Spelt loaf

Baked a spelt loaf this morning. Preparing the sourdough starter since 4pm yesterday. After first proofing, second proofing and finally put the loaf into the oven after 32 hours. A long process and therefore the loaf turned out quite sour.



Spelt flour is popular because it has a fairly strong nutritional profile. Spelt has slightly fewer calories than wheat flour and is somewhat higher in protein. The flour is easy to digest but is lower in fiber than wheat.

Spelt is a close cousin of wheat with less gluten and a a sweeter, more nutty flavour.

Although similar, bakers should be aware of some differences between spelt flour and wheat flour. For example, spelt flour is more water-soluble then wheat flour, so you need less liquid to get the dough to the right consistency. The gluten in spelt flour is also more fragile then the gluten in wheat flour, making spelt flour much easier to over knead then wheat flour, which has to be kneaded in order to strengthen the gluten. The low amount of gluten in spelt also means that products baked with spelt flour will not rise as well as products baked with wheat flour. (livestrong.com)

Home alone with the girls

We got to know Ah Gong was admitted to hospital on Independance Day. He was having fever, passed black motions and a bit breathless when he went to see the doctor. Daddy immediately went back to hometown on that Saturday as Ah Gong was transferred to ICU.  I was home alone with the three girls for two nights. This is the first experience tat we have to be home alone, without daddy and any other family members.

After daddy left on Saturday evening, the girls behaved well by having their dinner and preparing to sleep as usual. The challenging part was putting the girls to sleep in the same room. Usually, they sleep in different rooms.

On the first night, MSLS asked for milk for twice before going to sleep, and ES wanted me to sleep besides her. It took almost 2 hours to put the three of them to sleep. LS woke up at 2am, 3am while MS woke up at 5am.

On Sunday morning, the girls woke up as early as 6 am. After their breakfast, it was still early and I decided to take the girls for the 10am mass. The three girls were quite cooperative as I told them that we are going to church and they will be praying for Ah Gong for a speedy recovery. The three girls behaved quite well in the chruch and even kneeled down to pray. They walked out and follow the line to receive blessing too.

On Sunday evening, brought the girls to the library to borrow some new books. They were excited about it. At night, it took about an hour plus to put the three girls to sleep. MSLS woke up at 2am while LS woke up at about 5am. It was better than the first night.

And we were glad that on Monday night, Gong gong, popo, Wei, Xuan &Yan auntie had arrived. At least the girls will be busy " entertaining " them for the next couple of weeks.

We are glad that Ah Gong was discharged from the hospital few days after daddy went back to hometown and doctor confirmed everything alright after biopsy done last week.

Pork Floss Seaweed Roll

Daddy brought back some pork floss from hometown. Since the girls love to eat seaweed,  we baked some pork floss seaweed rolls using sourdough starter.

Tomatoes from our backyard

We had planted some tomato plants at the end of spring. This is the first batch of tomatoes and grape tomatoes from our backyard that we picked yesterday.

Basic Sourdough Bread

We baked different kind of breads, from rosemary to raisin bread for breakfast. But this week, we just wanted something simple, back to the basic, and we baked a loaf of basic sourdough bread yesterday. Love it with butter and jam.