Rye Bread with Sunflower and Caraway Seeds

I have been trying to spruce up the (yummy) but kind of plain bread recipe I have posted on here. I wanted something a bit heartier and not so.....white....and plain.

I ended up adjusting the recipe as follows:
substitute 1 c. flour for 1 c. rye flour.
added about 2-3 tbsp caraway seeds (can be more/less to your liking)
and then tossing in about 2 handfuls of unsalted plain sunflower seeds

The results were amazing. The bread reminded me so much of the bread my Opa used to make when I lived in Germany. Also, if you have not used rye or wheat flour in your baking before, don't make the mistake of substituting the entire amount of flour for all rye/wheat flour. Your dough will be impossible to work with, and I think you need the gluten that is in regular white flour for everything to rise correctly. You can't quote me on that, but it is just one of those things that seems like the right explanation to me in my head.

I didn't get a chance to grab any photos of this bread, since it somehow magically disappeared very, very quickly. But I am sure to make another batch soon.

Tomorrows experiment to come: herbed foccacia! I am making the poolish for it now, and have decided to let it sit overnight. Then tomorrow, the long processes of folding, resting, and repeating many time will take place. Wish me luck!

Vegan Strawberry Cake

On Sunday, I went to Sauvie Island here in Portland to pick some fresh strawberries. I had read that this weekend was going to be the prime weekend for strawberry weekend, and with the weather not being too sunny or warm, it was the perfect opportunity to snatch up some yummy strawberries!
In Germany, we had a strawberry field, and the summer was filled with all kinds of strawberry deliciousness. I was inspired to make a cake I remember my Oma making, and here is my Vegan interpretation of it!

Ingredients for the cake:
6 tbsp earth balance
3/4 c. vegan sugar
1 c. flour
1 tsp baking power (aluminum free)
1 pinch of salt
3 egg substitutions of Enger-G
1/3 c. soy milk (vanilla is good!)
2 tsp. organic vanilla

other:
strawberries
vegan gelatin (i used strawberry)

Add the earth balance and sugar, beat for about 5 minutes until it is nice and fluffy. Slowly add the flour, salt, baking powder. In a small bowl, mix together the Enger-G with warm warm. Add this to a bowl containing the milk and vanilla. Mix these wet ingredients together, and slowly add it into the cake mixture, and mix until everything is nice and smooth.

Pour the cake mix into a 10" spring form pan. Don't worry, this should not be like a normal cake, it should only be enough to make a thing layer. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, or until it is done. I just check this by inserting a fork in the middle, and see when it comes out clean.

While you let the cake cool, take your strawberries, slice off the ends, and then slice them in half. When the cake is cool to the touch, arrange the strawberries on top of your cake while it is still in the springform pan. I arranged mine working a circle from the outside to the inside of the cake.
You will get a nice and neat arrangement layer of strawberries on top of your cake. When you're done with this part, set it aside and start making your vegan gelatin. Mine was made pretty much like regular Jell-O. I boiled 2 cups water and then took it off the burner. I added the mix to the water, and mixed it for about 5 minutes. Mixing it for a few longer minutes allowed for the gelatin to turn into a liquidy gel substance, not just hot water. This lets you pour over the gelatin a bit easier.
Pour the gelatin mixture over the middle of the cake, it will seep outwards towards the edges. It should be enough to almost cover all of the strawberries. Put it in the fridge to cool down, mine was set after only about 1/2 an hour.
And Voila!


Thank You Rachel for taking these lovely photos!

So, once again, I am determined to start up this thing again. My day has been filled with productivity, photos, logging and organizing a lot of things. I finally am one step closer to having actual pictures up on my ravelry of my projects that I have completed forever ago.

Hence, my interest in this blog again. I wanted to share a really easy and fairly quick bread recipe I made this morning. Its my first go at bread, and I was surprised at how nicely it turned out!
I think this is a great basic recipe, and I am looking forward to tweeking it, adding things to it ( sunflower seeds, caraway seeds, subbing rye flour for regular flour, etc). Also, I used my lovely, cherished KitchenAid mixer for this.

I used:
3 cups flour
2 tbsp vegan sugar
1.25 cups water
2 tsp salt
1 package of yeast

First, I heated up the water to around 100 degrees, warm enough to active the yeast. Once it got to temp, I poured the water into the mixing bowl and added the yeast, gave it a little stir as I added in the sugar.

Then I set the KitchenAid to mix around 2, as I added in about half of the flour and let it mix for about 2 minutes or until the flour seemed to be mostly worked in. Then I gradually added in the rest of the flour.

As I was doing this, I preheated my oven at the lowest temp for a few minutes, then turned it off, making it just warm enough for the dough to rise. Once, everything was mixed up, I put the dough in a large bowl, covered it, and put it in the warmed up over for about 40-45 minutes.

After the dough rises, I placed the dough on a lightly floured cutting board and made sure to flour my hands as well, since the dough can be a tad sticky.

After shaping the dough, I put it into a flat baking dish, which I also sprinkled with flour. I let it bake at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes. The crust turned out nice and the inside was soft. I would maybe bake it a bit longer next time to get a bit of an extra crispy, crust.

