series

Holiday To-Do list : For The Book Lover

| San

reading list printable template // mono+co

I have another list that I want my kids to fill up, school holidays or not : book titles that they have read or plan to read.  So I did a very fast sketch of a lady reading, applying it on the same template for the movie list done yesterday, and it is ready for download below.

So what can I fill it with?  Other than the titles that the kids pick out randomly from the shelves, here are some recommending sites that I find useful :
// The NLB librarians have put up a list of titles suitable for children and teens.  I wish they have a similar list for Mandarin books too.
// This list of 2014 Notable Children’s Books from The American Library Association might be worth a look if your kids are done with the NLB’s list.
// This PDF list of 100 Children Books of All Time compiled by Scholastic in 2012 contains titles suitable for kids from age 0-11+.  I’ll love to have kids checking off the titles that are done, and then proceeds to motivate her to finish the rest of the list.
// I also found two other book recommending websites worth bookmarking : this and this.

DOWNLOAD : PRINTABLE TO DO LIST (BOOK LOVER THEME)

Holiday To-Do list : For The Movie Buff

| San

Printable :To-Do list w/ Movie Buff Themed // mono+coPrintable :To-Do list w/ Movie Buff Themed // mono+co

Like the previous school holidays, the kids and I have a few movies in mind to watch during this coming year end break.  I hand drawn a movies-to-watch list this morning.  Then made a printable one for future use, downloadable below.

The pretend tickets in the second photo is free from here. Another mom made a series of realistic looking printable movie tickets for Disney movies, think it will be awesome for  movie screening sessions at parties.

 

DOWNLOAD : PRINTABLE TO DO LIST (MOVIE BUFF THEME)

Walnut Wholemeal Bread

| San

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Unlike most home bread makers I know, my bread making routine did not take off well with a bread making machine.  The model I bought produced bread with a synthetic aroma that I couldn’t quite figure out what it was even till now.  As it was a discontinued model that went for a song, I had no after sales service to rely on.

For a while, I thought my recipes were wrong.  Yeast was not a familiar ingredient then.  I figured I had probably put in too much yeast, cos I could not pinpoint what other ingredient could attribute to that strange smell the whole time when the bread was in the machine.  After throwing about 5 loaves away, I gave up troubleshooting the recipe, and decided that yeast was just not my kind of ingredient. And along the way, concluded that bread making machines make strange smelling bread.

It was not until I got a mixer which came with the dough hook, that eventually turn me into an avid bread maker.  The breads I kneaded with the mixer and baked in the oven no longer emit that strange smell, so I could safely conclude that there was indeed something wrong with my bread machine.  Although I wished I could handle a dough from start to finish like this, the mixer made the task too easy, plus my hands are too warm to handle the dough.  A half machine homemade bread is still better than a factory produced one anyway.  No E-some-number ingredients. No Preservatives.  Just flour, salt, water and yeast.  Plus any ingredients that I like.

I am beginning to get too comfortable with this Champion’s Milk Toast recipe, so I started adapting it to bake a healthier wholemeal version.  My first not-so-successful attempt, to replace the bread flour completely with wholemeal flour, ended up with a super dense loaf.  So this time I tried with a plain flour and wholemeal flour mixture.

The first proof went well enough to encourage me to added some chopped walnuts into the dough during final shaping stage.  I decided not to use my usual “swiss roll” shaping method to create a neat looking loaf, but with this folding and sealing method instead.  The end result is a pretty rustic looking loaf of bread, that still maintains the fluffy texture of the original Champion’s Milk Toast.

WALNUT WHOLEMEAL BREAD
Adapted from here
INGREDIENTS :
- 150g plain flour or bread flour
- 150g wholemeal flour
- 24g fine sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 135g water
- 69g fresh milk
- 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- 15g unsalted butter, cubed
- 30g walnut, roughly chopped
INSTRUCTIONS :

01. Put all ingredients, EXCEPT BUTTER & WALNUTS, in the  mixing bowl.
02. With a flat beater attachment, mix all ingredients at low speed (1 on my kitchenaid)
03. Change to a dough hook, and continue to knead the dough, adding cubed butter gradually.  Keep kneading till dough reached window pane stage.  You may increase the speed of the mixer to level 2 halfway when the dough starts to look stretchy and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
04. Remove the bowl from the mixer, grease working hand slightly with butter so that the dough won’t stick to fingers, loosely shape the dough into a ball*.
05. Cover the bowl with a clean damp tea towel, and let it proof for at least 60 minutes (or until it double in size).
06. After the dough has double in size, punch the dough down, and move it to a clean work top.
07. Roll loosely into a ball, leave it on the counter covered with towel for 15 minutes.
08. After 15 minutes, the dough will rise again.  Flatten the dough and add chopped walnuts to the dough.  Knead to mix the walnut well into the dough.
09. Shape the dough into a loaf shape and place it in the bread tin.
10. Covered the bread tin with towel, and let it have a final rise.
11. Once dough has risen to fill up the bread tin, bake it for 30minutes in a preheated oven at 170C / 240F.
12. When the baking time is over, remove the bread from the bread tin immediately, and let it cool down completely on a rack.

