Autolyse - an investigation

Sunday 4th March,

Here we go again! :-)


Beginning at 9.15am (bit more organised this time!) I combined 450g wholemeal flour and 500g of water into a sloppy dough, covered it with a dry teatowel and left it on the worktop.

2.00pm: Added 5g fresh yeast and 30g (ml) cold water and gave the gloopy mix a vigorous mixing for about thirty seconds, to ensure the yeast properly reaches all parts. My 'D-shaped spatula with handle' is  particularly useful for this:

Just flour and water at this stage

By 6.15pm it looked like this:

Now it's bursting with life - the yeast is doing its work

Now I added the rest of the ingredients - 150g strong white flour, 90g ground flaxseeds, 7g salt and 54g olive oil - and mixed into a shaggy mass:

Doesn't look much, does it?

Now I shall give it several short kneadings at intervals over a period - and eventually, after I'd got it to the stage where it could be left to prove for an hour or so, I realised I'd done it again! I'd missed out 100g of wholemeal. I added 150 to 450 and got 700! :( And me with an 'O' level in maths!

This is always a sticky dough, and this was pretty sticky - it was taking me longer than usual (more short kneadings than is normally the case) to get it to a stage where it could be shaped. But eventually, after I'd reached that stage, I realised what I'd done.

So I added the 100g wholemeal, with 60g of water and another 5g of yeast (it was getting late and I was up against the clock) and kneaded it all together. Eventually I was happy with it and shaped it into rolls.

I've decided to reduce the size of my rolls, somewhat, so I divided the dough into 14 instead of 12 and shaped into rolls:

Need to huddle them together somewhat so that they would fit under my roasting tray - using the 'undercover' method

Eventually I baked them off, finishing about 1.45am!

They were weighed off at approximately 104g each - and, after baking and cooling they weighed between 84 and 98g. The ones in the middle, of course, lost the most moisture.

I've had a couple of these rolls today, and there's no doubt they're very tasty. But then, my rolls always are. The only difference I can see is that, once again, they seem to be a tad lighter than my usual rolls.

The next batch I make, after freezing, I'll take, along with one from this batch, to a group of friends and do a blind tasting with them.

Hopefully, I'll get my maths right next time!



[More to come]


Saturday 18th February
Had to make some more rolls today, so I thought I'd have another go at an autolyse.

Starting at 7.10 in the evening I mixed 550g Dove's wholemeal with 485ml of water and left it for a couple of hours.

Later than I meant to, around 9 o'clock I added 8g of salt, 60g of flax seeds and the rest of the liquid - 55ml which included 10g of fresh yeast, plus 50g EVOO.

I couldn't understand why it was so wet - for over an hour I was giving it a short knead, leaving it for ten minutes, kneading again, etc, and eventually I thought, "I'll have to go with this." To test if it was OK once moulded, I shaped a roll and left it for ten minutes. It was fine.

I then started weighing out the rolls - divide the dough into six pieces, weigh them around 220g then divide each piece into two before shaping. Puzzlingly, I found I was about 100g light??

Only then did I realise that I hadn't added the usual 150g of white flour I was supposed to add, to give me a hydration of 70% (700g flour + 60g ground flaxseeds to 535ml water).

Stupidly, instead of working out that I needed around 60g flour and 40g water, I added some white flour without measuring it - so then I had to keep adding water to achieve a workable dough. Eventually,  after much faffing about I got it to my liking.

The mix ended up about 60g heavier than my usual, so my rolls will be bigger by an extra 5g.

I then went ahead and proved and baked them - under cover as is my wont - and I'll check them tomorrow to see if there is any difference in flavour.

I didn't come back as I intended - but I have to report that, while I could detect no difference in flavour, they did seem to be a tad bigger and lighter than my usual rolls. However, since there are so many variables (especially the way I mishandled the ingredients) that I can't say it was down to the autolyse process. More work to be done!

Friday, 9th December
In a recent conversation on the BBC Food message board about the effects of adding salt to a dough and when you should add it, the subject of the autolyse method of making bread came up.

I first have to say that, experienced bread baker as I am, I’ve not looked closely at this method of preparing a bread dough before.