Happy Baking!

in need of updates!

since i am still new to the blogging world, i have come to realize i am very lazy at this. hopefully the fall will motivate me to being a bit more dedicated on keeping this thing going. because in reality, i would love to have a full, yummy, funny awesome blog (just like everyone else in the world...) hah.

so, onto the knitting sphere of my life, which is a big one. i finished my mom's clapotis. again, beauuutiful. made of sea silk again...now if only i had the luxury of having a sea silk scarf for myself. but i am making yet another clapotis...can you tell i am obsessed? i love working with this pattern because the yarn, color and texture always changes the outcome so much and its fun to see where the yarn will bring the scarf in the end.

currently, i am making a clapotis (for myself!!) out of lorna's laces lion & lamb....mmmmm. in the color huron, which i think was secretly made just for me, greens and blues so lovely. i am only using 3 skeins and it seems to be more than adequate at the moment.

additionally, i have had the bad fortune of a semi-serious medical issue, leaving me out of work for about a week and a half. what does that mean? crazy knitting time, and stash busting my way through yarn! during that time. let me make a neat little list of things i started & finished:
-neckwarmer out of noro kuryeon
-a superrrr nice cowl out of handmaiden 4 ply cashmere
-"wicked" zephyr style sweater in lorna's shephard worsted (sooo nice)
-started clapotis #5 out of lorna's L&L
-worked on my endpaper mitts...coming along slowly

all in all, pretty pretty good. i must say though, after working on and off on the endpaper mitts, i am not very into color work. i know i know...some people love it, and i wish i did too, cause its beautiful and looks like fun, but i just cant get into the groove of it.

another note: I am done with my sock phase. so many people are sock obsessed, and i had a short lived phase of non stop sock making, but i think my new love in life is knitting sweaters. i just love the fact after all of that work, its a big wearable garment that will keep me warm, AND i can show off (and won't be covered up and lead a life in secret underneath my shoes)

so, my goal is to hopefully take a lot of pictures and edit them all soon. my job as well as my contract work doing flash development has been keeping me wayyyy busy, to the point the little time i have, i just want to zone out on a movie and do some knitting! but hopefully that will change soon!

clapotis race!!

Sooo, I know its already been a while back, but I did end up successful in my clapotis race, finishing it in about a week and a half!! Ohhh yess! That was some serious speed knitting. It was knit in the amazing handmaiden sea silk, which is always a dream to knit with. It turned out absolutely gorgeous, so drapey and amazing.

That said, while the fam. Came out to visit, I had my mom pick out a colorway she liked in sea silk, so I am in the process of making another one for her. I haven't had nearly as much time to knit as I would like to have, so I am working on stealing little bits of time here and there to finish it. I have been so busy with work, esp. The flash development projects....I am always under a tight deadline with the clients so make huge revisions, which just eats up so many many hours.

In other news, after my second attempt at the buttony sweater (off of ravelry) I decided I am too bored with this pattern and have no motivation to give the second try a wholehearted attempt.

So I frogged it, and am now using the yarn to make Rusted Root from zephyr style. Its knit in the round, its super cute, which makes it something I am really into.

I finished up a pair of the dashing gloves made with handmaiden casbah, soooooo pretty!!! And oh so fast...almost instant gratification.

Also, a few months back, I found out my knitting style is actually combination knitting...not continental like I had always thought!! What a shock that was!! I love combination knitting though...I find that I can just get into this groove and fly through things!! The only thing I don't love is the need to translate patterns, and figuring out how to do ssks and k2togs...so make them look how they should. It is awesome though how knitting combination really makes me understand the structure of knitting, the how's and why's of the stitches like I have never understood before. I find myself not just mindlessly knitting and following intructions, but really understanding the act of knitting and the structure of it, which I am finding very rewarding.

Alright, off to work!!

knitting on the edge...

As of this moment, I have so many works in progress. i have this crazy fear of finishing things, so i am hoping this additional outlet visible by strangers, and the world at large will help me in my quest to make peace with finished objects.

i was so close to finishing buttony sweater, a super cute pattern i found via ravelry. before i finished and seamed it, it seemed rather large to me. so i took the time and ran yarn through the arms and bottom part, so i could take all of the stitch holders of...i tried it on, and go figure. its way big on me. it def. could have been passable, but i probably wouldnt have actually worn it. which would be a shame since i knit it up using handmaiden's ottawa in this amazing blue color. its such nice yarn to work with, and the color is just so vibrant. photos just dont convey it properly. anyways, i am avoiding the fact that i pretty much frogged it...almost all the way back up to the top. here comes try number two.

speaking of photography, my last wedding that i shot, i stupidly left my battery charger in some room at this country club, and somehow no one have seen it. i am still anxiously awaiting my new charger so i can shoot all my new yarns and unfinished pieces.

pictures soon to come! i also have an extreme love for cooking and baking, and having drinks while doing the above. oh, and of course, knitting too.

so, hello world! welcome to knit faced!!