++ NOTES TO SELF ++
///
this dough will be sticky, almost impossible not to stick to fingers when touched, so I had to use the tucking method (using greased fingers to tuck/fold the sides of the dough to its base)  to roughly shape it into a neat ball for its first proof. See second photo,  it’s not all smooth and perfect, but good enough.
///
my bread tin measures 20x10x10 inches.

DIY Popsicle #009 : Blueberry Banana Yogurt Popsicle

| San

diypopsicle9_blueberryyogurt001 diypopsicle9_blueberryyogurt002 diypopsicle9_blueberryyogurt003

The yogurt pops are just as easy to make as it is satisfying to consume.  I have mentioned before, that the flavored yogurts are your best bet for an (almost)-instant popsicle treat.  Just fill up your popsicle molds with ready yogurt and freeze.

But I still feel guilty for its sugar content.  The frozen yogurt sometimes can taste just as good as they are straight off the tubs from the chiller compartment.  If you have made enough ice cream, you’ll know that more sugar/ sweetener is required for the recipe because the ice cream (or anything desserts frozen) will taste blander when frozen.  I have to disregard all my diet concerns when making ice cream at home, but it’s good to know how much sugar you are getting, and what commercial joints are adding in, this sort of deter me from binging on ice cream when I am feeling for a sweet fix.  The hot days lately aren’t exactly helping with my curbs either.

So enter plain/greek/greek-style yogurts as the base for today’s popsicle recipe,  plus bananas and blueberries as the natural sweetener.  Here’s roughly how:

Blueberry Banana Yogurt Popiscle
INGREDIENTS
- Plain yogurt (I used full fat version for a creamier texture)
- 1 large banana (the riper, the sweeter, the better)
- 1/4 cup blueberries (fresh or thaw them if frozen)
INSTRUCTIONS

– In a food processor, blend banana and blueberries until smooth.
– Measure this banana/blueberry mixture in a measuring cup, and fold into twice as much yogurt till it is well mixed.  The more yogurt you have in the mixture, the more creamy and less icy it will be.  My own preference for the banana to yogurt ratio is 1 : 2.  Feel free to adjust.
– Taste the mixture, and add some honey if it is not sweet enough.
– Scoop mixture into the mold.  I added 2-3 blueberries first into mold to make the popsicle look nicer, totally optional.
– Tap the mold on the table a few times before freezing, to get rid of air pockets within the mixture.
– Freeze till popsicle is set, at least 3 hours.

++ Notes To Self ++
///
I use full fat yogurt for a creamier texture end result.
///
The riper the banana, the sweeter it is.
///
Fresh or thawed frozen blueberries are both okay for this recipe.
///

D-I-Y (Decorate It Yourself) Cake

| San

diycake001diycake002diycake003diycake004

While I have no qualms about eating a sponge cake as it is without any frosting, the kids are more than eager to decorate a cake first before eating it.

It is an easy activity to prepare, with only 4 items, for an hour of fun!

ITEMS NEEDED:
- 1 x 6" whole cake
- Heavy Cream / Whipping Cream
- Food colorings
- A Few Small Clear Plastic Bags/ Sandwich Bags
Optional For Extra Decoration :
- Chocolate Rice 
- Chocolate Buttons
- Colored Sprinklers
INSTRUCTIONS :

01. Prepare whipped cream frosting with these instructions here.
02. Frost entire cake with plain whipped cream.
03. Separate rest of the whipped cream frosting in at least different bowls.
04. Add food colorings to make colored whipped cream.

05. To turn plastic bags into piping bags :
A. Fill the bags with frosting cream, squeeze the cream down to one corner.
B. Twist to tie up the bag, making a knot closer to where the cream is and cut off a tip as a piping hole.
C. Try to cut a smaller hole at first.  You can make a small hole bigger if you find it too small for the cream to be piped out smoothly, but you cannot turn a bigger hole smaller.

