Great Discount

I work from home on Thursdays.  I decided to pass by Coles on the way home from church because I wanted to get carrots for the beef stew planned for dinner.  

As I entered the grocery, I was thinking of what else to pick up while I was there.  

We had milk in the fridge, so no need to get milk.   

There were only a few apples and oranges in the fruit bowl, so maybe I get some fruits.  

We were down to two pan de sal, so maybe I should get some bread.  

I picked up a bag of mandarins after getting the carrots.  I walked over to the bread aisle then changed my mind about getting bread.  I decided to check if there was bread flour on sale.  Last time I checked, there was a sign for bread flour on sale but it was already sold out.

Over at the bread aisle, I was thrilled to see that they had restocked the flour on sale.  The big 10 kilo bag was on sale at $20 from $27.   

I moved the bag closer to the edge of the display rack then mulled over the purchase.  Should I just ask MacGyver to pass by after office and get the flour with the car?  Or would I be able to manage the 10 kilos all the way home?

I decided to return the mandarins and buy the flour.  I figured I went to the store to get carrots, at the very least, I should go home with carrots.

I proceeded to the self-check out lane with the bag of flour and the carrots.  

When I scanned the flour, the display rang up $27.  

Wait a minute!  I thought this flour was on sale!

I called the Coles lady over and explained that I thought the flour was on sale.  We walked over to the flour aisle and I showed her the tag.  

"Oh, this sticker is out of date," she said after looking at the tag. "Don't worry, you will still get it at discount.  I just have to check something out."

She walked over to the main counter and spoke with her supervisor for a long time.  She came back and apologised for taking so long.  Then she said, "Since there was a price error, you get the flour for free."  

Whoa!  I was only looking to get the 25% discount but 100% discount was infinitely better.

Naturally I thanked her and said I would never say no to free flour.  In my mind, I was so happy that I decided to get the flour myself instead of waiting for MacGyver to get it with a car at a later time, even if it meant carrying the bag all the way home.

Popular Japanese Milk Bread

What kind of bread should I try with my new pans?  MyGirl requested that I make Japanese Milk Bread.  

I checked Google and discovered that the NYT Cooking site had great reviews for their Milk Bread recipe. The second runner up did not even come close.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to decide to stick with the one that New York Times and over 2,200 people have given their thumbs up.

It was a good thing that back in 2021, my high school classmate Eclair introduced me to Bake With Paws and her Yudane vs Tangzhong method because the way the NYT recipe was written, the half cup of water was not in the list of STARTER ingredients.  I had added some water into the pan when I was making it because the roux seemed too thick and did not approximate the tangzhong I had made in the past.  

Admittedly, the additional water was in the main recipe so if I had followed the recipe to the letter, I would have seen that I needed to add water.  It was only when I had finished and re-read the recipe and gone through some of the comments in the site that I realised how glad I had followed my instincts to add water, instead of relying solely on my (poor) speedreading skills.

Check out the NYT Cooking site for the actual recipe.  Below is my rough set of instructions.  The sugar in the dough can be reduced to 2 T if one does not want the bread to be too sweet.

This recipe is definitely a winner.  

JAPANESE MILK BREAD 

STARTER
o    ⅓ c /45 g bread flour
o    ½ c /120 ml whole milk
o    ½ c /120 ml water  

DOUGH
o    2½ c / 325 g bread flour
o    ¼ c / 60 grams sugar
o    2t / 7 g active dry yeast
o    1 t /4 g salt
o    1 egg
o    ½ c / 120 ml warm whole milk (+extra for brushing on the unbaked loaf 
o    ½ c starter 
o    4 T / 60 g unsalted butter, cut into pieces at room temperature (+ extra for greasing bowl and pan)   

 

1.   In small heavy pot, whisk starter ingredients together until smooth.  Simmer over medium low heat, stirring often, until thickened but pourable (~ 10 mins).  Spoon will leave tracks at the bottom of the pot when it is ready.  The starter is good for two loaves.   

2.    In stand mixer bowl, combine flour, sugar, yeast and salt.

3.    Add egg, milk and ½ cup starter. Turn the mixer on low speed and knead for 5 minutes.

4.    Add soft butter and knead another 10-12 minutes until the dough is smooth and springy (will still be tacky).

5.    Lightly butter the inside of a bowl.  Shape dough into a ball and place in prepared bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (~ 40 to 60 mins).

6.   Punch down dough and transfer to work surface.  Cut dough in half. Lightly form each half into a ball, cover again and let rise 15 minutes.

7.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

8.   Using a floured rolling pin, gently roll out one dough ball 12 x 6 inch oval. (Dough should be moist but not sticky.)

9.   Make a 6x6 square by folding the top 3 inches of the oval down and the bottom 3 inches up. Then roll up the dough into a fat log, then place the log in the buttered pan, seam side down and crosswise, nestling it near one end of the pan. Repeat with the other dough ball, placing it near the other end of the pan.

10. Cover and let rest 30 to 40 minutes more, until the risen dough is peeking over the edge of the pan and the dough logs meet in the center. Brush the tops with milk and bake on the bottom shelf of the oven until golden brown and puffed, 35 to 40 minutes.

11. Let bread cool in the pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and let cool at least 1 hour. (Cutting the bread too soon will cause bread to deflate.)  

