Handmade Thoughts

I really just have to summarize Thomas's entire life:

He was in a committed relationship with a male swan named Henry for 18-24 years before a female swan named Henrietta showed up and mated with Henry.

Thomas was initially jealous of the pair and attacked them, breaking 2 of the 5 eggs Henrietta had laid. However, once the remaining eggs hatched, Thomas warmed up to them and helped raise them.

Henry couldn't fly because of an injured wing, so Thomas taught the cygnets how to fly.

When they needed to reduce the goose population in the pond where Thomas and the swans lived, they dyed Thomas's feathers red so he wouldn't be separated from Henry.

Henry, Henrietta, and Thomas remained in their happy throuple for years and raised 68 cygnets before Henry died in 2009. After Henry's death, Henrietta found another swan and flew away, leaving Thomas alone.

Thomas finally met and mated with a female goose in 2011 and had his own babies. However, another goose named George stole them and raised them himself.

As Thomas grew elderly and blind, he was relocated to a wildlife center where he raised orphaned cygnets.

His caretaker at the center described him as "pretty high maintenance."

Thomas died in 2018 at the age of around 40. He had a funeral that included a small coffin and a procession that was led by a bagpiper. He was buried under the stone where Henry was buried, the two finally reunited in death.

This sick bleach shirt I made. Something to showcase my undying love for prehistoric cave art.

10 cents: 0

25 cents: 1

50 cents: 0

75 cents: 0

The Amur Leopard and Clouded Leopard (which recently celebrated its 50th cub born at the zoo!)

The Sumatran Tiger

The Red Ruffed Lemur and Ring-Tailed Lemur

The Cotton-Top Tamarin and White-Cheeked Gibbon

The Colobus Monkey and De Brazza’s Monkey

And the Mexican Spider Monkey!

You put the yeast in the water and wait to "proof" it, aka, prove you didn't kill the yeast. If it doesn't have a strong bready smell, and look all bubbly, the yeast failed, do it again.

"warm" water means a little above body temperature.

If sugar is a luxury for you or you're worried about the yeast failing, don't mix it in until after the yeast is proofed.

Yeast in little packets is expensive. Yeast is larger containers is not. If you keep moisture out of it, it lasts an age (literally. they have made bread from yeast that is millenia old). You can keep most of it in the back of your fridge and a smaller amount in a container.

Oil vs butter makes a texture and flavor difference. Not all oils work the same. If you don't have vegetable, canola, or olive oil, check first.

If you can buy bread flour, or any flour that has higher protein, it works a little better. That is not the weird keto high protein stuff. fwiw, the standard flour at costco has a higher protein content, and its what I use.

Whole wheat flour is not a one-to-one swap. Look up what needs to change.

This recipe is not going to be mix in friendly. Don't get fancy yet.

Mixing the dough is easiest if you have a large bowl and a flexible spatula. Run the spatula or spoon around the edge, then in, until it's no longer got obvious dry bits. Don't jump to kneading yet.

If its goopy, add small amounts of flour and mix. If it isn't coming together, add very small amounts of warm water and mix. On a recipe with 6c flour, if I needed to add more than a 1/4c of flour, or an 1/8 of water, would throw a flag that I made a serious mistake.

The dough should not be firm after mixing, but it also shouldn't stick to your hand and leave a mess.

Kneading means beating up the dough. Once the stirring has made it into a ball, you start to knead. If you don't have a stand mixer. Dust some flour on a clean flat surface. Dust some flour on your hands. Put the dough on there. Push the heel of your hands into it to sorta spread it out. Fold it back into a sorta ball, and push it around again.

Kneading builds gluten strands. As you knead, it will get more elastic, and will hold a shape better. You might need to dust more flour as you go, but it becomes a smooth ball.

Rising is when the yeast does it's job and creates air bubbles. If your house is over 75 or under 65, the rise time will be different. Keep an eye on it until you feel comfy. Trust the 'about double' or 'about one and a half' increase that a recipe mentions.

Overproofing(yes, same word as yeast, no, not part of that step) is when you let the dough rise too long. It gets too many air bubbles, and they're too big. This will NOT get you extra soft bread. It will collapse in the oven and make you sad. Set a timer.

An egg wash has several versions. Generally 1 egg, or 1 egg white, whisked with a bit of water and some salt. If you're flat broke, and don't have eggs, or if you don't eat eggs, mist the top of the loaf with water.

Finally:

Let the Bread Cool Down Before You Slice It