Reading about the explosive increase  of flavour experienced by users of method I knew I’d have to investigate further – which meant a side by side trial!:(

(I have to say the bloke who’s method I’m following – perhaps mistakenly – is full of contradictions. We’ll come to them later.)

So: needing to make a side-by-side trial, whilst making a batch of rolls to take up to my daughter for my weekend trip to London, I divided my dough in two.

Batch A:

300g wholemeal

50g white

30g of ground flaxseeds (this is how I get my Omegas)

all mixed together – 50g of the mix set aside with 4g of salt added (the handful the author describes)

To the remainder I added:

269g of yeast liquid – including 4g fresh yeast

25g EVOO

Batch B:

300g wholemeal

50g white

30g of ground flaxseeds

4g salt

all mixed together – 50g of the mix set aside

To the remainder I added:

266g of yeast liquid – including 4g fresh yeast

25g EVOO

I mixed each of these into a dough, then left them – for about 30 minutes. When I came to add the rest of the flour – in one case – and the flour and salt in another, I mixed the flour into the dough and left it. I have to say that the dough – despite using the same amount of water as I usually do – came together in a much less sticky dough.

I have to say I could find no difference in flavour between the two batches. The flavour overall is excellent - but then, it always is!

Here's another conversation where adding salt whilst autolysing doesn't seem to make any difference.

Tonight I'm comparing half a batch of rolls using the autolyse method with half using my usual 'several short kneadings' method of making bread.

Swedish tea ring

Made in by one of my students, Sarah

Ingredients:

200g (or 1 mugs) strong white flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp each mixed spice

100g (or 1/2 mug) dried fruit (currants, sultanas or raisins plus mixed peel)

1 dessertspoon fresh yeast or 1 teaspoon dried yeast

250ml (or 2/3rds mug) lukewarm water

2 dessertspoons olive oil (optional)

Topping:

Sprinkle with icing sugar

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the fresh yeast. Place the flour, sugar, spice and dried fruit into a mixing bowl, pour in the yeast liquid, then add the olive oil.

2. Have a little water to hand to add if necessary and begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with the fingers of one hand. Squeeze the mixture together and keep turning it over and pressing it down to pick up the flour at the bottom of the bowl – but make sure it stays soft. Don’t be afraid to add more water to keep it soft! When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.

3. Knead by flattening the dough out, folding it over and flattening it again. Knead until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!

4. Leave to prove for about an hour on your worktop, covered with a dry tea towel. Or place in an oiled plastic bag until you are ready for step 5.

5. Roll the dough out into a rectangle, 30cm by 20cm. Brush with oil, sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon and scatter 25g flaked almonds over. Roll up the dough along the long side, as you would a Swiss roll, and bring it to rest on the seam. Place it on a greased baking sheet (or one lined with baking parchment), and form it into a circle. Tuck one end into the other and pinch the join together.

6. Leave to rise appreciably. With a sharp knife, or a pair of scissors, slash the ring halfway through at intervals of 4-5cm.

7. Bake for approximately 20 minutes at 220C, 425F or gas mark 7. To check if it is done, lift one side with a palette knife; if it all lifts together, and there is colour across the base, it is done.

8. Place on cooling tray and dust with icing sugar.

Salt in bread

When I became a breadmaking tutor in the early 90s, one of my goals was to demystify breadmaking; to remove all the many myths that surround the whole procedure – which is, IMO, one of the simplest processes it’s possible to undertake in a kitchen – and show it for the simple craft that it is.


One of these myths is that ‘Salt is essential in breadmaking.


Not true! Bread only needs 3 ingredients - flour, water and yeast (either commercial or wild).


My dad had a small baker's shop, back in the 40s and 50s, and, every now and then, he would be asked by one of his customers to make a loaf without salt. These were, in the main, pregnant women with high blood pressure, who were told by their doctors to reduce their salt intake.


So I've never bought the 'Bread must include salt' line.


There is a whole region of Italy (where they know a thing or two about making bread) that doesn’t use salt in bread. Not at all! Haven’t done so for centuries – and yet the bread they produce is highly regarded. I’m talking about Tuscany


Salt, to me, is just like sugar in coffee – it’s very easy to train the palette to do without it.


