Bread Book

I highly recommend the book: "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day."The name is a little over-simplified as you can guess, but it's definitely faster than most traditional bread baking methods and the results are as good as any bakery I've bought bread at. Nice thick crunchy crust with a soft, dense interior that tastes great. I don't think I'll be using my bread machine much anymore.

The book focuses on the fact that pre-mixed, high moisture dough keeps well in the fridge.

Basically, you mix together the ingredients, no kneading. You let it rise for 2 hours at room temperature. Then you can either bake it right away, or refrigerate it for up to 7-10 days. If you make enough, you can have fresh bread daily, with just a brief 40 minute resting period before baking.

They include great tips and tricks and explain the properties of various types of flours, why kneading isn't necessary, why you don't need to "proof" yeast or need a starter dough. Their recipes range from peasant loaves, to rich breakfast dough and flatbreads, all with variations.

http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/

Edible Garden

This year, with the pigeon netting in place, we can actually sit outside and enjoy the balcony. I can also grow a lot more edible plants without being worried they'll be contaminated.

I bought 2 big tubs of basil, 2 tomato plants (one yellow cherry tomato and another medium sized red tomato) and a lettuce mix.

I learned from previous years that buying only one basil plant prevented me from plucking enough leaves, to make pesto. So I went a little overboard..... My calamondin/calamansi plant is still going strong making tiny sour oranges that I use to season seafood with.

And lastly, I learned that wrought iron furniture isn't comfortable for more than a half hour at a time, so I invested in some nice thick cushions. Time to spend some quality reading time with my plants.

World's Largest Burger

The Australians have set a new record for the world's largest burger, weighing in at 95.5 kg (roughly 210 lbs).

The burger required 81kg of mince, 120 eggs, 16 tomatoes, 120 cheese slices, 2kg of lettuce, 21kg of bread and half a kilo of barbecue sauce.

(via The Daily Telegraph)

Japanese Bunny Cakes

Mitsuwa is a huge Japanese supermarket in Edgewater NJ, near where we live. I've only been there a few time because it's significantly more expensive than a regular or Chinese supermarket, but sometimes I like to splurge. The highlight of my visit is always their bakery counter. You can see what caught my eye today: A $20 box of bunny cakes. I couldn't justify buying them, so I snapped a photo with my camera phone instead. I was wary of taking photos inside a store, since lots of places yell at you for that, but apparently more people take photos of the cakes there than buy them.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

I've always been a fan of the British "Naked Chef," so I watched 4 episodes of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution this weekend on ABC's website. Apparently he had started a campaign in Britain, convincing schools to improve their quality of food. After succeeding, he decided to try to do the same in the US, starting with the town of Huntington, West Virgina (statistically the unhealthiest place in the US). Kids are served pizza for breakfast, or are eating cereal with chocolate or strawberry milk. Jamie showed a class a bunch of tomatoes and no one knew what they were. When asked what they ate at home, the kids said chicken nuggets and chicken fingers. Meanwhile the school health board considers french fries a perfectly acceptable vegetable option.

What keeps me watching the show is the frustration I feel at the people of the town. Almost everyone is resistant to the idea of eating healthy. The local radio host and newspaper bash Jamie, the lunch ladies begrudgingly try his suggestions and the health board keep finding reasons why his menu doesn't meet their standards. All his tactics seem to fail him. It isn't until he gets a group of high school students with stories of deaths in their families or obesity problems of their own that people start to listen. He tries to show people that cooking isn't that difficult and that it isn't necessary to eat processed foods.

If anyone's interested you can sign his petition asking for healthier food in schools.

Be a taste tester for a Food Network show!

Why couldn't Food Network have these events while I was unemployed?!

Be a taste tester for the show "The Restaurant" in Brooklyn on April 2nd or 13th, both @ 11:30am. You can't have any food allergies. You'll get to try competing chef's dishes and comment on them. Everyone will be on camera for this show. Tickets are free, you just have to register for Onset Productions.

Calamondin Tree

My calamondin tree arrived tonight!!! It's a lot bigger than I expected, and I need to buy a bigger pot. I opened the package and was overwhelmed with the most amazing smell, something like a mix of jasmine and oranges. As you can see there are already 5 or 6 fruit, not to mention a ton of buds.

What the heck is a calamondin? Most of you may know it as a lucky orange plant. The fruit resemble tiny oranges, and don't get much bigger than the ones you see in the photo. They're extremely sour but great for seasoning seafood, or anything you would use a lime for.

I highly recommend the online seller I bought it from. She contacted me immediately, shipped the item right away by Priority mail and gave me instructions on how to care for the plant:
http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/mgmg9495