Here’s my list to quickly recap what I have discussed last week and the remaining criterias I set for the appliance.

a) Size of loaf and machine: Usually a toss between 1lb or 2lb loaf maker.  You need to choose one that would fit your household consumption requirement, or simply to ensure your tiny kitchen could fit the machine on the kitchen counter or both.

b) Elements that would make your life easier ie. Timer and Keep Warm function: Choose them if you view bread-making as more of a necessity than just a hobby.

c) Features that would produce a good loaf like heavy-set non-stick baking pan, even heating element.  We would not want the loaf to be brown at the bottom and almost doughy at the top.

d) Other settings of interest.  Mine has a cake setting, for whenever I want to bake a small cake without cranking up the oven.  So I use the function to make banana bread.  I have read of others’ success with baking Blueberry bread with a muffin recipe using this setting too.

e) Ease of cleanup.  This is also important not only to avoid la cucaracha to invade the kitchen, but to ensure your future loaves are evenly and well baked.

With that I hope you would be able to decide what you look for in a bread maker.

Now, bear in mind that my bread maker has all those functions.  Surprised? I was, when I first started to research for one that would have most of the functions that fit my requirements.

A piece of advice: Don’t let the price be your first criteria, or where it’s made.  It just does not work to our advantage.

Why? Because for the first reason, I found that a good bread maker would cost us more than what we perhaps have in mind for a budget, not to mention, in the long run, would more than pay off for itself with the savings from making our own bread.

The second reason stemmed from the fact that some of us are a bit wary with items made in China.  As I write, more and more brands of electrical goods will commission their appliances in Chinese factories according to strict specifications stated by the brand company, not the manufacturer.  Besides, sub-quality products can be made by other western world manufacturers, so let’s not start overanalysing here.

Back to my criteria for a good bread maker.  First one is size.  I chosed to have one that is big enough to consume for a day or two so I won’t have to bake everyday, yet require a small machine which would fit into a small space on my kitchen counter or in the pantry where I keep the other appliances such as the toaster, blender, rice cooker.  Don’t mind me, I hate clutter on my kitchen top, so I fit them all in the pantry.  Usually bread makers make 2lb loaves, which is pretty huge, but nowadays, you get the ones making 1lb loaves too.  Also a small one means if you muck up the dough, your wastage is minimized.  So I bought the 1lb version.

On my list of requirements are also for the bread maker to have a timer, and a warmer function, so that I could pop the ingredients into the machine the night before and have fresh made loaf in the morning.  And the cleaning must be quite easy.

The following week I will divulge and discuss the rest of my bread maker criteria with you all.  Stay tune!

I must admit, there will be some of us, who insisted that making bread needs to be the traditional way, ie. mixing, pounding, kneading the dough to “submission”.  One is for being very therapeutic, secondly – healthier for the maker and the consumer. And last but not least the traditional way and all those hard work would result in great tasting loaves.

For me, having watched and followed avidly bread-baking shows and using recipes to a T, I am proud to say I have put in some time to building a new skill at this direction and have had my share of success and failures.  However, I still feel some intimidation right before making them (ah.. the pressure of churning out good looking and great tasting bread – want yes, waste not!).

I mean, we really need to measure out the ingredients carefully to achieve a good product (a cup of this, a pinch of that would not do) and there are other things to watch out for too when doing this, plus time-consuming – like do the preliminary mixing and kneading first, leave it to rise and come back to work on it again.  I could  have gone on and on, that I wistfully wished that I could somehow put the steps all into automatic mode.  Or at least semi-automatic mode while lessening the compromise on taste and healthy factor.

So I have plodded along, most of the time alone, finding out little ways to perfect the techniques and such, until I finally admitted to something big:  we do not need to possess the professional Baker’s magical hands, or their secrets to bread baking in order to churn out such wonderful and healthy loaves.

None! Really… we can be off to a good start by using the device called the Bread Maker or Bread Machine.

No more trying to find the secret professional chefs and bakers won’t tell you, the secret they guard so jealously.  That even if you look over their shoulder when they are doing it, you still won’t be able to produce fantastic results as theirs.

But from what I experience, a bread maker can assist you to be up to par with the best of them.

From mixing the ingredients to determining when to release the yeast, baking your loaf and how long to keep it warm before we get to them are very big pluses for me.

There is so much more I would like to share with you regarding bread baking using the bread maker, so check out the next post!

So, having searched for something nice and simple, I found one on an article.  Rather than pointing you to the website, I have decided to get it the recipe to this same page.  Save you a click!