When my first granddaughter started eating bread, about 10 years ago now, my daughter-in-law asked me to make bread without salt. I used Dove’s organic wholemeal (here in the UK) and found that, once I got used to it, the bread tasted fine – in fact it was full of flavor.


For myself I use 1% - or 1g per 100g of flour - about half the amount I used to use. I find that quite sufficient – but I can leave it out at any time.


The bottom line is that the amount of salt anyone uses is subjective – it’s entirely up to you how much you use.


24/2/2012
It's only today, after writing all this, that I realised I make bread without salt on a regular basis. I gave up using salt in my sweetened breads, over ten years ago - I didn't see the point of using salt and sugar in the same bread. I treat salt as just another ingredient, which I include or leave out as necessary.


The lack of salt in no way affects the dough - nor does it affect the flavour.


We make iced buns, for instance, regularly in my teaching sessions and no-one has ever tasted them and said they are lacking in flavour - yet almost every recipe I looked at on the net contains salt. I have to ask, "Why"?


The only conclusion I can come to is that, "Because it's always been done this way".

Marmalade

I've been making my own marmalade for a couple of years now, and although I say it myself, it's not bad! I like to use a variety of different fruits - and I include loads of ginger. Up until now I've added a glass of Cointreau just before bottling, but I since I don't have any left I shall use Benedictine.

Recipe:
1.6g citrus fruit - 1kg Seville oranges plus a grapefruit, 3 lemons (I couldn't buy just the one!) and a lime 
500g crystallised ginger
2.5kg sugar
1.75ltrs water  

So far I've spent about 40 minutes slicing up the fruit and removing the pips

Boiled for a couple of hours and ready to be cut into strips

I then boiled the chopped up the fruit for a couple of hours, and, when the mixture cooled, I spent another 40 or so minutes cutting the fruit into strips. 

Just needs the ginger and sugar

Both quite tedious jobs, but they have to be done.

(Updated, January 2013 to say that now, instead of cutting up the raw fruit, I've found that cooking it first makes it much easier to chop, and saves a heck of a lot of time!)

I've never used the pips wrapped in muslin method - I prefer to blitz the pips in the microwave and strain the liquid into the marmalade.

I've now got to chop up the ginger into smaller lumps - another job I'm not looking forward to!

Thursday evening - ginger all chopped up. However, whilst I was doing this I let the fruit catch on the bottom of the pan (it's not the greatest) and had to spend half an hour - or more - scrubbing the black off!

This marmalade task is dragging out, partly because I'm combining it with painting the bedroom! :)

Hope to finish it tomorrow!

Friday evening I managed to complete the task.

Once I got the marmalade to a rolling boil it took about half an hour and about 8 tests before I was satisfied. 

To sterilise the jars I placed about a centimetre of boiling water in each jar and boiled them for a few minutes in the microwave.

Once I'd filled all the bottles and put the lids on I turned them upside down to seal the tops. I also added 1 dessertspoon of Benedictine to 4 of the jars (the ones with a B on them), just to see how what it's like. (I've previously only used Cointreau, but I've run out!) If I like it, I'll add it to the other jars.

The gap remains at the bottom of the jars - as you can see with the one on the left

In total, I've now got 4.7 kilos of marmalade - should last me until the next Seville orange season. :-)

Wellington Children's Centre

I have been asked by Kelly, one of the organisers, to run a 3 week breadmaking course with their families, on Jan 25th, Feb 1st and Feb 8th. (Story starts at the foot of this post.)


Wednesday 29th February.
Finally, with three families having turned up, we ran the session this morning. These small sessions are often more intense - and cosy, I suppose

[More to come]


Wednesday 22nd February.
Unfortunately, as often happens after a break - and this was a break of 3 weeks - only one family turned up; so it was decided to try again next week.

Wednesday 8th February.
I couldn't make this date, and the 15th fell in the middle of half term so the 3rd session has been rescheduled for the 22nd.