06. The rest is up to their imagination and creativity.  Have fun!

 ++ NOTES TO SELF ++
///
Plain cupcakes or muffins are also good alternatives to whole cakes, and just as fun.
///

Champion’s Milk Toast | 吴宝春金牌牛奶吐司

| San

wpcmilkbreadloaf001 wpcmilkbreadloafsq wpcmilkbreadloaf002 wpcmilkbreadloaf003 wpcmilkbreadloaf004 wpcmilkbreadloaf005 wpcmilkbreadloaf006 wpcmilkbreadloaf007 wpcmilkbreadloaf008

I have been very very lucky to be able to get my hands on 吳寶春麥方店’s World Champion Rose-Lychee bread (荔枝玫瑰麵包) before, but not his Japanese style breads.  Looking at the whole array of items available at his bakery, I am not sure if I will settle with a plain looking milk loaf from the Master Baker.  But back at home, kids love white, soft and fluffy breads, and it’s going to be an impressive story to tell my husband that I baked a milk toast with this recipe supposedly from 吳寶春.

I did a very fast browse around the bakery website to see how the end result should look like, but could not find the item ‘金牌牛奶吐司’.  However, from the ingredients, I reckoned that it should be looking like this 皇冠吐司, or like another all milk version called 極制瑞穗鮮乳土司.  Despite doing my homework, I still ended up baking the loaf with my bread tin covered, even though the pictures online clearly show otherwise.

I have since found a few other 吳寶春‘s bread recipes videos online, with the master himself demonstrating the steps.  This is one generous Master Baker.

RECIPE : CHAMPION’S MILK TOAST | 吴宝春金牌牛奶吐司
Source
INGREDIENTS :
- 300g plain flour or bread flour
- 24g fine sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 135g water
- 69g fresh milk
- 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- 15g unsalted butter, cubed
INSTRUCTIONS

01. Put all ingredients, EXCEPT BUTTER, in the  mixing bowl.
02. With a flat beater attachment, mix all ingredients at low speed (1 on my kitchenaid)
03. Change to a dough hook, and continue to knead the dough, adding cubed butter gradually.  Keep kneading till dough reached window pane stage.  You may increase the speed of the mixer to level 2 halfway when the dough starts to look stretchy and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
04. Remove the bowl from the mixer, grease working hand slightly with butter so that the dough won’t stick to fingers, loosely shape the dough into a ball*.
05. Cover the bowl with a clean damp tea towel, and let it proof for at least 60 minutes (or until it double in size).
06. After the dough has double in size, punch the dough down, and move it to a clean work top.
07. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions, roll each into a neat ball, leave it on the counter covered with towel for 15 minutes.
08. After 15 minutes, the dough rise again.  With a rolling pin, flatten the dough, pushing out trapped air inside, then loosely roll up, swiss roll style.
09. Cover with towel, and proof for another 15 minutes.
10. Repeat step 8, place dough inside the bread tin, covered with towel, and let it have a final rise.
11. For square loaf : Once dough has risen to fill up about 90% of the bread tin, cover bread tin, wait for another 15 minutes (to let dough rise all the way to the top), and bake for 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 210C / 410F.
12. If bake without cover, bake for 30minutes at 170C / 240F.

++ NOTES TO SELF ++
///
this dough will be sticky, almost impossible not to stick to fingers when touched, so I had to use the tucking method (using greased fingers to tuck/fold the sides of the dough to its base)  to roughly shape it into a neat ball for its first proof. See photo 3,  it’s not all smooth and perfect, but good enough.
///
my bread tin measures 20x10x10 inches.

A Weekly Planner Printable for June 2014 School Holiday & Beyond

| San

weeklyplanner2014weeklyplanner2014002
I am a pencil and paper person, gotta write it down somewhere.  Though I keep a planner for my own schedule, I like a separate one that I can pin up on the fridge/entryway to keep tab of our family activities during this period.  You’ve got a business trip? Jot it down.  You need to go back to school for project work? Jot it down. Concert at the park?  Jot it down and go over with a highlighter please, thank you 🙂

I made a weekly planner template for June holiday last year, this time, I created a template that can be used all year round.

Now about the first few activities I am filling it up with.

The planning of the June Holiday activities has always been made easier with Children’s Season, a series of activities held at various museums across the island, which will kick off 24 May.  For some reason, there was no Children’s Season activities planned for Singapore Art Museum this year, pity as we have always enjoyed the art installations targeted at younger audiences during this period.

Other than the entire list of FREE events, it is also worthwhile to check out some venues during certain dates/weekends where special events** will be held.  I have link them up below as I jot them down on my planner.  After this, off to hunt for more June happenings from my other favourite places.