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

The trip to the home country had been planned as early as December 2022.  Before the trip, I was trying to figure out if there was anything in particular I wanted to get from there because it was not available here or perhaps cheaper to get from there.  Bread pans seemed cheaper from Lazada than  Amazon and eBay.  

Based on my online shopping trips, Lazada PH had bread pans at PHP 222 (+ PHP 38) delivery.  That came up to about AUD 7.00.

That was a lot cheaper than AUD 28 that I found in Amazon AU.

Two weeks before we left, I asked brother J if he could get two pans for me.  I figured with enough lead time, the pans would arrive before it was time for us to leave.

When my birthday arrived and he had something wrapped up for me to open, I had totally forgotten that I had asked for loaf pans.  As such I was happily surprised to get exactly what I wanted for my birthday.

Thanks, J!

Sweet Beginnings

When we were growing up, Mother would insist that we make something sweet first thing on the first day of the new year.  She said it was so that the rest of the year would be sweet.  She would typically make a simple syrup.  I honestly cannot recall if we would always end up having hotcakes on 01 January but am almost sure she made the syrup.

I can imagine that she wanted to get the syrup done early and aimed to finish before Father woke up since Father’s morning routine was always the same - upon emerging from their room, Father would stop by the altar in the study room, say his morning prayers, then head to the kitchen and brew his morning coffee.  Given a choice between a sweet and a bitter year, am sure you’d agree that everyone would go for sweet. 

Making something sweet first thing in the year is probably as effective as jumping as the clock strikes 12 on New Year’s Eve.  I know we are not meant to be superstitious but I like the idea of having a sweet year ahead. So syrup it was for many years.

This morning, as the rest of the household slept, I got up and headed for the kitchen.  During the New Year’s Eve celebration last  night with the family and relations, it was decided that we would push through with the  New Year’s Day picnic at noon and I hadn’t prepared anything yet.  I knew what we wanted to bring for lunch (kimbap) but had to decide if I should follow tradition and make something sweet first.

I pulled out a small saucepan and was about to make syrup but changed my mind.  I knew I wouldn’t have time to make hotcakes today and didn’t think I’d be able to make hotcakes any time soon.  

I decided to make some candied walnuts using a recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen. Sweet and simple.  

1 cup walnuts + 1/4 c sugar + 1 T unsalted butter at medium heat in a non-stick pan for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly then cool on parchment paper

Hopefully this would suffice to make 2023 a sweet year for us.

Happy New Year!!

After Hours Sylvanas

After making the ensaymada and something else, I had six egg whites sitting in the fridge.  We could have made them into egg white omelettes but what's the fun in that?  In fact, that was not even among the options when I was thinking of what to do with the egg whites.  The list included meringue, pavlova, and sylvanas.  

I had bought some strawberries and cream thinking that we'd find the time to make pavlova but that did not happen.  

Finally, on Friday the 29th of April, MyGirl convinced me to agree to make some sylvanas.  She said, "Log off from work now and let's make some sylvanas."  We drove to Coles to get some Marie biscuits because we needed that and I had none in the pantry.  It was past nine when we got home and we still had to wait for the butter to soften.  We had several messy hiccups trying to make the sylvanas but we got there in the end.

Extra calories coming right up!

Easter Ensaymada

I wanted to try out the ensaymada moulds I bought from Tropical Hut.

They worked beautifully and were easier to clean than the ones I already had at home.

The  Super Soft Ensaymada Bread Roll recipe I used was recommended to me by a friend.

There were only three of us at home since MacGyver was in Manila so I decided to give some away.  MyGirl drove and we dropped off Easter ensaymada, instead of Easter eggs.

These were about 60g per piece.

I let them rise a couple of hours.

Fresh out of the oven.

 Yum!

Easter Egg Hunt

I was going around the mall when I noticed a sign advertising an Easter Egg Hunt. 

I scanned the QR code and this is what it said:

Follow the clues to find the eggs. 
Point your phone at the eggs on the floor to bring it to life in AR.

There was a promise of a Lindt Chocolate Bunny if one found all the eggs.

I had followed the clues and found all the golden eggs.  
I took a photo at each of the locations but I could not bring them to life. 

I wanted that chocolate bunny.

This was me as I started the egg hunt on my own.

Here are the pictures I took at each location.

I sent a message to MyGirl and she came over and did the egg hunt with me.  
She was able to bring the eggs to life.  (The clues are in bold blue.)

Start hopping to level 3 where you'll find me close to the Apple egg-sperts. 
We headed for the Apple Store.

Colour me egg-cited, find me where brick lovers create and play on level 2

These beautiful tulips were outside the Lego Store.

Put your egg-sercise shoes on and head to the store famous for their three stripes.

The Addidas store was also on the 2nd floor.

Get cracking, find me outside where the dine-in restaurants are egg-ceptional.

We found these beauties outside.

Egg-cellent de-egg-tive work.  Now hop to the moon and star-bucks to find me on level 1. 

Down we went to the food court near the Starbucks.

She took this picture of us as we completed the egg hunt.

After following the clues and finding all the eggs, we headed to Customer Service to claim our chocolate rabbit.  The lady said the egg hunt was only open to kids 18 years and under.  

What?!  I did not see that in the TERMS AND CONDITIONS.  

So unfair.  I wanted that chocolate bunny!

In the end, all was not lost. I had a fun time with MyGirl.