Wednesday 1st February.
The word had obviously gone out, because we had 7 families (all mothers) today! 5 new families and 2 from last week. (Benjy and his dad couldn't make it.)

After a demo from me, everyone set to with a will - half of the mothers with babies on the lap were doing everything one-handed - and the dough was made and the pizzas almost finished before I remembered to take a picture. It was a busy, hectic, session - no-one (except for the two families from last week) had made bread before, so everything was all new.

The pizza dough was 1 mug flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/3rd mug water and a teaspoon of yeast. This was quickly kneaded, rolled out into a circle and covered with tomato puree (made into a sauce with the addition of water) and grated cheese)

The initials on top of the pizza are to identify them - otherwise it would be impossible to reunite everyone with their own.

One of the mothers made a tiny pizza for her daughter - you can just see it next to the topmost pizza in the picture. An idea I think I might pinch for the next time I do a session with very young children. The pizza, being very small, cools down very quickly, so the child can get stuck in to 'her' pizza very quickly.


Wednesday 25th January
We only had a small group in the first session - 2 mums, one dad, two babies and a 3-year-old. It was a very relaxed session where each family made a batch of dough -  and made a variety of shapes. The three-year-old, Benjy, was a delight, taking to shaping the fancy dinner roll shapes with gusto! I've been promised some photos which I'll post when I get them. Next week we're making pizza - and the week after, petit pain au chocolat and jam doughnuts.

My Daily Bread (4)

This is the 4th post with this title. The first, begun in February 2011, was fairly long - and the second, begun in May, was even longer. The third was more restrained, lasting around 5 weeks.

I try to start a fresh post once a month.

In these posts I chronicle my daily breadmaking 'adventures'. In truth they mainly detail the various breads I make in a working week - and those I make at home. But occasionally,  as in the wood-fired oven pizza events I run occasionally, or the Occupy Bristol workshop I held this week, it truly is an adventure - in that I'm never sure how these things are going to pan out.

My intention is always to link to breads mentioned in this post - but I don't always manage this. However, 99% of the time, if you put the name of the bread in the 'Search this blog' box, you'll be directed to the recipe.

(To keep this post on the top of the page, I shall date it a week or so in advance)



Friday 27th January.
Pizza and iced buns with the Family Learning group this morning:


[Pic to come]


Then more iced buns with my year 3 group.


Finally, in the afternoon, I made iced buns again with my fortnightly care home group, where I received some bad news! After 10 years I've been told they can no longer afford me. I've been given a months notice, but, at the end of February - that's it!


Thursday 26th January.
Made several 'Banoffee' breads today at Longrun - one with a twist! ;)


Together with one of the students we rolled out the dough in two long strips and placed melted Mars bar down the middle of each:

You have to work fast - the Mars bar solidifies fast!

Place banana over the chocolate/toffee mixture

The dough was then folded over the filling, forming tubes, which are then twisted together.

The one on the left contains just melted Mars bar - the second one has the banana as well. Then there are a couple of  'normal' banoffee loaves, whilst at the top there are some cheese breadsticks and a couple of cheese rolls 

Here's a slice of  the banoffee twist

As well as these I conducted an experiment into 'fatless' cakes. After the success of my vegan chocolate cake I began to wonder  about the oil in the cake. Apart from acting as a preservative - what was it for?


So I thought I'd make a cake using banana, which I'd often heard about as an ingredient in cakes - generally as an egg substitute - instead of oil.


I made the usual amount, dividing it between two 7" cake cases, and they only took about 15 minutes. They didn't rise as much, but it was recognisably cake and jolly tasty, I thought. Perhaps a bit 'rubbery' in texture. But if you want to cut down on your fat intake, here's a good way to do it and still eat cake!

If I'd have sandwiched this cake with a bit of jam and added chocolate icing, I reckon the comments would have been even more favourable!

I tested it out on a few colleagues, and, apart from the ones who didn't like banana, comments ranged from "Very nice" to "It's OK." Whatever, it's another option. 


Next time I might try it with oil and banana half and half, or use apple puree. Seems this is a very adaptable cake!


In the afternoon session we made curried, sweet, naan breads - two with onion and one, Matt's, without. I'm really annoyed I forgot to take any photos, because the onion ones were a real picture. Next time! 


