Summer Goal #3

Okay, now that I am armed and you are aware of the new list, it's time for me to get to business.

Goal #3: Homemade Pretzels!

Now to be honest, I tracked down the recipe from a heathly eating foodie blog and tried it once, only to achieve disastrous results. After further contemplation, I figured out that I killed the yeast with a liquid mixture that was too hot and I added too much flour when I thought the dough was too sticky. But here is attempt #2, using a half size of the recipe.

The Recipe

1 c. water
2 T. yeast
2 t. honey
2 1/2 cups milk
1 stick butter
1/2 cup honey
4 t. salt
8 cups whole wheat flour
butter
salt

How Too

It's pretty simple, nothing too difficult.

1. Heat water and 2t. honey until just too hot to the touch. NO HOTTER! It will kill the yeast, just trust me.

2. Add yeast to the mixture and let sit during the next part.

It's aliiiiive. No really, it is.

3. Heat butter, remaining honey and milk, hitting the same temperature point as in Step 1. Note: I used the stove the first time, but I think that is where it all went wrong, so I went with the microwave this time around.

4. Mix flour and salt in a separate bowl.

5. Add the yeast to the heated liquid mixture.

It looks gross...but the end result is worth it.

6. Mix in the flour until a sticky ball is formed. If it sticks to everything, then add no more than 1 additional cup (if using whole recipe).

7. Let rest and rise for 1 1/2 hours.

I chucked mine in the oven

Halfway home...

8. Take golf-ball and a half sized portions and roll into a rope, then form a pretzel shape.

9. Next dip the pretzels into a pan containing 4c. simmering water and 4t. baking soda. Then place them on a greased and foil lined pan. I used waxed paper sans butter and they stuck...not cool.

10. Bake 20-30 minutes, depending on bagel size.

A little salt, butter and brown mustard and I was good to go.

I actually ended up taking half of the dough I made and turned them into cinnamon rolls. Were they any good? Let's just say they didn't survive the night.

Summer Goals 2010:

1. Gather Courage to Chop of Hair
2.Yoga! Yoga! Yoga! (LOL, get it?)
3. Make Something I Love from Scratch
4. Make a Homemade Apple Pie
5. Paint Bedroom
6. Disneyland!!!!

Summer Goals: ChaChaChanges!

Okay, so after having spent a good 1/2-2/3 of the Summer working through everything I need to get through (curse you MCATS *shakes fist in defiance*) and still having a long way to go...I realized that some of my Summer Goals need to be altered. I was looking back at my list, trying to figure out why exactly I chose the things that I did, and realized that it was more about the reasoning behind the choices than it was about the choice themselves. With that in mind, I hope you don't mind that I've changed things up a little bit. Well, it doesn't really matter if you do mind, since it is my Summer, but still...

Original List:
1. Gather Courage to Chop of Hair
2. Build up biking endurance so 8mi doesn't seem so bad
3. Make Marinara sauce and Ravioli from Scratch
4. Make a Homemade Apple Pie
5. Paint Bedroom
6. Disneyland!!!!

New List + Reasoning behind change (as of 08/06):
1. Gather Courage to Chop of Hair
This goal was about getting up the courage to do something that I've wanted to for a while, despite being afraid that it was a horrible. horrible mistake.

2. Yoga at least every other day for a minimum of 1hr: In Progress
Originally, this was about not wanting to be a couch potato during the summer. My bike has been giving me problems, so I wasn't able to work on biking like I wanted. As I thought about it more, I figured out this goal was mainly around to make sure that I worked on getting healthy. Since I was studying for the MCATs, I've been ridiculously stressed out and so I gravitated to something that I did on occasion around finals to de-stress, which was yoga. So I started with little 30min. sessions, just to give myself a study break, but now they have grown to 1-2hrs of human pretzeling. I realize yoga isn't that high impact cardio that people should be doing, but I do feel better/healthier and frankly that's what matters most.

3. Make a food I love from scratch
So the reason for this and for Goal #4 are the same. I grew up eating primarily filipino food with a cook who didn't know how to bake or cook a lot of other foods (this has changed now though, by Dad's Cal-Mex and Italian are bomb!). Because of this I never grew up making recipes that, from what I gather in conversations, others did when they were younger. So, the point of this is to expand my cooking skills and experiences. I had to change it from Ravioli and Marinara mainly because I don't have the supplies I need to make it work. Instead I'm going to pick something I like and that I can make with the tools I have in the house.

4. Make a Homemade Apple Pie

5. Paint Bedroom

6. Trip to the LA Zoo
This last one had to change for a lot of reasons I don't want to go into. But the point of it was to get me out of the house on occasion and let me experience something that most SoCal kids experience in the Summer. So I have gone the way of the Zoo. I know I've only gone once, on a class field trip, but all I remember is sitting at a table with friends and buying a soda. So that is going to change soon! LA Zoo, here I come!

