There’s something about bicycles that makes me happy. To me they are reminders of carefree days pedaling along bumpy gravel roads on the Alberta prairies as a child and equally bumpy cobbled roads cruising through Amsterdam as an adult.
I’ve never cycled through Paris though, for I’m afraid I’d crash into something whilst craning my neck to look at some gorgeous building or enticing cafe.
I love the parks of Paris with their wide, white pathways perfect for ambling and glossy green benches perfect for sitting.
This park was the site my friend Amy and I chose for a break one sunny Autumn afternoon after purchasing a box full of tarts and pastries at a nearby patisserie.
Paris cafes always, always make me smile, especially when there’s an empty table on the sidewalk just waiting for me and a dear friend to sit at and talk for ages over cups of strong coffee and plates of cheese-filled crepes or crispy roast chicken.
I like the statues placed around Paris, and always wonder who made them and who the model was and what the story is behind them. I especially liked this one providing shelter to a cheeky bird on a windy day.
And I always sigh thinking about a Paris apartment. Looking up at the embellishments on the walls and the balconies near the top provide fodder for some very happy daydreaming.
I’d love to rent a top floor one someday, and have dinner parties on the roof-top terrace on warm Autumn evenings.
I’ve also been thinking of Paris because I’m on a brioche-making-kick.
Last time I told you about the brioche studded with dark chocolate, and today I’ll share a photo of my latest attempt: brioche with chunks of dark chocolate covered marzipan.
Oh my. I had it for breakfast this morning and felt well and truly spoiled. I think I added too much marzipan (is there such a thing?), for the top of the loaf emerged with some rather large marzipan-filled crevices, but I’m not complaining. It may look a bit wonky, but it tastes like a little slice of heaven.
This weekend was one of those cozy, happy, putter-at-home sort of times. A comfy clothes, pony-tail, barefoot weekend.
I read good books and sipped creamy espresso laced with raw sugar and a dash of vanilla.
I drank red wine at night and watched good belly-laugh movies with Bear.
And I did a whole lot of baking while working my way through my annual tradition of listening to the entire Harry Potter series on CD.
I loved it.
My bread machine is one of my very favorite kitchen appliances. I know some folks feel that the only real bread is the bread made exclusively by hand, but I’m not one of them. In my book, anything that helps me get scrumptious, healthy food on the table when I’m tired, sick, or just plain stressed, is a good, good thing.
I used my bread machine to do all the finicky bits – mixing, kneading, doing the first rising – then I do the rest on my flour-dusted counter: kneading, shaping and popping the dough into a pan. It’s a very happy relationship.
I’ve been making bread since I was a girl, but for some reason I’ve never made brioche. Thankfully that changed this weekend.
I think bread is amazing. You can make so many different styles, textures and tastes with the same basic ingredients.
With nearly every loaf of yeast-risen bread, you must have flour, a liquid (water, milk, coconut milk, juice, broth), salt, yeast, a fat of some kind (Oil, butter, margarine, lard, coconut solids) and a bit of sugar to get the yeast fermenting once it hits the liquid. Most bread recipes are a variation on these components, and once you’ve got the basic formula down, you can let your imagination run wild creating your own bread recipes.
For brioche you use a higher quantity of fat (butter) to a lower quantity of flour (2 cups instead of the standard 3-4 cups for a large loaf), resulting in bread that is light, airy, and absolutely delicious.
I like my brioche with chunks of dark chocolate and a hint of nutmeg, but you can also add dried fruit (currants, sultanas, apricots, etc) or even nuts. Just make sure you wait to add them until just before you put the bread in the pan to bake. That way you know all the bready bits have been mixed properly.
I like eating my brioche while still warm cut in thick slices and spread with salted butter. With the remainder I toast it for breakfast, turn it into French Toast for brunch, or cut it into chunks for a rather fabulous bread pudding.
What is your favorite kind of bread?
Bread Machine Brioche with Dark Chocolate Chunks
Ingredients:
3 large eggs (I used duck eggs, but chicken eggs will be fine) 1/3 cup butter, melted 1/2 tsp sea salt 1-2 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 2 cups white flour 2 Tbsp white sugar 1 tsp fast-action dry yeast 1 bar (or more!) good quality dark chocolate, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
Directions:
Pour first five ingredients into pan of bread machine. Top with flour, sugar, then yeast. Close lid, choose the dough setting, and press start.
Take a nap, read a book, or work on another project until the last beeper sounds.
Remove dough from bread pan and place on well-floured surface.
Preheat oven to 200 C (350 F).
Press dough into a rough circle and pour dark chocolate chunks on top.
Knead well until chocolate chunks are well-dispersed.
Butter a cast iron pot, brioche pan, or bread pan and place dough inside.
Bake 25-30 minutes until brioche is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap the top.
The rains have stopped, the winds have stilled and at last we have a moment of calm here in Queensland. A moment when you finally have time to sit down, catch your breath and let your body collect itself.
There have been rather fierce personal storms to go with the floods and gale-force winds we’ve experienced this week. I’m feeling a bit battered and very, very thankful to have some quiet time this weekend to rest and restore.
