Sunday 23 September 2012

RICE FLOUR FROM JAPAN

It was Maki who introduced me to baking with rice flour.  She sent me a packet of rice flour all the way from Tokyo. I used some of it in an almond shortbread recipe. 

Today I used the remaining rice flour to make bread.


The recipe called for 200 grams of bread flour. I used 150 grams of Lys Dor + 50 grams of Japanese rice flour. Mak tells me that using rice flour to bake isn’t something new in Japan.  Breads and cakes made with rice flour turn out softer and keep moist for longer. The bread turned out whiter than most breads.  The texture really looks finer than most breads, don't you think?

Sunday 2 September 2012

LAZY WEEKEND



CEOs from around the region are in town.  Meeting room set up.  I.T. standby.  Revise agenda. Room reservations.  Breakfast prep. Name tags. Cabs & Maps.  Lunch catering.  Revised agenda again. Cookies for tea break.  Dinner reservations + deposit payments.  A crazy week in general.


The best way to recuperate is to spend a lazy weekend, loafing on the sofa with a good book (or, in my case, usually several good books) - and a nice cup of tea!


I blame Holly Finn.  She started it.  All because I fell in love with something she wrote:

For those weary of coffee and couture and in real need of something soothing, the Salon de Thé recently opened at the legendary Fauchon food emporium in Paris, is worth a winter visit. There, on Place de la Madeleine, the emphasis is not on fast-forwarding, either one’s heart rate or one’s fashion status. It’s about stopping – taking a deep breath and a long sip. No matter how rudely random Parisians have treated you that morning you’ll soon feel better about the whole Franco-thing. A slice of Tarte au thé Darjeeling (a specialty of the house) restores confidence not just in your ability to translate, but in the civility of left-seat drivers, all sorts of things … A reminder of the bond between tea and sympathy.

And so I went out and bought some rather expensive Fauchon Darjeeling teabags.  For isn't Fauchon the company that "sold tea to royalty, pastry to politicians, and caviar to movie stars"?

AU REVOIR

French Kiss by Huebucket I wish you bluebirds in the spring To give your heart a song to sing And then a kiss, but more than th...