Loaves of Fun: A History of Bread with Activities and Recipes from Around the World
KITCHEN AND COOKING TIPS Safety 1 The kitchen is a pretty safe place but it’s not a place to play There are certain things you must be very careful of all utensils especially knives elec trical appliances and outlets including mixers and toasters never ever put anything metal in a toast er cleaning solutions which are often stored under the kitchen sink and anything else that looks like it might fall on you cut you or shock you 2 Never use the oven or stove without a grown up’s permission and help Fires can start before you know it and it's important to have someone with you who can handle an emergency You'll need an adult for all the recipes and activities in this book 3 Make sure you have a fire extinguisher and or a big open box of baking soda handy in case there is a fire baking soda will put the fire out if you pour it
SSS D SO NII III Baking Tips 1 The best way to mix bread dough is with your hands Not only is this the safest way but it's also the most fun Use a large bowl Throw all the ingredients in according to the directions and mix them up with your hands make sure you wash them first 2 Measuring ingredients is also really easy All you need is a measuring cup and a measuring spoon or a collection of measuring spoons of different sizes Before long you may be able to measure ingredients just by pouring them into your palm or into a cup You can practice this by measuring an ingredient with a measuring spoon or cup first then pouring it into your hand if it's a small amount of dry ingredient like salt or yeast or into a coffee cup or glass Soon you'll learn what a tablespoon of sugar looks like in your hand and you won't have to get out the measuring spoons at all 3 Never use ingredients that smell or look different than you know they should Flour can grow rancid and turn brown milk can curdle eggs can rot and
weevils tiny bugs can burrow into flour and sugar if they're not stored properly 4 It's a good idea to proof your yeast before you use it just to make sure it's alive and active so you don't end up with a big hard pancake instead of a loaf of bread To proof yeast simply stir some sugar into a cup of very warm but not hot water you should be able to put a finger in it comfortably and sprinkle a little yeast on top It doesn't matter how much yeast you use a pinch will do Within five minutes the yeast should start to bubble or foam If it doesn't it's not fresh enough to use 5 All of the recipes in this book call for butter but you can use margarine if you prefer Six slices of bread equals up to one third of the vita mins and minerals you need in a whole
STTITI TITAN TITUTTITUTI Notes on Kneading When all the ingredients for bread dough are mixed you're ready to knead Kneading is easy and everyone has their own way of doing it You can't go wrong All you have to do is pull the dough apart and then squish it back together again over and over Some people like to do this by making the dough into a flat circle and folding it over like a pillowcase again and again Others prefer to pull it like taffy stretching it out and then mushing it into a ball before stretching it out again The idea of kneading is to stretch the protein in the dough You should knead for at least ten minutes but don't worry you can't do too much Whatever is the most fun is the right way to do it It s best to put all of the ingredients together first and save the kneading to go with the last additions of flour It almost always works out this way because bread dough tends to be sticky until you knead in just the right amount of flour If the dough is coming off on your fingers when you pull your hand away you know that you need to work in a little more flour Add a tablespoon or so at a time until you have a smooth elastic loaf that is easy to pull and fold but isn't wet If your dough gets too tough and you have a diffi
