Desert or Dessert

Finally moved in. Well sort of anyhow. I think it will be a while before we are really settled and things are the way I would like them to be.

This is day 17 of our move here and my husband is already on his 2nd weeklong trip.

The first one started on day 3! It took the moving company two whole days to unload our belongings and on day 3 the day we start to unpack for real because our furniture is finally standing he has to leave.

 

Thursday he received a call that he is needed in Alaska of all places (sure will be a cool down from the 100+ here) the very next day.

 

That guy is such a trooper and knowing how much the lock situation of the house bothered me (we had gazillion locks and each using another key, one lock even used a key inside! The main exit often refused to open.) he changed 2 sets of doors (that is a dead bold and handle on the rod iron door and a lock which needed a new drilling on the inside door) so now I don’t have to be afraid of being locked out or experience nightmares of being locked inside during an emergency.

 

This is one reason we did not take the house we originally wanted. It was a fixer upper with so much potential but it would have been a nightmare with him gone all the time (we found out after arriving here that he will be gone a lot). This one too will need some changes and even his assist to hang up pictures on the wall (the whole house is paneled with wood that is so hard it’s pretty much impossible for me to put a nail into).

 

We live in a small town outside of El Paso which is about a 30 minute drive away and therefore I am not going shopping every day like I was used to in Germany. I have to think ahead of what I will be needing and get the shopping done when I am in town.

 

We are pretty much spoiled and prefer organically grown food which is a whole other problem here in El Paso and that is not just price wise. I have not found an egg source here and was in for a sticker shock for organic eggs (over $ 4). I already knew the crazy price of milk here and it baffles me. In Germany organic or not is very close in price. I paid between 20-23 cents an egg depending on the Euro (I got mine from a neighboring farm), here it’s 35 cents! For half a gallon of milk I paid between $ 2-2.05 in the store here it’s more than double that. Can someone explain to me why?

Being back in the USA also means I will be doing all my daily bread baking because well… I am German and like my bread with crust.

The first bread I baked in the oven here (a gas oven which will need getting used too, can’t wait until the step down transformer gets here so I can use my trusted old/ fairly new friend again) is from “The Modern Baker” and happens to be also the very last bread I baked in Germany. What a neat way to start my baking here having ended on the same note.

This bread is baked rectangular on a sheet rather than  in a round. The first time I made this I read the instructions over and over thinking I must be missing something. I have never made a bread before that I had to roll or push onto a baking sheet.

I have to bring up that I don’t use active dry yeast since I always have instant dry yeast on hand. The price on this was a nice surprise.

I found it in a small Mexican grocery store in Fabens, TX for just $ 2.89 a pound! That is about half of what I used to pay ordering it from King Arthur. After I open the bag I put it in a big jar and keep it in the fridge.

Nick Malgieri uses “active dry” for his breads. He does not even mention the option of Instant dry that makes me believe that it was not yet on the market when he wrote this book. To convert one yeast type to another gaaarp wrote up this conversion chart. Thank you Gaaarp!

The first time I used the kitchen machine as per instructions and the second time I used my new Viking (this was my Christmas present from my husband, am I lucky or what!). New because he had it sent to Nebraska and we just brought it back with us.

 

I did not notice any difference in the dough. I however did notice a difference in how it baked from one oven to the next. I prefer the first version though the second was just as good.

 

And there you have it “Instant Sandwich Bread”! I cut those into squares for sandwiches or morning toast (this bread tastes delicious toasted). If you have not baked this bread yet go ahead and give it a try. It’s very easy to make (great news for beginners) and takes less than two hours from start to finish.

 

NOTE: This bread tastes best the day it’s baked or the next morning toasted. So only bake enough to eat right away or freeze the rest like mentioned in the book.