Project 365 - Week 6

I am quite tired of studying and I am so looking forward to go to London again in a few weeks, with my best friends. I passed all of my exams until now and after the trip to London I'll have to start writing my final essay, wow! =)

Here's week 6 of my project 365. Hope you'll like the photos ^^


36/365 13012011
Woke up very early to catch the first train to get back home. Delay of 40 minutes, had to take the next train (studied a lot in the train, having more then 5 hours) which arrived at destination at 12.20 pm. Was quite tired when I got home, read blogs and unpacked. I plan to see Roberto this evening for a beer date, haha, will be fun.
These are the photos I've hanging in my room: Giada, my beloved dog (who was poisoned a few years ago and therefore died, I miss her every day) when she was a puppy. My class at our first day of exam at high school and my brother and me some years ago, I think four of five.



37/365 14012011
I baked sourdough bread in the breaks between one book and a notebook.




38/365 15012011
We enjoyed the wonderful day. The sun was shining, it was like being in spring.



39/365 16012011
Another nice sunny day, we ate breakfast outside. This was R's breakfast: my bread and imported stuff from Holland.
To Turin in the afternoon. With my mum.



40/365 17012011
In Turin with my mum for an exam. She painted this for me, inspired by a painting I found on the Internet one day (I cannot find it anymore, so write me if you know the source and the amazing artist who made this). It now hangs on the wall in my room. I spent the whole day waiting for my exam to take place, but 30/30 was the result, happy.



41/365 18012011
The small bed my mom bought for her grandchildren. Ready to be used by my nephew Mattia.



42/365 19012011
And there he is, the protagonist of our day: Mattia, my wonderful nephew. We are all fond of him. He's so funny and playful, he walks kilometers and never complains.

Have a nice evening!

Juliette

Sourdough Starter & Sourdough Bread

Since a few day I was finally successful in keeping my Sourdough Starter puppies alive =).
I tried it in Turin, but there the temperature was simply too low, so I am not the one to blame.
I tried here. My mom is superactive the whole day keeping the house warm and cosy.


How to make a successful Sourdough Starter?

You will need :
a jar (that you can close).
50 g flour (+100 g)
50 ml water (luke warm) (+100ml)

Mix the two ingredients, put in a jar which you will close and store in a warm, dry place.
After 24 hours, add another 50 g of flour and 50 ml water (not cold!, but lukewarm).
Store again and the day after repeat the process another time.
At this time, bubbles will fill your jar.
Don't panic if there aren't many many bubbles, if there're just a few bubbles it means they're alive down there!



Now you can use your starte to make Sourdough Bread
If you don't use the starter in one week you can keep it stored, no problem, but after a week remember to refresh it, the little ones there need to eat, so add 50 g of flour and 50 ml of water.

If you want to keep some Started for the next time, not to have to redo the whole process, just put a ball of dough in the jar (and remember to refresh it if not used to a week).

Directions

Mix the Sourdough starter in a large Bowl with flour and lukewarm water until a dough ball, if you're familiar with bread baking you just fell and know when the proportions are right. You'll have to have a soft and light dough, do not add too much flour because the Stater has to do his work, and carrying all that flour can be heavy for them.
Don't forget to add 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Allow to rest for 1.5 hour or 2 hours if you aren't in a hurry.
Butter or oil a baking pan.
Knead the dough and put in the baking pan, allow to rest another hour.
Preheat the oven at 190 °C (380 F).
Bruch a little of olive oil (easy for me to say, I live in Italy and in a olive oil producing region too) on top of the dough and put in the oven for 20/30 minutes.
Allow to cool on a rack (ok, this is the most difficult step, I never do this) and..eat!


I hope I helped somebody, it's so easy and nice to know you can make bread out of scarcely three ingredients.
I know it seems an impossible mission to do this, and it takes three days to get the starter ready, but you have to do almost nothing if those three days. And it has a delicious taste.

Juliette

Project 365 - Week 2

Today I went to the last classes, hugged my friends, watched "A Nightmare before Christmas" in class. It was a nice day, except for the rain that is still winning against snow which really won't arrive.
Here you have my week in pictures.


8/365 16122010

Today I woke up, had a class, went back home for one hour, went for a coffee with two friends, and..spent an hour in the photocopy shop because our teacher left some photocopies at the library for us to copy. Each of us had to go, take the photocpies, go outside, make our own copy and bring the photocopies back. Turns out he forgot to copy the last page! So we had to go back and do it all over again today (+ another 100 copies of other notes and stuff). Thanks amazing someone who invented the photocopier!

9/365 17122010

Everytime I go to the supermarket to buy my daily amount of food (I love doin the grocery shopping, therefore I go once every two days insted of once in a week how normal people do), I bring this reusable bag with me. I have been aware of pollution, separate collection of rubbish, reuse things and so on. I always try to use as less plastic possible and I remember my mother telling me that a little bag with sweets contains so much plastic, because every sweet is wrapped in plastic. I can recall it as if it were yesterday and since then, or arounf that time (I think I were 8) I have been aware that doing small things can help just a little, but a very important little.
Whenever I forget to bring this reusable bag with me I ask a plastic bag, but then I use it for the garbage.
I could make a prettier bag one day, this is a plain, sad reusable bag, but I'm proud of it.