The cafe where I often go to work has a special on fresh-squeezed juices today, so I’m treating myself to Strawberry Mint. It tastes like summer and makes me smile.
Last night after the chores were done, I had a happy wander around our muddy but not so floody farm. After so many dark days of pelting rains and wild winds it was pure bliss to sit on a log and look out over sun-drenched fields and sun-dappled waters.
I loved this perky little feather glowing in the setting sun, looking so light and free.
This weekend is a happy one:
visits and chips & gravy with good friends who finally navigated their way home through the floods from Northern Queensland.
time to curl up on the couch and read incredible books (Once, Then and After by Morris Gleitzman)
This afternoon I experimented with a Dark Chocolate-Studded Brioche baked in a cast iron pot and it turned out beautifully!! I hope to share it with you in the next day or two.
In the meantime, I’m wishing you a beautiful weekend filled with things and people who make your heart happy. Is there anything your particularly looking forward to?
It has been a crazy week dealing with the deluge and aftermath of the 2013 Queensland flood.
Today we were finally able to get into town, rumbling slowly over roads with the pavement washed away, gazing in amazement at once green fields coated with thick black mud and debris.
Our little village of Allora was nearly surrounded by raging torrents and fields turned into lakes. On the outskirts, water was encroaching ever closer, submerging roads and yards.
On Monday afternoon we decided to brave the roads and incessant rain to see what we could see.
My jaw dropped as we crested the hill and saw that the normally velvety green Allora golf course had become a massive lake.
It was a strange sense of deja vu for me. My first trip to Australia in January 2011 found me driving up this hill only ten minutes before the 2011 Queensland flood left us stranded for five days.
We drove outside of town, stunned by the paddocks and fences and trees under water rushing so deep and fast it was only inches from swamping the bridge.
You can’t tell in this picture, but the water was rushing down the street like a river and I stayed well away from the edge. While the depth of water is damaging, it is the speed of the current that is truly dangerous, easily knocking you off your feet.
Our village park was downright scary with flood waters hurtling past covering playground equipment and turning the roadway into a plunging waterfall.
I was able to get close enough to take this video of the river rushing through the trees.
We stopped by the local market to pick up some essentials but were unable to get milk for they were all sold out. By this morning locals were lined up outside the market, cleaning out the produce shelves.
Before I experienced a flood I thought everything would be OK once the waters went down. I know better now. Trucks carrying food and dairy can’t get through because roads are absolutely destroyed, bridges washed out. The food distribution centers themselves are often submerged. Going to the grocery store today there were mighty slim pickings in the fresh food aisle.
My friend in Brisbane is having an entirely different experience. Since the power was knocked out in her neighborhood, their market had to post security guards and only allow 12 people in at a time. The line of people waiting to go in was massive.We’re hearing of water shortages and horrible flooding and I’m so grateful that my friends in Brisbane and Bundaberg are OK.
I’m also thankful for my garden that is producing heaps of kale, beans, tomatoes and silverbeet, so we’ll be fine until produce is readily available again. And after all that rainfall, our water tanks are full and we have no shortage of water.
Our farm, Citadel Kalahari, turned into a watery swamp, but I admit that I quite like all the little waterfalls and creeks and ponds. Although walking anywhere is rather precarious what with slipping through lashings of mud, it really is quite beautiful.
There are so many people in Queensland and New South Wales who have lost so much in these terrible floods. If you are able and interested in helping them rebuild, please donate through this link: Australian Red Cross.
After terrible fires, scorching heat, and dry-as-a-bone days, it is pure bliss to celebrate Australia Day with hour upon hour of glorious rain. Apparently Australia is known as “the land of flood and fire” and now I know why! In spite of the crazy, sometimes scary weather, I love it here so much.
Bear and I drove out to Stanthorpe this morning, thinking that the perfect way for us to honor this day was to drive the countryside that we both love. Our road took us up into the hills over terrain transformed by rain from dry, golden mounds into scenes straight out of Ireland: craggy rocks glistening under cascades of water, vivid green grass and glossy leaves.
We met up with some old friends and total strangers to take an Australian weapons licensing test – Bear for his crossbows and me for firearms – and we both passed with flying colors. Yippee!!
It was so interesting learning the Australian rules for weapons use and safety. Some things are similar to the United States, but others are vastly different. I was intrigued to learn that wanting a weapon for personal protection is not a lawful or accepted reason in Australia for getting a weapons license. I asked the Aussies what you’re supposed to do to protect yourself from bad guys here and they burst out laughing and said, “Run!” Duly noted. 😉
To reward ourselves for passing our tests, we headed to one of our favorite stops, Vincenzo’s, for hot drinks and a visit.
Then, of course, we were ravenous, so I happily tucked into a rather marvelous steak pie while Bear got sandwiches and we shared a plate of piping hot chips. It was so nice chatting and eating and sipping as the rain pounded on the roof and the occasional gust of wind showered us with raindrops.
Then we drove home again, stopping to treasure hunt at one of our favorite thrift stores before donning boots and raincoats to feed the animals in the downpour.
Now it’s time to cozy in for the night with hot coffee and a stack of movies from the library.
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