Hello, long time no write! Unlike every other blogger out there, I unfortunately didn't have anything pink, heart-shaped or chocolaty to blog about for this past Valentine's Day because I was feeling under the weather these past few days. I caught a cold over the weekend and then the other day I had some kind of stomach bug where I was hitting the bathroom literally every hour. TMI? So I was eating very bland foods so as not to upset my stomach again, and as a result, had little motivation to hop on the blog and do a valentine's day post. I was definitely not in a "let's make sparkly heart-shaped cut-out cookies!" kinda mood. More like "I wanna crawl up in a hole and sleep away the pain ." Haha, yes, rather melodramatic and depressing. I think I was especially bummed because I hadn't gotten a cold in a really long time and was pretty proud of that fact, but alas, my 'healthy streak' came to an end. However, I'm feeling heaps better now and almost back to normal. So that said, happy (belated) Valentine's Day! I hope everyone got to say "I love you" to someone, whether it be your significant other, your family members, a friend, or a furry animal. :)
Well, to back up a bit, last week my mom came up to Seoul to hang at my place since my dad is out of the country for a week. While she was here, we did a little bread baking together! Every time I make yeast bread, it always seems to come out differently, probably because I don't always follow an exact recipe, and I don't make it on a regular basis. I definitely need frequent practice in order to get more consistent results.
I like trying different bread recipes and this time went with the whole wheat bread recipe from 'The Joy of Vegan Baking' as a general guideline. We halved the measurements and made 3 mini loaves, which were baked in a single bread pan, so they were joined.
They pulled apart easily enough though.
Oh, btw, here's the dough on the first rise- so pillowy! I like to pretend I'm poking someone's belly. :) *poke, poke!* Unfortunately, the dough didn't rise as much during the second phase. We probably should've given it more time, but we were impatient and wanted to put it in the oven already! hehe.
As a result, our loaves came out smaller and more dense than expected. I'm still trying to recreate this perfect loaf I made way back in 2009. Eeesh~
It may not have been light and airy, but it was substantial, hearty, chewy, and still so good~~
As always, I ate it with one of my favorite toast combos of all time: nondairy butter and marmite! I'm telling you, it's the ultimate. The bread disappeared pretty fast...
Anyway, I really want to make more bread because I just love the way it makes my apartment smell, and there's something very therapeutic about kneading dough. :) Hopefully I'll have the discipline to stick with it and improve my bread baking skillz!
PS. Happy birthday Lili! xoxo