10/365 18122010

Today was a wonderful day.
I woke up because my mother texted me they were coming to visit me. They haven0t been here since July 2009 and I was so happy. I cleaned the house in an hour, and they were here around 11am. We went to the Ikea, which is sooo near!, we enjoyed this time together like we maybe haven't ever done before. No complaining, no judging or being upset. Just smiles and happiness. I bought a cakeholder and some spices containers. Then we went to a pretty Christmas market, with many pretty things, like these cute garlands, but it was extremely cold! Now we're realxing a bit. Later we'll go to the Chinese restaurant and watching the pretty coloured lights which decorate the city during the holiday season. I am so grateful for this day.

11/365 19122010

This morning I woke up hearing the voices of my parents in the other room. So strage, it has been a long while since they came to visit me. They drunk coffee and left to go back home. Roberto was still sleeping, so I made a cup of coffee for him too. We woke up slowly, talked for an hour or two, showered, looked outside with a scry face because of the cold and then got ready and challenged the weather. We were looking for some bread (we both love bread) but there were not many shops open, being 1 pm. We found ou usual market after a long walk through the city and bought half a loaf of kamut bread and a bit of cheese. We went home and turned the oven on. Sliced the bread and the cheese, and this is the result. Warm, crispy bread with molten cheese and such a delicious smell. He then went back home as well and I finished revising for my English literature exam of tomorrow. Wish me luck!

12/365 20122010

Today I woke up late because I had an exam at 2 pm. Usually they're in the morning but this time I had the chance to wake up slow, not being overwhelmed by anxiety and getting ready at my pace. I revised everything and then met a friend to go to Uni. Three hours writing a composition about "A Passage to India" by E.M. Forster. When I finished and went outside it was getting dark already and the day was nearing its end. I never study the day I have done an exam in order to realx a bit and get ready for the next one.

13/365 21122010

These are the headphones I was given by my parents for my birthday. I am superhappy with them, the acoustic is fantastic, I can isolate myself completely if I want and the bass is awesome. They have customizeable earthings (I don't know how to call them) and I thought it'd be nice to wish a merry christmas to everyone. I secretly hope someone sees it and I can make someone smile.

14/365 22122010

Professional photo, right? Well, I have not a nice lightning here and I was packing to go back home tomorrow. I thought that resumed what I've been doing today: last classes, goodbyes to all my friends and classmates, giving the cookies I baked yeasterday to my two best friends, and..packing. That's it. Tomorrow I'm going back home for two weeks, I'm so happy, and my big brother will be there too =)

Have a nice evening.

Juliette

Sunday - Breakfast - Raisin, Hazelnuts, Mixed dried Fruit Bread

This was our breakfast today, or we called it "Colanzo" (a sort of Brunch "translated in Italian, between "colazione" and "pranzo").
Yesterday I wanted to bake something out of my new cookbook, but I hadn't got so many of the ingredients of the loaf of bread I had chosen. But I had a lot of other similar ingredients instead. So I just replaced all of the ingredients of the original recipe (expect for hazelnuts) with the alternative ones and here's my loaf of bread. Yummy!
Fresh yeast insted of baking powder, milk instead of buttermilk, mixed dried fruit and raisins instead of dried apricots, "00" and whole wheat flour combined instead of rye flour, and I could go on and on =)

Along with the bread we drank coffee and ate a mandarin.
Ready for a new day!

I hope yo all had a great weekend.

Juliette

Sunday - Breakfast - Coffee, Muesli and Mandarines

Hello!
This was our fantastic breakfast this morning. No baking involved, but Nutella and biological bread for Roberto, muesli for me, Cinnamon coffee and mandarines. Smells like winter!



I should be in the city now, but all the trains were cancelled, so I am still home. Tomorrow morning I'll have to try again, have 4 hours of classes and then it will already be evening, so I don't know if I'll have time to write anything.

Have a nice Monday!

Juliette

Future

I am a dreamer.
I go on because I want to make them come true. I am determinated.
I have some dreams related to my job, I am studying to become a translator, but I am realizing that being only a translator wouldn't really be my thing. I want to do it, but I think I couldn't do only that, it would be boring.
I really want to find something "active" to do, even if I have studied years to get to this point.
There is this one dream in the back of my heart that is screaming to come out lately.
And that is : being a baker/confectioner.
I know, it's difficult, I haven't studied for it, I am self-taught, I have to learn so many things, etc.
Therefore: it's just a dream.

My dream involves waking up early in the morning



Kneading and measuring.



Burn my hands with the hot baking pans



Smelling the fresh bread



Dealing with annoying costumers, and thinking back at the nice ones when I come home.



