2016 First Bake!

Happy New Year! We began our 2016 journey today. We had leftovers for breakfast and after attending mass in the morning, I rushed back to bake these highly requested cheese bread sticks. I had to rush, because I had a lunch reservation and wanted them baked before we left for lunch. 

I used to make lots of these breadsticks for afternoon snack, but I do not make them often anymore.  Life happens. Holiday makes people appreciate more of good old times and these bread sticks are one of those things that remind us of the joy we had in the past.

Let's make 2016 a happier, healthier and more positive time for all of us, a productive year which we fill with love and care towards one another.

Cheese Bread Sticks

Back when the kids were smaller, I used to make these bread sticks quite regularly. I recently made them again, after they were asked for. 

Bread Sticks

Years back when we still lived in our first home in Singapore, when the children were still adorable ;), I used to bake this bread sticks for the kids and had them ready when they came home from school. I used the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens recipe book and mixed in some grated cheese as well as sprinkled more cheese on top. 

Then I got to know No Knead Bread and I practically abandoned the recipe that uses egg and olive oil. I stayed on plain and straightforward bread. I used the basic dough that I have to make bread sticks too. 

With all the kids being at home for the holiday, I started to think about this "old"recipe again and finally this afternoon, I made them again. Just like old times. They are even better now!  Nice memory too!

Cheese Buns!

The fastest way for me to have Cheese Buns that I like is by making them myself at home. I had some leftover refrigerated sweet dough that I needed to clear and for filling, I used a combination of both white and red cheddar and some mozzarella cheese for that gooey effect! Yummmm.......

Say Cheese....

I could have a craving for cheese bread sometimes. Like the the other day. I just wanted it and the easiest way for me to get it was by baking one myself. My way.

After the bread was ready and I sliced it, I realized that I could use more cheese inside. It doesn't look generous does it? But when I ate it, it's not too bad. It's cheesy to a reasonable extent!

Cottage Cheese Bread

We were left with almost-full 2-cup container of cottage cheese while its expiring date was approaching. How I hate throwing away food. If I could help it, I would save it anyway I possibly could. That left me with looking for a new recipe to utilize it. I could use it for lasagna, but almost everyone here is staying away from beef this month. Besides, I wanted to do something different with it, something that I had not done before.

Then I found this recipe and with resources that I had, I made some adjustments . This cottage cheese bread was made. I'd like to mix it with some flax seed, unfortunately, I did not have any. So this time, it's mostly cottage cheese. It's good.

Looking Familiar...

Another Monday. Last Monday in July. It started off with heavy rain in the early morning and the weather was practically depressing the whole day. The storm that was expected over the weekend, came late apparently. I always appreciate the coolness of the air. It feels cooler than 27°C reported here right now. It's wonderfully right.

If these pictures look familiar, you are so right spot on. I made them together with the cinnamon rolls last week, except they are cheese rolls. And they cheesy, soft and yummy. And I wish at this very moment that I could have some of them. Unfortunately, all of them were gone, together with the guests that we had. What I have are these pictures....

Immediate Business...

When we were in Japan, we sampled lots of food. Some of which, we do not even know the names. We sampled mostly from the small set-ups in the basement of many department stores such as Daimaru, Takashimaya, Tokyu and many other names. There were so many tempting snacks that we just had to try. There were many bakeries and cake shops with so many beautiful creations too. They are absolutely innovative with their products.

Some offer simple bread or cheese bread. One bakery offered sample in generous sizes, so generous compared to those offered in this country. This place barely gives out samples anyway. The cheese bread got us thinking, "We have to make this when we get back....!" So we did, the morning after we arrived and we even put a more generous amount of cheese than those shops in Japan. Yum.

Okay, .... Something Heart It Is....

The V-day was nearly over, but at 8PM, I still had a chance to make heart-shape-something. Since we were still working on finishing up our brownies and surely those goodies from Chinese New Year that barely anyone looked at anymore, I went with cheese buns. Why not. It's the shape that counts and of course, more importantly, the thoughts.

Using brioche based dough, which is kind of sweet, helps enhance the flavor of the cheese. Yummy.

I Think I'm Alone Now...

Hhhh...

Finally, the "back to school" day is here and I wanted to cherish my time alone, many hours being alone. Yum.... Except that I had way too much work to enjoy it too much. My guilt forced me to do some works that had piled up quite a bit. I still enjoyed it anyway, being able to work without interruption is a luxury and I always do my best to treasure it.

Again, I could not resist the temptation to put up more cheese bread pictures. My first glorious cheese bread this year was baked yesterday, of course I had to sacrifice my sleep and had to get up earlier on Sunday, because the bread needed to be ready before we headed to church at 9:30. It's all worth it, the bread was really yum-yummy.

I was alone!! Yay~~~~~~~~!!!!!

About Breakfast

We endured two loaves of "Earthquake" i.e. cheese bread from "Bread Talk" when we were in Beijing for our breakfast. We were too lazy to get up early and get something to eat but still wanted to munch something in our pajamas. We were so deeply unhappy with the amount of cheese that they put inside. Trying to find the cheese inside the loaf is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, almost. I wish I had taken a picture of them... Trust me, the cheese was almost non existent and I don't know why the bread is named Earthquake.

