Bread: attempt 2

I seem to start each entry with a 'wow, has it been x amount of time since I last blogged' but nearly 5 months? Really? I think before I tell you about Rosemary's Brown Bread and my attempt at Hot Cross buns I need to fill in the last 5 months...

Lots of 'in other news'

• New job started in January and after a bumpy few weeks is now going really well, despite the extreme amounts of work and it not leading to spending more time with the girls at all
• 2 kids and 2 working parents is absurdly hard. Just getting basics like ordering Tesco online done seems impossible some weeks
• I haven't chosen a cooking challenge for 2014 but something else....more later
• We had a brilliant family holiday in South Africa. EEROD does not like the beach. EEROD does not like Cape Town. EEROD nearly got left behind
• EEROD is proving just as independent and vocal as her older sister
• LOD got into the local primary school and starts in September
• The only reason I have time to actually write this is I am ill and have taken the day off work

Rosemary's brown bread

Rosemary is COD's mother so a lot of pressure on me getting this recipe right. I think I have had it for the better part of a few years and not attempted it but Easter Friday and an early dinner with the kids left lots of baking time.

Ingredients:

2.5 cups Course wholemeal flour
2 cups  White flour
1 oz Bran / Oatbran
2 oz Pinhead Oatmeal
1 oz Linseed
1 oz Wheatgerm
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Bread soda (bicarb)
2 tsp Baking powder
1 pt Milk

Method:

Sieve together flours, salt, bread soda, baking powder. Add rest of ingredients into a bowl and mix well. This is a wet mixture. Put into 2 greased loaf tins and bake at 170 degrees for 1 hour.

Verdict - well, I ran out of white flour so used more (seeded) wholemeal flour and also struggled to find pinhead oatmeal so used a bit more of all the other stuff. I also took it out of the oven after about 48mins as the top was crusty and bottom sounded hollow. COD declared it was a bit heavy but I liked it as did our guests on Sunday. Next time, less heavy flours perhaps and will leave in for another 10 mins...

2 yummy loaves

Hot cross bunnies

I used a Good Housekeeping recipe for these and am not in the mood to rewrite it. For once, I followed a recipe to the T and they tasted awesome but came out quite dense and heavy. Probably something in my kneading technique that I need to work on. One thing I learned though was to remember to add up the proving time and not to start making these at 8pm......

As an aside, for Easter Sunday lunch, I did this: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/whole-roasted-salmon-stuffed-with-lemon-and-herbs and it actually looked like this but I completely forgot to take a photo...... I used leeks instead of baby fennel but added fennel seeds to the stuffing mix. It was awesome!

And...before I forget, while I don't have a cooking challenge for 2014, I have  sewing one. I have decided not to buy any clothes. If I need it, I make it (apart from bras and nickers although may give the nickers a go!). A new jacket was on the cards.....