Hazelnut Apricot Whole Wheat Bread

I’m really in to braids right now. Yep, braids. I haven’t had a haircut in about 7 months and my hair is getting long and unruly. I’m reluctant/too lazy/afraid to find a new hair salon so I’m rocking a braid. I’ve even been watching YouTube tutorials to discover new styles and then I take pictures and send them to my friend Anna in the US. I’m super cool, I know.

But my most impressive braid is this bread!! I am so absolutely proud of it and I’m excited to share it with you. I got this recipe from The Great British Bake Off: How to Bake. I might have mentioned it before, but I’ve become a big fan of the TV show The Great British Bake Off. After every episode I always want to get in the kitchen and make something. So recently I went to the library and checked out the book and went on a baking spree trying out all kinds of things – and the more
complicated the better. 

Pecan Banana Bread

I know green banana bread isn’t for everyone, so if you want something a little more normal here is a recipe for a regular banana bread. I like this recipe because it’s flavorful, moist, and it’s pretty close to healthy. It’s also not as sweet as some banana breads because the only added sweetener is a little honey and apple juice. Don’t get it twisted, it’s not purely healthy because there is a lot of butter.

To figure out how much butter I need, I used my scale. I’ve wanted a digital scale for awhile and I finally bought myself one soon after I moved to London. It was on clearance at a nearby department store and I thought, “this is a sign, I’m finally going to get it.” And it’s been totally worth it! All my UK recipes are in grams and this helps measure them. It also helps me convert my US recipes more easily. For example, I know that 1 tbsp of butter equals about 14g but what the heck does that look like? Now I don’t have to eyeball it, I can measure it! It’s awesome. And yes, I know I’m a bit dorky for getting excited about measurements. 

Arepas 2.0

I like to look at my site statistics from time to time. My absolute favorite is seeing what Google searches people use to get to the blog. My top two favorite searches are:

1. Demon pig

2. Pig excited about funnel cake

But the most popular searches are some variation on “Puerto Rican arepas recipe.” When I was searching out recipes, I had a really difficult time finding Puerto Rican specific recipes and so I’m glad that I might be able to help others find what they’re looking for. But, it also shows me that I should get back to testing recipes so I can find a perfect recipe. So here is my second attempt.

Arepas (Fried Dough Goodness)

Something you might not know about me is that I have two part time jobs. I’m lucky because both are great. The are fun, intellectually stimulating, and I get to run around and don’t have to sit behind a desk. I also have flexible hours so sometimes I get home really early, and sometimes I sleep in late. But, the downside of this is that I often work on the weekends resulting in a 6-day work week and a 1-day weekend. So, imagine my great surprise and delight when my bosses and lady luck smiled down on me and gave me ALL of Memorial Day weekend off. That’s three days off! IN. A. ROW. It was greatness. And it gave me a lot of time to play in the kitchen. I made a spicy carrot and beef tagine, lemon squares, strawberry sorbet, pizza, cookies, and arepas.

Potato & Rosemary Focaccia

A little over a year ago, for a gift, Ryan signed me up for a bread making class at Le Pain Quotidien – and it was awesome! I think they only have classes in New York City and in California, but if you live nearby, you should totally do it. I learned a lot, and I came home with about a dozen loaves of bread (4 different kinds!). Anyway, Ryan loves bread, and I think he was hoping the class would encourage me to make bread for him.