That very evening after we landed, DH placed an order of cheese bread for the next morning, which I longed for as well. A loaf of cheese bread was baked on Thursday morning, with a generous amount of cheese of course. Another one on Friday morning and one more as well on Saturday morning. Three mornings in a row. This morning, our breakfast menu was changed, I had to offer something tempting for a change for DH, another favorite of his, pancake with banana and caramel sauce.



For myself and those who dislike pancakes, I made cheese scones. No different than cheese scones that I have made before, but I always enjoy taking pictures of them, because they always look gorgeous in pictures. They taste good too. Yum.

Kicking Off October

And now it's October. The first day of the last three months of the year and I hope to myself that It's a scary thought that in three months, it will be 2009. It is a public holiday here, in many countries around the region and in the the world, today is celebrated as Hari Raya Puasa or Idul Fitri by the Moslems. The kids get a day off, stock market and businesses closed for the day. DH got to play golf and watch a movie in the cinema. I got everyone to help me clear the leftovers again had no life as usual.



We started the day with this classic Cheese Bread, requested by DH last night. This man has only begun to be more outright and straight to the point after 20 years of training him.... A slow progress is a progress. In the past, he tended to gave some more or less obvious hints about what he wanted and he would go round and round without exactly saying what he wanted from me. Most of the time, he did not get it. That's the lesson for him.

The bread is so good. And very cheesy too!

Early Morning Production

Arriving early in the morning from a long trip has its advantages. It's good because it gives me plenty of time to unpack all the bags and to start washing tons of laundry and everything else that I need to do. I am the type of person that can't go to bed when the house is in a mess. So yesterday, I unpacked all the six medium-size and large bags and start wash three full loads of laundry. There's more to go but I am giving my dearest washer and dryer a little break.

I crossed the street with my little buddies to stock up the fridge with milk and cheese and whatever we could think we needed. It's so sad to see how expensive things are here when in the States everything is about 1/3 or 1/2 of the prices here. One box of Cheerios is S$10.75!!!! (around US$8!Outrageous!!!!!) Chocolate chips here is $7 (US$5.2) per bag versus US$ 2 there! Urgh... I wish I could stock so much more from where I just came from.

I did my best effort to stay up the whole day yesterday, but finally surrendered at around 6:30PM and went to bed, didn't get to see Miss P who had to work and didn't arrive home until later. By 3:30 AM, I couldn't sleep anymore and join the already-awake members. They were watching TV, of course, but I went to the kitchen and prepare my work station for bread making.



By six o'clock, we had a warm loaf of cheese bread, fresh from the oven!!
So wonderful to be home!

Seven Days of Cheese Bread

Obviously, we (except my number 2) enjoy cheese bread and we really could eat them on daily basis. For a week, without fail, cheese breads have been produced on daily basis and eaten up almost immediately. I enjoyed baking them the most, tasted a little bit of it and left the rest of the gang to finish off what I baked. Of course, we have been eating other things as well, but we still could fit in some cheese bread into our stomach. On the 8th day, I decided to bake a plain one, which actually I like better, and had them with butter. It's lip-smacking .... On the 9th day, we were back to cheese bread again! Oh, well, can't stay away too long. Next week maybe, when the baker will physically be away from the kitchen for some good five days, to China.

Bread Eaters

It's weekend again and last night I thought it would be nice to make another cheese bread from the children (exclude my number two, she is Pizza Hut lover, not so much into my bread!). DH is still away on business trip to Japan, he is right now flying up there heading back here. Yes, up there to down here!! I can hardly wait to report to him all the details that his lovely kids have done to me this week. Ha!



Somebody had the courtesy of leaving a little peace of the cheese bread that I baked this morning, and nobody finished it off until nearly dinner time. It was done by the same person, i.e the biggest fan of my bread of course. One of the two fans. I am happy that I have at least two people in this household liking them so much and leaving the crumbs all over the place. They clean up the bread well but are not too bothered to clear up the mess that come with it. Kids!



I always find some sort of little excitement from baking bread. I love waiting for the bread to rise and bake in the oven and how it starts to crack up and turn into golden brown. And the smell.... just delicious smell of the bread. Nothing beats the bread made in your oven with your own hand. This morning, making bread has distracted me from thinking so much over the sharp fall in Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday, now it is under 12,000. I am not looking forward to seeing what will happen on Monday on Asian markets. Boo hoo.

Bread & More Bread

Just last last week, I made this cheese bread, using two types of cheddar and parmesan, twice. In both times, the breads were snapped up before even they cooled down. It's a combination of three hungry children and being impatient. And of course the bread was really yummy. Even Kitt couldn't resist it too.

And....



I also made this bread. Not as good looking as Kitt's yet, hopefully I'll get there in no time. I'll keep on baking!

I am a bit (or more) obsessed! I had never baked bread as often as I have been doing over the past couple of weeks. I got so excited over employing different ways of baking each time and trying to see which one yield which type of texture and crust. I used both Le Creuset and Corning Ware. The bread turned out great while my French Oven as well as Corning Ware are doing fine, no chipping or cracking whatsoever.

I love the convenience of having the dough stored in the fridge and being able to use them almost anytime I want. I just need to plan 1.5-2 hours ahead and I will be able to deliver delicious home made bread, pizza or cheese bread or some other future variations to be experimented.

I am in love with this recipe, more than the one from NYT, both of which have similar composition with main difference in the amount of yeast.

I gotta stop making bread.... Not in the near future though!