All posts tagged: Baking

Easy no-knead garlic and sea salt focaccia

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Me, a baker? After successfully baking the most delicious focaccia, my baking skills have advanced from banana bread level to yeast bread level. In my book that is pretty up there which I initially thought was reserved for real talented bakers. (And I still do not consider myself one but I still cannot believe it that I.baked.a.focaccia.from.scratch.) Before the pandemic, I did not have any interest nor think that I would be able to bake a bread with yeast. With this recipe that I found, not only was the focaccia that I baked was beyond delicious, it tasted like it was baked by a professional gourmet chef. It was so perfect that I can confidently say could rival the gourmet bakeshop down the street from my house. Totally unbelievable that I made it with my very amateur skills! What is mind-boggling is that it was soooooo simple and so easy! Much appreciation for author’s clear easy-to-follow step by step instructions and photos. I am tempted to just provide the link and of course, the full …

Cornbread with green chiles

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Happy first of May and Happy Cinco de Mayo! Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for “5th of May”) is a celebration of Mexico’s cultural heritage and pride. The festivities include parades, mariachi band performances, street festivals and of course — margaritas! Mr Sweetie is Mexican-American which is why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated at our house. (Ok, I admit, it is a great excuse reason to make and drink margaritas at home! This is the one and only time each year that we ever drink hard liquor at home. He is not a drinker while I like wine and champagne, and the occasional drinks with girlfriends.) The idea of drinking fruity margarita on a weekday seems fun and naughty whenever Cinco de Mayo falls on a weekday. However, this post is not about margaritas. It is really about corn bread with green chiles. The recipe has been adapted from the book “Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking” by Toni Tipton-Martin. It is called Spanish Corn Bread in the book. Jubilee is such a wonderful …

Jam loaf

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I baked Jam Loaf Bread twice already. I used mango jam the first time while I mixed orange marmalade in the next one. My bread proofed and rose. My yeast was alive! And I found kneading with my hands therapeutic. Getting the loaves out of the oven, cutting a slice while still hot and giving it to Mr Sweetie where he slathered it with butter;

Salted caramel banana bread

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I will forever associate baking banana bread with the pandemic. When the first lock down started in March 2020, banana breads were my first baking projects. Baking them became my sanity. I must have baked close to 50 mini banana bread loaves. Mr Sweetie ate about 3/4 of the total of those banana breads that I baked (about 30 mini loaves) while about 15 loaves were given away to my team mates. LOL! Well, this was spread over almost 10 months, I would say, so it was not so bad, I guess, except he would devour 2-4 loaves within 3-4 days.