Little Joy Factory

I baked this flaxseed sourdough bread with my whole wheat sourdough starter yesterday. I noticed sourdough starter made with whole wheat flour is much more active than the one made with all-purpose flour.

最近，我迷上了西式的酸面包。用自己培养的天然酵母引子(sourdough starter) 成功地烤了 普通酸面包 之后，我上周又接连烤了几个核桃果干酸面包。果干是以前就一直用朗姆酒浸着收在冰厨里的，现在派上了用场。刚出炉的酸面包, 芳香四溢，外脆内软，有嚼劲。 面香、酒香、盐香、果香、乳酸香, 沁人心脾!

When I first read about the sourdough bread, it reminds me of  Chinese old dough  mantou  (老面馒头), a steamed bun with wild yeast starter before commercial yeast was commonly used. Growing up in northern China, I have been eating old dough mantou as an alternative staple to rice during my childhood. 

I love homemade bread, I always do. Under such a hot weather like today, it's the perfect time to bake bread at home.  The yeast is activated easily, and dough rises really fast.  I plan to try a different recipe, and I am glad I did.

Entering April, the temperature in Singapore has been hovering over 30°C for a week.  A meal cooked on a hot stove has become a challenge for me.  Anything quick and easy for dinner?  This Salmon recipe from Canada Living  seems a perfect choice. 

Wechat 相当于中国的Facebook, 在华人圈子里很火, 你知道吗？我在偶然的机会里，在2013年才和Wechat结缘，认识了来自大江南北的朋友。Wechat 信息丰富，四通八达, 成了我在网络上最喜欢"逛"的地方。如果说，Facebook 主要以英语为媒介，那么Wechat 则以华语为主导。连我70多岁的妈妈也在Wechat 上和我们作日常的交流。一句话，Wechat 势如破竹，锐不可当。 最近在Wechat 美食群里，结识了一班美食爱好者。大家切磋技艺，让我受益匪浅。 群里的姐妹们最近都在鼓捣面食。要知道蒸花卷馒头可是我这个北方人的强项啊。我特意做了这个玫瑰花卷来凑热闹。它看起来难，做起来非常容易。赶紧把它学起来，真的很可爱啊!

在所有的美食中，我还是觉得烘面包最轻松，又有满足感。从第一次做面包起，从没有遇到面团发不起来的问题。一方面食谱很重要，另一方面，要归功于这里的气候。炎热潮湿特别适合面团发酵。我这个喜欢DIY美食的北方女子，最终爱上了新加坡这个热带岛国，可以说面包也是“功不可没”的。