The first thing you need to know is how to make your own 100% healthy and natural vanilla extract for your homemade vanilla ice cream. Vanilla extract is a basic ingredient in almost any homemade ice cream, but is essential in homemade vanilla ice cream.

You might buy the vanilla extract from a good quality store if you can find an unadulterated brand. But to make your own you’ll need about a quart of milk, a vanilla bean (available at most health food stores), and a teaspoon of honey.

You pour the milk in a saucepan and heat on high while you slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and in half.

Then put the halves of the vanilla bean into the milk. Boil for around 15 to 20 minutes, then cook on medium heat for a half hour or until the milk has a thin sheet of film on top.

Stir the mixture constantly as it cooks to prevent burning. Cool the extract and freeze in several small plastic bottles or containers.

This extract will last you for quite awhile since recipes call for only a few teaspoons each. You should-if you plan to make the homemade vanilla ice cream anytime soon- save a half cup of the extract in a container in your refrigerator.

Whenever you want to make more homemade vanilla ice cream (or any other kind of homemade ice cream) just get the vanilla extract out of the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator until a few tablespoons or so are thawed, then refreeze the rest of the vanilla extract before it completely thaws out.

Now I’ll give you my homemade vanilla ice cream recipe, follow the instructions carefully and you’ll get wonderful results.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

You’ll need: 3 eggs, with the egg whites and yolks separated, 1/2 cup honey, 4 cups light cream, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

1. In a medium size bowl beat the yolks until smooth. Gradually add honey, beating until well-blended and thick. In a different small bowl beat the egg whites until stiff, stir beaten whites in with the yolk and honey.

2. Then add the cream and egg mixture together in a saucepan, cook on medium heat, stirring constantly for 15 minutes.

3. Stir in vanilla extract, and either process in an ice cream maker or just freeze in a bucket container overnight, stirring the vanilla ice cream every few hours at first and then allowing the vanilla ice cream to freeze on its own.

Serve with an ice cream scoop.

This homemade vanilla ice cream is rich, creamy, natural, and very healthy I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

Because if we believe in throwing all required ingredients together into the Icecream Maker’s bowl and hey presto!  30 minutes later, we would most likely get a slushy, a frappe, or a milkshake instead of the valued icecream we sweated out for.

Apparently, after having tried out myself, I find that there are a few things worth noting and doing diligently to get that perfectly churned ice cream everytime.  Having said that, please do not be discouraged if your first few tries turns out a runny sherbet.  I had a few myself too.  On a slightly funny, yet positive note, let’s look at the failures this way: the Icecream Maker seems to be the miracle machine, buy one and you churn out 2 types of desserts or more.

Some people would stand by the salt rock icecream maker although the work is a bit messy and the machine will be churning noisily.  I find that the modern ice cream maker is awesome to use, as long as I do a few things accordingly.

Namely, the bowl of the icecream maker and the chilling canister needed to be in the freezer for at least 24 hours.  And the freezer temperature must be really low, some people would describe it as “blowing” cold, or a blizzard.  If it’s not “blowing” cold, then you may need to check the coils of your refrigerator, any refrigerant leakage etcetera.  Other suggestions would be to use cold packs all over the canister or bowl in order to ensure the freezing temperature requirement is met.

The mixed ingredients are also needed to be chilled in the freezer for about an hour before “making” icecream in the icecream maker.

Someone asked me the other day, how much ice cream could I make with my small icecream maker, which serves 1-1/2 quart, and I told her with a sheepish grin – 2 adults and 1 company.  So buy bigger if you are expecting multiple companies.

There will be more tips and discussions on making homemade ice cream coming in the next installment, next week!

When I say switched-up, I am literally referring to Anna Olson’s Sugar TV series where she bakes something, for example cookies and later on devise ways to upgrade the plain cookies to a nice looking and great tasting dessert fit for guests.  She calls it a ’switch-up’ concoction.  Hope you get the idea, ya?

Lately, I have been having more and more of the switched-up Ice Cream moment and felt that I have done so much switching up for the plain Vanilla Ice Cream, (frankly speaking, bored!).  I need to revamp the idea of Ice Cream as dessert.

The brilliant idea should not include having multiple flavored ice creams in my freezer either.  I’m thinking more of making Ice Creams with the flavors which are in season.  I read somewhere about how Ben and Jerry’s started.  Seems that if strawberries are in season, then they will have strawberry ice cream available all day, running a special sale, until it runs out.  So, if I were to take the idea, and I am lucky to have a few mango trees that fruit abundantly at the backyard,(we practically had to give some away to neighbours, friends and family when in season), I would need to have a good icecream maker and hopefully churn some good desserts regularly.

