Cinnamon Buns

Made the cinnamon buns according to cookingbread.com. Hesitated for a while after seeing the amount of butter required! (1/2 cup) which isn't that much, but I was getting use to the simple yeast breads that only required a little bit of oil.

Also, didn't make the icing, so the buns arn't overly sweet, but it sure was fun rolling up! The butter really helps make it elastic!

Hand Rolls

Had fun making some mini-rolls. They were finished by the end of the day! =)

Aug 13th, 5K speed test.

I wanted to know if I really gun for it, my approximate speed for a 5K run. I ran for the first time at night. The sun was down, and I relied on the street lamps to guide my path. I can tell you running in the dark has its own unique nuances. All the senses are firing, and your mind finds a friend in adrenaline. The terrain was mighty uneven (more or less downhill for the first half and uphill for the last half), resulting in shin tightness, or fibularis longis exhaustion, but thats a good thing I suppose, as that muscle is rarely active.

I finished the run in 23min 45sec. approximately 4 minutes longer than my goal of 20 min. To be a cross country varsity athlete, you probably need approximately 17min. The world record for men? 12 minutes. Double my speed!

I doubt however, that I will run this path again, the downhill portion was too unnatural for my liking, and may have skewed the time for the worse.

The interesting thing about running in the dark, other than not always knowing what you are stepping on until you get tactile feedback is all the energy and adrenaline that was rushing around the circulation stimulated my "self-narration mode". Here is an excerpt of how it sounded like:

- Seeking a ground in which to plant,
- My leg falls, bracing the hit.
- The breath heavies as darkness rises
- But looking up, the sky a deep blue, yet far and fuzzy,
- a panopy of sprinkling stars.
- The shield falls, the legs begin, failing to avoid the counter of concrete,
- pushing back, squeezing in.
- The final leg, one final burst, drop the shields, drop the sword,
- Its fist to fist, towards the end, I see it, no stopping now.

Craziness!!

Badminton Training 5 & 6

Warmup Plyo Drill - hop around the gym.
Net play: One partner net smashes, and one partner drives back as hard as possible.
Bungee cord Drill - moving backwards for a smash


Badminton Training 6

Three person, half court, smash-return drill.
Fourth Grip Net Shot - A really difficult grip/shot to master. But Done correctly, is a virtually unstoppable return. Lots of finger play, and definitely need to practise this more.
Played one-on-one with the coach

I did feel like I was moving around the court better than before, however, in the end, I still wasn't able to keep up with the amount of attack clears to the back.

Aug 8th Run - Finding the Path

Ran with a friend, so the starting point was at her house. Although the pace was a little slower (we finished in 2hr 25min?) We stopped a few times, and were loss for a good 10-15 minutes. The East Donmills Parkland was very rewarding to run through! A great pathway in the middle of the city. Too bad for the rainy weather! (22K?) The Picture shows the supposed path, if we didn't get loss, no matter,

Challah

In choosing which bread to bake, I couldn't resist trying the beautifully braided Jewish Challah. The celebratory bread, is traditionally eaten as two loaves in remembrance of the manna that fell from the heavens during the exodus from Egypt.

The bread calls for an enriched grain, meaning not only are four staples of bread making : yeast, water, salt, and flour included, but eggs, oil, honey (or sugar)as well. Two sets of doughs were attempted: one that uses the bread machine + an old-recipe that originated from authentic Jewish grandmothers; and a hand-kneaded dough based off internet popularity.

Here is a Joan Callaway's recipe from Allrecipes.com:

2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup honey
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon salt
8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon poppy seeds (optional)


Directions

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over barely warm water. Beat in honey, oil, 2 eggs, and salt. Add the flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition, graduating to kneading with hands as dough thickens. Knead until smooth and elastic and no longer sticky, adding flour as needed. Cover with a damp clean cloth and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in bulk.
Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto floured board. Divide in half and knead each half for five minutes or so, adding flour as needed to keep from getting sticky. Divide each half into thirds and roll into long snake about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Pinch the ends of the three snakes together firmly and braid from middle. Either leave as braid or form into a round braided loaf by bringing ends together, curving braid into a circle, pinch ends together. Grease two baking trays and place finished braid or round on each. Cover with towel and let rise about one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Beat the remaining egg and brush a generous amount over each braid. Sprinkle with poppy seeds if desired.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 40 minutes. Bread should have a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Cool on a rack for at least one hour before slicing.


As an experiment, there were many controls that weren't included, including the fact that the doughs were different recipes, and the timing was not exactly the same: so its hard to do a critically, scientific comparison of the two loafs.

Bread-machine version: 8/10. A very soft dough, but with a slight taste of "breadmachine?" Still very delicious, and fulfilling from bite to bite. Braiding was done with three strands (which was less impressive looking as the six braids)

Hand-kneaded version: 8.5/10, Though the timing of the baking was slightly off, causing a denser, and heavier dough, the richness of the dough made it simply impecable: a crisp coat with soft, tastefully chewy centers. Braiding with six strands looked marvelous!

Yay for hand-kneading!

Char Siew Bao

So last Sunday, I wanted to try to make one of the most popular dim-sum dishes: BBQ Pork Buns! I used a recipe that my mother had said tasted exactly like the buns you get from chinese bakeries and went ahead to steam it.

The problem was, the recipe was for baked buns instead of steam! So, as a result, the buns turned a slight yellow, and did not have the exact same taste as I am accustomed to. Next, I did not follow the tips from rasa-malaysia of spraying the buns with mist first, and adding a bit of vinegar in the boiling water (to create smoother coatings, and whiter buns respectively). As a result, my buns had a uneven surface, and less attractive color.

I also chose against using red food coloring, and ended up with brown contents instead. =S. But nevertheless, they still tasted delightful, and I will definitely be making them again, with the right recipes whilst following those tips =).

Aug 1st Run

Miscalculated the route, and ran a little less (15.5 K) but, tried to keep the speed up, and finished in 1hr 20min, which is still a little more than I'd like. If I can hit 23K in 1 hr 40 or so that would be perfect.That would mean finishing today's run in a little over an hour.

Today, I ran to Pierre Elliot Trudeau's high school, went through the golf course, and across Cachet Parkway. Decent areas, but lacking in trees and shade. More runs to come this week to makeup for the lost mileage.