Trying new recipes and making the shop look pretty.



Feeling relieved because I chose what I wanted to be.

But first, I have to get my degree and study more and more and even more.
I am so fed up with books, notebooks and pens, I just want flour on my nose, colorful walls around me and a big smile on my face.

Juliette

Seeking to breathe

I have my busy life back now. I am happy with that, but I am trying to choose what I want in my future. I have always been so sure, until 2010.

Now everything is different, I don't know what I want exactly, I have so many passions and I just don't want to abandon them, no way. I already abandoned sport (judo) for my studies, I didn't see my friends because of my studies (I lived too far away) and now I am just fed up with these renounces. I want to live my life.

My life has to smell like freshly baked bread..

Tartine Bread from 4SP Films on Vimeo.

This video is really beautiful, and making bread is an art. I love it.

I am just trying to figure everuthing out..

Juliette

Sourdough pets

Why didn't I call this blog "Julie, Julia and Juliette"?
I was watching a video of Julia Child on YouTube, and first of all I thought Meryl Streep plays her role superbly and then I thought "Hey wait, just a moment..Are we sure I am not realted in any way to her?" She reminds me sooo much of my grandma, and actually also of my mum. I think I might become like her one day. A crazy, maybe irritating, lovely woman.

Isn't he lovely? Should I give him a name?

I have been planning of making sourdough bread for a while now. I ate it many many times when I was little at a friend's house.
I looked up on the Internet how to prepare a Sourdough Starter, and I found this article by John Ross. His explanation is very simple and straightforward and sometimes makes me smile =).
He talks as if it were a pet to take care of. Actually, it is. I am feeding him (or them) and I hope I will be able to make my long-awaited bread soon.


Furthermore, I have been drawing pretty much lately. It's a way of keeping me busier than I already am. Classes will start tomorrow and I think the lasts days of "freedom" are to be enjoyed, right? I made this drawing for Roberto, who I miss so much! He's learning Dutch and this is a way to learn some words. All the words (or almost) are related to something we did, had or met during our trip to the Netherlands. I hope he'll like it, and you too.



Soon I will update you about my little pets!

Juliette

What a breakfast means to me..

Ladies and gentlemen found the cable, oh yeah, it was in one of my ten thousand bags. One one those bags I never use. I wonder how it came there =)

This weekend was fantastic, like every weekend I spend with Roberto. We always want to do something funny. And most of the times we succeed.
Saturday we went to the seaside. We stayed there only 2 hours because I had to work, but the weather was lovely.
But before going to the seaside we ate a super breakfast which doesn't let us eat until the evening.

When we have time enough to stop for a second and actually really enjoy preparing breakfast and eating together, while talking about the week that passed, I feel so relieved, so happy.
This week our breakfast was wonderful. Look at it! It makes me happy only to see it =)



I made the Banana Yogurt Bread friday evening. It's simple actually and I liked it a lot, you really can taste the banana a lot.
I took the recipe from this blog. (Thank you, Tara!).

For the Smoothie I just used the fruit we had: Bananas and Strawberries.
It's not really a recipe, but I'll say how I made it:
Strawberry and Banana Smoothie
4 or 5 Strawberries
1 banana
1/2 cup ice cream (I used "fior di latte", it's cream)
1 cup milk

and no sugar otherwise it's less healthy and it becomes less "homemade" (in my opinion, but you can add some sugar if you want).

Just mix everything toghether with the mixer and that's it.
For the serving I suggest fresh strawberries or maybe 2 leaves of mint.

I made the Granola last week, and I like it a lot, but not with yogurt or milk. I like eating it alone, with nothing else. It's super-crispy!

Ok, back to my books, hope you had a fantastic weekend!

HappyFroggy

Bread and rainbows

I know I haven't been writing for a while. I had lots of exams, and now I have a littlebit of time. Actually, I'm waiting for my nephew to be born, I am so excited and think a lot about it because tuesday I will go to Berlin, and if he'll be born then I won't see him for one entire week =(. But alas, I cannot oblige him, obviously =).


Today my mother called my father to buy some bread (we live in a small town and the nearest place where you can buy bread is like 10km away from here). He was already near home so I decided to make it. I am so happy when I have the chance to bake =)


Meanwhile it was, and it still is, raining and raining. It stopped for about 10 minutes, and guess what we saw? A spectacular rainbow, from the beginning to the end, right in front of our house. I took some photos. It was fantastic!


(oh yes, I intensified the colours a bit too much, but I hate when pictures don't let you feel as if you were in that place when they have been taken, because it was so beautiful..)

Oh, and yesterday I made cookies for Roberto. We are together from August, 5 2007 : that is.. 2 and a half years! Whoa! So I decided to make some cookie lollies (idea from here) and some miniminicookies. I had no icing sugar so I decorated it with chocolate..mmh!!

(they still were drying)


If you want to know recipe or something, just ask =)

HappyFroggy