Army Museum of Singapore
ArtScience Museum
Asian Civilisation Museum
Chinese Heritage Center
iExperience
Indian Heritage Centre
Land Transport Gallery
Malay Heritage Center
Memories at Old Ford Factory  **| 14 & 15 June 2014 | Various Time Slots| A Race Against Time Workshop (Registration Required)
National Museum of Singapore  **| 20 & 21 June 2014 | 6pm – 930pm |  Outdoor Movie Screening
NUS Museum
Our Museum @ Taman Jurong
Peranakan Museum **| 8 June 2014 | 1pm – 5pm | Straits Family Sunday – Supersized!
Police Heritage Center
Science Center Singapore
Singapore City Gallery **| 24 & 28 May, 28 June 2014 | 10am – 1pm| Heritage Trail & Workshop (Registration Required)
Singapore Coins And Notes Museum
Singapore Discovery Center **| 7 & 8 June 2014 | 12pm & 3pm | Special Activities
Singapore Maritime Gallery
Singapore Philatelic Museum
Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall **| 31 May & 1 June 2014 | 10am – 5pm |  Outdoor carnival , handicraft sessions

ABin5 : A Refresher

| San

claypotbread // mono+co claypotbread // mono+coclaypotbread // mono+co claypotbread // mono+co

While drafting the previous pizza recipe post, where I used the ‘Artisan Bread in Five Minutes’ (ABin5) way for preparing the pizza dough, I realized that I have been making changes to this method since I adopted it two years ago.  A new edition of the book has also been released, so here’s a refresher post on baking bread this way.

First, the 3 major changes I have adopted:

____________

/ Earlier, I was weary of adding too much salt into the mixture for fear of, firstly, it will affect the level of rise in the dough (what if I put too much and kill the yeast?), and secondly, it will be more healthy to have lesser salt in the bread.  However, I have noticed that there is a difference in the taste when I added up to a full tablespoon of salt into my dough, depending on what salt is used.

/ I have been using ONLY the weighing method to get the amount of flour right, achieving a consistent level of hydration for the dough for every batch.  I have noticed with my earlier trials that the ABin5 master recipe is really a very forgiving recipe; no matter how wet the dough is, it still rises predictably, and the bread still come out pretty well.  Nowadays, I prefer the dough made with the weighing method, as it is a lot easier to handle, not too runny, allowing me to shape the bread better; most of the dough should go into the bread, not on my hands only to be washed away!

/  I have been using the steam trap method with a simple claypot, instead of the broiler in the oven method.  The authors of the book have also mentioned this method as a more convenient one.  I do not preheat my claypot though, as my claypot manufacturer’s instruction specifically states that the claypot should not be heated without any liquids in it.  So I proofed my bread dough in it (covered with clean, damp tea towel), and bake it in a preheated oven for 30 minutes with lid on, and then another 15-20 minutes without the lid.

____________

RECIPE FOR ARTISAN BREAD IN 5 MINUTES
/Source

____________

3 cups lukewarm water
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon salt
2lb or 910g of plain flour

____________

01. Place water, salt and yeast in a plastic container that is big enough for the dough.  This container preferably with lid (if not, cover with cling wrap will do too) will also be the storage container for the dough to be placed in the fridge.  Make sure your fridge has a space for it.  A 6-quart container is recommended in the book.

02. Add in the flour all at once.  Stir with a pair of long chopsticks until the dough comes together, it should be a wet and shapeless one.  If yours can be kneaded into a ball at this stage, you have probably used too much flour.  You can still save the dough by adding water slowly, till you get the dough to its rightful consistency.

03.  Cover the container loosely, saving a gap for the gases to escape as the dough proof.

04. Allow the dough to rise to double its bulk, anything from 2 hours to 4 hours, depending on the room temperature.

05. Once the dough has risen to its max, it will start to settle down, sink a little and form a flat top.  This dough is now ready to be used, or it can be stored in the fridge when you are ready to bake a bread or pizza.  I prefer keeping it in the chiller for a few hours so that the dough is easier to handle.

06. On baking day, take out the dough from the fridge, and dust the surface with some flour, so that it won’t stick to your hands when retrieving the dough.

07. Pull out a piece of dough and cut out about the size of a grapefruit , or weigh 1lb.  Return the rest of the dough into the fridge.

08. Form the dough into a ball, gluten coated.  Sprinkle flour on surface as you go for easier handling, but take care not to incorporate the flour into the dough.  Handle the dough gently at this stage, do not knead, press or squeeze out the air that has expanded inside the dough.

09. Rest the shaped dough by placing it in a claypot (lightly dusted with flour),  from 40 minutes (according to the book’s instructions) or 90 minutes.  I let it stand longer till the dough returns to room temperature.

10.  Preheat the oven to 230C (450F).  When the oven is ready, pour some flour on the bread surface, and slash the loaf with a clean knife or scissors (I have to admit that I find the scissors easier to manage! Just make 3 to 4 decisive fast snips…) so that it does not split at the bottom during baking.

11.  Cover the claypot, and quickly place it into the oven, bake for 30 minutes.

12. After 30 minutes, continue to bake at the same temperature for 15-20 minutes, without the cover.

13. When done, remove the claypot from the oven, and let it cool on a rack.

14. Allow the loaf to cool completely on a rack to room temperature before slicing it.  Otherwise, the bread will end up with a hard crust and a gummy interior.