The first thing you need to know in order to make your own 100% healthy and natural  homemade ice cream is this: Use fresh ingredients whenever possible. The second important thing to know is how to use the IceCream maker to produce top desserts everytime.

Tips on using the IceCream Maker will be discussed in the next post.

Fancy serving chocolates throughout your party?

When we mention chocolates, we immediately think of the sweet treats that comes in individual pieces like the image here, or the bar.  And most of the time it would be the cocoa brown color, not the white chocolate variety.

So, chocolates for events? Or even the main course of the party? Does that mean we need to serve only the ready-made, high-sugar, unhealthy variety?

You could, if you want to.  Take caution, however that the sweet chocolatey things we serve to guests can only go as far.  Besides the other reason – people tend to get bored having the same thing in one sitting and would not be able to appreciate the beauty of chocolates.  Just like the handful of boys and girls invited into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

The point I am trying to impress upon you is, we could use chocolate or cacao products in other ways.

Speaking of which, I recently watched a TV show on Willy’s Wonky Chocolate Factory.  And the show focused on his thousand-acre cocoa farm in Venezuela, how he cooked lunches for the workers during harvesting season using, yes – grated pure chocolate or cocoa bar – as if it were curry paste.

Later on, when his chocolate factory was set up, he was shown fete-ing his family and friends with baked chicken doused with cocoa or chocolate sauce / gravy.  His product is available in England and online Williescacao.com .

I took cue from this idea and experimented with some of the recipes he has in his cookbook.  Anyone may access a few select recipes from the book online at Williescacao.com/cookbook/ .

I tried the vegetarian Porcini and Chocolate Risotto.  Not bad at all.  Never knew mushrooms go with chocolate.

Flour is in truth, fine powder milled from different seeds including wheat.  When adding a few grain types and milled together, it makes tasty whole wheat flour.  All wheats are not created equal, though.  Some flour have high gluten which is contributed by the presence of the wheat germ.  Gluten could make a cake tough. Therefore, for dessert purposes, usually pastry flour is best.  But All-purposed flour can be used both to make bread and cake and easily available so just choose the best option for you.

Back to making the dough.  One of the secrets to make a pastry flakey is to separate the flour and butter.  Use cold butter and grate to tiny pieces.   4 or 5 tablespoon of water added is enough to mix them together.  After balling up the dough, keep refrigerated until required.  When doing so, ensure you spread some flour on the board before rolling the dough flat.

A tip that I took from Jamie Oliver in Jamie At Home is that, when rolling out the dough, you may want to use a baking paper sheet large enough to cover the flattened/rolled out dough and roll on top of the baking paper instead of directly on top of the dough.  This is so if you accidently make a tear/break off a piece of the dough while rolling/lifting it, rolling on top of the baking paper would mend it easily and would leave no traces of having been broken off or having suffered from tearing.

Fancy This:

This was what I heard from Chef Manu Feildel of the TV show Ready, Steady Cook in Australia.  I have no idea if he was pulling our legs.  He told Pete Everett the show host, that the tarte tatin was named for the sisters Tatin who were baking an apple tart for the King of France.  While lifting the tart from the oven or something like that, one of the sisters accidentally dropped the tart on the floor.  Not having enough time to do another, the Tatin sisters lifted the fallen tart off the floor, and serve them upside down.  Hence the name that goes with the style of presentation.

Try Ending the splendid dinner affair with a simple upside down apple tart or Tart Tatin as the French calls it.

All you need is a cup of sugar heated on the pan and place sliced apple the way you want the tart to be seen.  But you also need the base of the pastry and you could make it simply from scratch or have a ready-made pastry dough, it’s up to your convenience.

Once the sugar caramelizes in the pan and the apples turn golden, just place the pastry on top, tuck the edges neatly to the inside of the pan and bake at 350 deg F or 180 deg C for about 20-30 minutes.  When serving, just pull out the pan and carefully place on top of the pan, a plate with a size larger than the pan’s diameter, and turn over.

What I have seen on the Cooking It TV show hosted by chef Jun Tanaka, is that the tarte tatin is done in individual ramekin-sized copper pots.  He taught the culinary-challenged student on his show how to dress the tart up by placing a clove and a whole star anise on the very bottom of each mini pot before covering it up with a half (cored) apple and the sugar, so that when the tart is turned over, the spices would be beautifully displayed on top, as well as  lending a nice flavor combo of spices to the dessert.

To read more on the pastry side of the recipe, look out for the next installation of Tarte Tatin.