So I went a-hunting...

[wiseheart]

... and was fortunate enough to find anything I needed. Except yeast, of course. It seems there's no yeast to be found in this country. (Or in Austria. Or in Germany. But that isn't really my problem is it?)

But since Easter in unimaginable without a Hefezopf, I stooped low enough to buy a ready-made one at Lidl. Or, to be more accurate, four really small ones, which I put into the freezer for Easter Sunday and Easter Monday breakfast.

Then I went to school to fetch the eggs I've ordered (the father of a previous student sells them us directly). And since it's clear that our choir won't likely meet any time soon, I took this little darlings - originally meant as choir gifts - and distributed them on the desks of my colleagues in the teachers' room:



It will take considerable time until my girls get them, but they will get them eventually, and hopefully they'll be happy about the gift.

Other than that, I cooked lunch, which ate half my day (tried out a new recipe that proved way too complicated), did two tiny bits of translation, watched two episodes of "Blood Ties" and had three nice phone chats, one of them quite long.

Mum and I are also considering trying to cut each other's hair before we end up looking like some Neanderthal women. Of course, the end result may prove even worse, but at least we'd have tried, right? *g*

Comments

[artemis10002000]

Hah yes, yeast is valuable goods! Good thing though that you were able to get these store-bought Hefezöpfe at least.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Indeed. What would be Easter without Hefezöpfe? BTW, how is your baking project going?

[artemis10002000]

I haven't started yet. We still have cake and cookies from my last baking project so I haven't begun.

I tried again to get flour today but nothing so I'm gonna give up on it for this week. I have enough for the Hefezopf and maybe a cake so it's fine.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

:)

[meathiel]

Good thing I never bake with yeast.
I'm too stupid for it and we don't particularly like yeast doughs anyway.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I seriously doubt that anyone would be too stupid for making yeast dough. It is merely a question of patience (I usually do some lengthy stuff while it is rising) and a but of luck (yeast can be temperamental sometimes). Of course if you don't even like it then it isn't worth the effort. We, OTOH, love it, so the lack of means to make it frustrates me.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Those are lovely - and will surely be much appreciated when they are finally received.

It is interesting to see other people's traditions for the festivals - LJ has taught me so much. The Hefezopf was new to me. Our 'bread' tradition of Holy Week is the Hot Cross Bun - I usually buy them although I have made them in the past. We had some very early ones a couple of weeks ago, but there were neither buns nor yeast in the shop yesterday so those may have to do.

The other baked tradition is the Simnel cake and I am wondering whether to take the rich fruit cake that was ready to be a layer of D-d's wedding cake and turn it into a sort of Simnel cake as I have marzipan in the cupboard, or whether that would be a sign that I have no hope of a wedding for many, many, months. As this is a traditional rich fruit cake it will keep easily for some months to come - perhaps it would be better to just use it as the Christmas cake if we have not been able to have the wedding by then!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I saw those in some "Easter preparations with Mary Berry" tv programme, I'm not sure about the exact title. As for your cake, I don't think that using up the ingredients would mean you are giving up on the wedding. It's just practical. You can always get new stuff fir the wedding cake when it will be needed, can't you?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is not so much the ingredients as the actual cake!

I made it at the beginning of January as it needs at least two to three months to mature, so it is carefully stored. The amount of brandy added after it is baked means it keeps almost indefinitely - traditionally wedding cakes were two or three tiers of rich fruit cake but the top tier was never eaten at the wedding, but stored to become the christening cake for the first baby - so you can tell they are made to mature :)

If we get to the point in the year where I would make the Christmas cake , October or so, and we haven't had a wedding, I could make a new one to store and just use this one for Christmas - at about a year from baking it would still be fine! (Basically it is a way of holding vast amounts of preserved fruit together - there is over a kilo of fruit but only 330g of flour!)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I can't even imagine a cake that can keep that long!

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

I saw a recipe for making your own yeast on Twitter. It involved putting the skin of some fruit, i.e. grapes in a jar with equal amounts of water and white flour. There are plenty of recipes online. Here is just one of them that looked fairly simple:

https://thesurvivalmom.com/august-skill-of-the-month-make-your-own-yeast/

I am going to try it myself.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestion. I might give it a try as well.

[disthrainsdotte.livejournal.com]

So true indeed, the best we all can do is our best even when it feels like it is not enough. Getting my last prescription yesterday was heavenly even though my over the counter medicines have to wait. At least I can keep up with the medication which is all I can ask for at the moment. Wishing both of you the best easter possible.

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

The bunnies are adorable, great gifts. Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I hope you do, too. :)

[zimtkeks.livejournal.com]

Those gifts look adorable!