The sacrifices we make along the way.

It's been extremely quiet for Su in her apartment this Chinese New Year season. I often wonder what mom, dad and sis are doing back home every now and then. School's out today; and I've been cooking Malaysian-ish Chinese food for a get-together I'm having at mine tonight. Why the 'ish'? Well... considering my kitchen space, stock and availability of Asian groceries in Orlando; chinese-ish food will have to do! *laughs* I'm real bad at making traditional foods anyway; *shrug* I'm too rebellious with flavors and too impatient with ol'scool techniques. I'll leave the hardcore stuff to my skillful aunts and knowledgeable elders. It's the type of stuff I'll leave for later to learn when I eventually have a family of my own to feed. Now; it's all fun and easy food~ I'm going to treasure these moments as much as I can before responsibility shoves them aside.
Lets not talk about how depressing my New Year's Day has been and move on to yummier topics instead. For instance... Breads! *ugh*...
It's yummy to have a slice or two from a freshly baked loaf everyday. But when I take home a basket full of bread home daily; It gets a little 'ugh'. Lucky for me; I've made sufficient friends to spread that 'love' around!
My friends and I at school have been put through 2 full weeks of artisan breads and 'thank god!' Tuesday will be our last day of all that yeast! We can't wait to move on to our next agenda.
Chef Mary has been coming up with more interesting assignments for us by including fun things such as chocolate; cheddar; mexican choncos and bagels into our schedule.


It has been my favourite week of breads. I was excited that we were using more than just yeast, water and flour! *laughs*





After a freezer filled to the brim with bread, 60 odd hours of playing with yeast and the heap load of gluten I've tasted;.... I thoroughly understand now the techniques and science behind bread making. 7 days ago; It was driving me insane.. but 7 days after; I'm glad I made the best of our bread lessons. There were many moments where we stood at our work benches staring at our doughs; wishing they would proof quicker. *laughs* I found those moments the most painful...but those moments were also the ones that taught me most about baking. About being patient...and working with ingredients the way they should be handled. To not be aggressive and to understand before jumping to convenient conclusions for myself. Many a time; breads have came out unsuccessfully for me in my own kitchen. This was before I understood enough why being patient and precise with measurements was crucial for yeasts to function the way they should. Lag time in class gave me a chance to reflect on those many times I decided to up and go with doughs that weren't proofed enough; that were not at perfect temperatures and were just not ready! *sigh* silly me when I think about them now.I would'nt dare claim I'm 'good' at breads now..but I'm certain the curse of breads have been broken. *RejOice*