There’s a lot wrong with the YouTube recommendation algorithm, especially with all the extreme videos it seems to push. Plenty of articles in the press about that. At the same time it can have its good side: Last year I discovered the Regrettes through it. This year I’ve found Jade Bird through it. I think the first song was this one:
This week this song and video followed (with a 61 year old stuntwoman doing the driving):
Her debut album is coming out on 19/Apr/2019, I’m going to pre-order soon. Here’s an interesting interview with three songs:
Another weekend, another baking experiment. Having made a few walnut breads in recent months I wanted to make something different. I came across a bag of cashew nuts which I had originally bought for snacking, but now decided to try them in a bread. I also had a bag of whole almonds (again originally bought for snacking) which I decided to use instead of the chopped almonds I usually use. And I remembered some Khorasan flour I had bought when the Spelt flour I usually use was sold out, so I decided to add that into the mix.
(1) dough for Hemp Cashews Almond bread
(2) Hemp Cashews Almond bread fresh out of the oven
(3) Fresh Hemp Cashews Almond bread
(4) Cut Hemp Cashews Almond bread
The ingredients I used:
150g strong stoneground wholemeal bread flour
150g strong white bread flour
150g Khorasan flour
100g hemp seed hearts
100g cashew nuts (whole)
100g almonds (whole)
~10g fast action bread yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
just over 1/2 pint warm water
Mix, knead, let rise as appropriate, then bake at 220ºC (fan assisted oven) for just over 35 minutes.
Turned out very nice, soft but firm dough with a nice crust. The whole Cashews and Almonds make it crunchy. Mild nutty taste from the Hemp and the nuts. Will be on my list to make again.
A mid December long weekend is well placed for some home baking (and my first steps with the new Gutenberg editor). Today I’m planning to make some Bremer Klaben and possibly some bread. Tomorrow I’ll definitely make some bread. Yesterday I improvised some Wholemeal Fruit Bread:
Wholemeal Fruit Bread freshly cut (phone camera picture)
The ingredients:
300g strong stoneground wholemeal bread flour
150g strong white bread flour
250g mixed fruit (sultanas, currants, raisins, candied mixed peel)
Mix, knead, let rise as appropriate, then bake at 220ºC (fan assisted oven) for just over 35 minutes.
Eating it this morning while writing this blog post, tastes nice, fresh and fruity. And I’m starting to get used to the new Gutenberg WordPress editor. I’m beginning to grasp the block concept and I think with a little bit more experience I’m going to like it.
Having used WordPress for a number of years now it’s time for a new chapter. This is the first of my three blogs I’m upgrading to WordPress 5, which includes the change to Gutenberg as the editor.
Before I upgrade the other two blogs I’m going to gain some initial experience using Gutenberg on this blog, just to make sure I’m ready before upgrading the other blogs.
Very first impression is positive, it looks fresh and clean and at least writing a simple post like this one seems quite straightforward.
Only minor ‘issues’ I’ve spotted so far are that there is no tag cloud for frequently used tags (which I quite liked in the old editor) and so far I haven’t found an easy option to insert special characters.
It was time for some baking again last Sunday (but I only find time to blog about it today), time for another experiment. I decided to make an alternative version of the Hemp and Almond Bread I first made back in June (and have made again since), mainly replacing the almonds with walnuts. But as the walnuts came in a slightly strange packet size I also played around with some the of volumes.
Walnut and Hemp Bread (1) – fresh dough
Walnut and Hemp Bread (2) – Dough in the form
Walnut and Hemp Bread (3) – Dough has risen
Walnut and Hemp Bread (4) – The finished bread
Walnut and Hemp Bread (5) – The bread cut open
These are the ingredients I used (I decided to also include some sunflower seeds):
400g strong stoneground wholemeal bread flour
200g strong white bread flour
125g hemp seed hearts
130g walnut halves
50g sunflower seeds
~15g fast action bread yeast
3 table spoons olive oil
400ml of warm water
Mix, knead, let rise as appropriate, then bake at 220ºC (fan assisted oven) for just over 30 minutes.
Taste test? Similar to the almond version, a nice slightly nutty taste, as expected from the hemp and the walnuts. Crunchy when you bite on a walnut. Also tastes very nice toasted.
