loaves turned out! It was hard to make myself wait long enough for them to cool so I could eat them. YAY FOR SOURDOUGH.
And thus ends this episode of Cooking With The Midget. Oh wait, no. I have one more delicious thing to show you!
I don't understand how it is possible for any one person to be simultaneously as incredibly awkward and incredibly hot as Robin Van Persie. Cesc at least only tries (and succeeds, mmm) at being incredibly hot. Oh boys.
Now that I'm finally (and for an all too brief time, because I have drafts due this week and then finals start, alas) caught up with my work, I thought I'd take the day off to do stuff around the apartment. And by do stuff, I mostly mean cook. And bake. I made this sourdough recipe from KAF a few weeks ago and really liked how it turned it out, but there were a few things that needed tweaking, so I thought I'd try it again. I'm glad I did, because it was even better this time.
(apologies for the somewhat dodgy picture quality. Our kitchen/dining room is poorly lit, and my camera is old and cheap)
After kneading for the first time. The big drawback to this recipe is that it takes a loooong time - I started a sponge before I went to bed last night, finished the dough and kneaded it as soon as I got up, and had time to watch two different football matches while it was rising.
INTERLUDE: MUFFINS
I don't know what it is about me and muffins, but we do not get along. Maybe it's some peculiar personal failure, maybe I just need better muffin recipes, I don't know, but I always end with muffins that are either flat on top, like little muffin-cakes, or weirdly conical, like these. My mom reminded me this afternoon that Joy of Cooking has a Troubleshooting Muffins section, so I may try that; otherwise, I suspect I'll have to resign myself to a life of ugly muffins. Appearance aside, however, these made a delicious late breakfast with some sausage and milk. And yes, I eat at my desk. That is Doctor Fate lying on the bookshelf. :)
Shaped for the second rise. I don't know why I make two boules when I'm using a single loaf recipe (I adjusted this down to 3.5 cups of flour, because that's about as much as I can get through in a week. Fucking baker's percentages, I swear, what a pain). Force of habit, I guess.
Right at the end of the final rise. It looks so flat! Just like last time, it rose more out than up.
INTERLUDE: DINNER
Saturday night is beef night around here! Sometimes I do something a little more involved, like bulgogi. Tonight I was lazy and just grilled it like a steak with Roomie's grill pan. Very Rare Steak+fried polenta with hot sauce+broccoli= OM NOM NOM.
Fresh out of the oven. OMGWTF OVEN SPRING. Seriously, I cannot believe how gorgeous these loaves turned out! It was hard to make myself wait long enough for them to cool so I could eat them. YAY FOR SOURDOUGH.
And thus ends this episode of Cooking With The Midget. Oh wait, no. I have one more delicious thing to show you!
I don't understand how it is possible for any one person to be simultaneously as incredibly awkward and incredibly hot as Robin Van Persie. Cesc at least only tries (and succeeds, mmm) at being incredibly hot. Oh boys.