So that is the new and improved list and now I'm off to see what I can do about Goal #3...

Summer Goal #4

Yes, I'm jumping around in the list, but it's my list, so I can do what I want. Did that sound as whiny 12yo to you as it did to me? Anyway, so this morning, I was finally able to cross off another thing from my list...Make an Apple Pie.
The following is the process and my thoughts on the matter.

The Recipe
Pie Crust: (enough for a dble crust)
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
5 tbsp. cold vegetable shortening
Ice water (just enough to bind, this may or may not be necessary)

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
Pinch of salt
7-8 medium apples
2 tbsp. butter (to dot on top)

Step 1: Apples
Does anyone else love apples as much as I do? I love almost any apple based dessert and when it comes to snacking, an apple is almost always what I reach for first. Anyway, I was doing some research about picking apples for pie and came across a few useful bits of information. For example, Granny Smiths are one of the most commonly used baking apples because they tend to hold their shape after cooking. Also, on every site I went to, someone suggested that a combination of apples was the way to go, though the combinations varied.
After much debate and research on seasonal availability, these are the lovelies that I chose for the pie filling: Granny Smiths for tartness and texture, Golden Delicious for moisture and a difference in textures (they are much softer) and Gala for the intensity of its apple flavor.

Even though the recipe didn't say to, as I went about peeling and slicing, the apples went into a bowl of water w/ lemon juice. I did this partially to keep them from browning, but mostly because I like the zing of lemony goodness in baked goods.

Step 2: Filling
I pretty much followed simple steps with this one. First, mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Next, add apples (I dried them on a tea towel first to nix the excess moisture). Finally, toss the apples to coat evenly.



Step 3: Crust
Okay, I'm not going to lie...I used a store bought crust (Pillsbury I think?). I only did this because I don't have a rolling pin (something that will delay progress on Goal #3, I will rectify this soon) handy. That being said, I have successfully used the crust recipe above before, so it is the one that would have been used if I had the right tools. So if you decide to do this, just follow SOP for Crust Making (1. Mix Dry, 2. Work in Butter and Shortening for a 'sand' consistency, 3. Add water if needed), but DO NOT forget to rest the dough if you're not using a stand-up mixer
Anyway, to make-up for using the cheater-crust, I went with a lattice top, not something I've done before...but I think I turned out well

Step 4: Pie Assembly
After gently pressing the bottom crust into the pan, I spooned in the apple filling. I did this because the dry ingredients drew some of the moisture out of the apple slices and I didn't want all of the liquid to soak straight into the bottom crust. Also, I made sure to pile the apple higher in the middle than on the edges, just to get that lovely domed effect (that and everyone on food network says to). Then I dotted the top with butter and poured the aforementioned liquid over the apples. Finally, I flipped the lattice onto the pie, crimped the edges and gave the top a little coat of egg wash and a sprinkling of sugar.




Step 5: Baking
After covering the edges with foil, I threw the pie in a 425F oven. After 35min, I pulled off the foil on the edges, added a small square to the top (it was browning too quickly) and threw it in for another 20min. I had to rotate the pie when during the second stage, but it really depends on how picky your oven is.
Here is the finished result:

It's not too shabby if I do say so myself :)

Final Thoughts (aka Things I'd Change)
I think I'd cover the whole crust with foil for the first half hour or so, then just continue to bake until golden brown and bubbly. The top of my pie got a little burnt.
Also I wouldn't pour the liquid over the apples without reducing it a bit first. When I cut into the pie after it cooled, the sauce was more liquid that yummy apple goodness. I might also add a little more cornstarch to the mix to fix the soupy-ness.
Overall, I think it tastes great. It wasn't too sweet or too tart. The combination of firm and soft apples makes for a really nice texture.

Summer Goals (as of 07/09)
1. Gather Courage to Chop of Hair
2. Build up biking endurance so 8mi doesn't seem so bad
3. Make Marinara sauce and Ravioli from Scratch
4. Make a Homemade Apple Pie : YUM
5. Paint Bedroom
6. Disneyland!!!!

Note: All Summer Goal Pictures will be added to Facebook as well. There are just too many to post all of them here

Summer Goals

So this summer, instead of becoming a slave to my MCAT books, I decided that I need to have some fun to break up the studying. How is the fun to be accomplished you ask? Via my new Summer Goals List.
This list will probably keep growing as the summer wears on, but hopefully I get through all of it by the time Fall Quarter rolls around.

Summer Goals (as of 07/09)
1. Gather Courage to Chop of Hair : See Facebook for proof!
2. Build up biking endurance so 8mi doesn't seem so bad
3. Make Marinara sauce and Ravioli from Scratch
4. Make a Homemade Apple Pie
5. Paint Bedroom
6. Disneyland!!!!