Pierre Hermé 's Croissant

My jeans came today and I couldn't button all buttons no matter how hard I tried. Thanks Zappos for free shipping both ways! I'm going to return the smaller size which I couldn't none of the buttons even came close to button holes, but I want to keep the larger size for a while and pray that my diet works. Zappos gives you a whole year grace period to return an item, and it's all free. I am determined to fit into this pair because I really love it, which means I should stop making things like the above photo. Carb at its best.

Had a new year's potluck last Wednesday with ALA and I love occasions like this where I can pick any recipe I want to make and have people to eat the food. I've made croissants before using the recipe from Bread Bible and they were pretty good. I don't like doing the same recipe again if I was successful already. I like new challenges. I am a fan of Pierre Hermé and so I google searched Hermé and croissant and found this recipe. This is much more complicated than the bread bible recipe, but I do feel the recipe worth the extra effort.

Christollen

Ich liebe deutsche Weihnachten!!! Do the Germans know Christmas or what?? Well, they certainly know what food to eat during the holiday. Pfeffernüsse and Vanillekipferl can't hold a candle to stollen, or at least this stollen recipe. Remember my Christmas in July post? Well, that doesn't even hold half a candle to this stollen. This not-cake-nor-bread texture tastes just like the store bought version, except it has significantly more flavor than the store bought ones. In fact, this recipe is said to come from Dresden, Germany, the motherland of Stollen.

Turkey Day 2010

This might actually be the first time that "Turkey Day" is an appropriate name for my Thanksgiving, although I am deeply disappointed at my first turkey. In fact, I'm so disappointed at my dry turkey, I don't know if I will have the motivation to try again in the future. I brined, I buttered, and I labored, but my 10lb petite turkey still turned out like chopped winter skin. I checked the internal temperature around 2 hrs, and its fat little thigh registered at 153 *F of unsafetyness. I let it roasted for another 45 minutes but covered the white meat part with Alton Brown's aluminum turkey diaper...it simply was not a good turkey day in terms of turkey for me.

Garlic and Scallion Brioche

I realize that my postings are becoming few and far between these days. I was surprised that my last post was November 2, and now it's almost December! This makes me appreciate more than ever the effort many bloggers out there put into their blog to be able to update so often. I guess I'm just not very good with words, so I never know what to write. Also, my audiences have gone so varied, I have a hard time distinguishing what and what not to say on here. What's even more unbelievable is that my blog is actually approaching it's first anniversary in a few month's time, and I have about 90 entries (though not all of equal substance) already. Time flew. 

Christmas in July

I'm overdue for another update! The longer I'm keeping up with this journal the more respect I have for those serious bloggers who post daily because it really is a difficult task to come up with anything worth reading.

I have sadly bowed out of the Daring Baker community simply because I could not keep up with the monthly bake with everything that is going on right now. Though I have to admit the lack of world cup has returned some valuable time back to me. I am still baking, but without pressure.

Pain de Mie ( Pumpkin )

My baking seemed to take another halt this week and I was was worried that Stand-mixer Xavi needed its weekly tune-up. The Saleswoman at Macy's had warned me that many people purchase stand-mixers for decoration purpose, but these mixers are like cars and require periodic use. I didn't have any particular recipe in my "project" folder to try out at the moment, so I resorted to the fail-proof pain de mie and saved my dad another trip to the bakery.

Pain de Mie (Part Deux)

This has been the longest gap since I last updated. Work..paid or unpaid.. has been keeping me incredibly busy in the last few weeks. And my guitar practice takes up the rest of my free time, therefore I was left with very little time for baking. In fact, I just barely completed Daring Baker's March challenge yesterday... two days before posting is due! So stay tuned for the DB posting on the 27th! But here I bring you my second attempt at pain de mie.

Giant egg milk bread

My obsession with Green Day must have escalated overnight. The first thought I had waking up this morning was to watch the Green Day concert again (I recorded). It's really too bad that I missed their concert here in San Jose back in August.

Milk Custard Bread 奶酥麵包

I talked to my aunt on the phone last night, and she pointed out that I don't seem to have done any breads, but I actually had made a lot of breads, just haven't gotten around to post them! When it comes to bread making, I have mixed feelings. I love making breads because it's easy and the success rate is much higher than say cakes. But I also hate making breads because I lack the patience to wait for hours after hours for the dough to rise. Making bread really is a day-long job.

Yorkshire Pudding

I pulled a muscle in my left leg, and it really hurts. I don't remember when I pulled it, or how I pulled it. My leg did start to feel weird last night after watching a movie but certainly not pain like now. However it doesn't prevent my inner-chef to spend the whole morning in the kitchen. I started with making the dough for Tartine's lemon tart. Then I remember I still have some old bread yeast doughs in the fridge so I proceeded to make more horn breads that my grandma likes. Before I knew it, it was time for lunch again. Few nights ago while browsing through Carol's blog, I saw her recipe for Yorkshire puddings (or popovers). I have never had it before so I decided to try that for lunch.