Wednesday 25th January.
Delivered a session for Wellington Children's Centre - the first of three - this morning with a small group. Each family made a batch of dough -  and made a variety of shapes. A great time was had by all. Hopefully there will be a few more next week as words spreads.


Tuesday 24th January.
I was invited along to deliver a breadmaking session on a Healthy Living course in Bridgwater this morning - 6 parents (including one dad) and 7 year one students. 2 of the mothers were breadmakers - one had been on a course with me about 5 years ago with an older child.


We made the usual 'Original playdough' with the children making a variety of shapes. The parents were very keen and interested - the non-breadmakers thinking beforehand that making bread was difficult and having their preconceptions blown away.


Parkin update: Still improving!


Monday 23rd January.
Tried another piece of the parkin last night - definitely getting more parkin-like! And had another piece this evening - getting better by the day. 


Need to make a dozen rolls tonight - I'm right out of bread.


There's been a discussion on the BBC Food boards about crumpets and pikelets, which inspired me to revisit my recipe and make some for breakfast this morning. Full story and pics here.

Here's a pic to whet your appetite!

Saturday 21st January.
On the back of the vegan chocolate cake I've been making, I wanted to reproduce the Lancashire parkin I grew up with.


So here it is:

This is the only decent-sized cake case I have. 

It's not yet the parkin of my youth, but it's jolly tasty all the same. Here's the recipe.

It's a work in progress, i need to tweak the recipe quite a bit - but I'm on my way!

Friday 20th January.
Broke the habit of a (teaching) lifetime today, by including a cake recipe in a  breadmaking session. This was in my Family Learning group at Halcon Primary School, 2nd session of 5. I did it firstly because it is so cheap - at today's prices this cake costs 73p - and because it's so very easy to make. I forgot to turn the oven on before we started, so the cakes went into a cold oven, which didn't seem to make any difference. I didn't have enough large cake cases, so we divided one into two - small ones took about 30 minutes, but the large ones took forever - about an hour, including time for the oven to warm up. I've never cooked more than one at a time, so having an oven-full obviously affected the cooking time.


Each family also made a loaf of bread:

Thursday 19th January.
Farthing buns and fruit croissants in the first session at Longrun House today.


The buns are basically a layered fruit dough rolled out into a rough square then cut into slices a la noughts and crosses. The fruit croissants are just that - croissants made with a fruit dough:

Croissant dough - 3 x 4 x 4 - 48 layers, then rolled out and rested

Rolled out a bit longer, then cut into triangles

Rolled up and placed on tray

Baked and given a sugar glaze

The crumb, showing the layers

The farthing buns are much simpler, just rolled out, covered with sunflower spread (in this case), folded into 3 one way, then 3 the other and rolled out into a rough square, then cut into buns.

These were not quite done underneath, so they went back in the oven for a couple of minutes

Ready for a sugar glaze

In the afternoon session we used up some leftover mashed potato with some grated cheese and curry powder and made pasties and parathas:

A selection of the cheese and potato bread we made today. Pasties at the top, then some of Matt's parathas, with curry in the dough as well as in the filling, then a couple more parathas + a half-eaten one!

Wednesday 18th January.
Preparing for Friday's Family Learning session I needed to make a chocolate cake using cups rather than metric measurements.


Knowing that my students are unlikely to have measuring cups, I used a small plastic beaker, weighing the ingredients as I added them. The recipe they'll take away with them will have both cup and metric measurements:
1 and a quarter cups of self-raising flour
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 dessertspoons of cocoa powder
1 cup of cold water
1/3rd cup of sunolive oil


This translated into:
165g self-raising flour

220g granulated sugar

2 dessertspoons of cocoa powder

235g cold water

71g sunolive oil

These were mixed together and the cake was baked at 180C for 40 minutes.


This works out at 73p for a cake weighing 635g.


Noticed, whilst shopping at Sainsbury's, that basic self-raising and plain flours had gone up from 52p to 69p - a 32% increase!

Saturday 14th January.

Made a dozen pizzas (2 of them vegan) for a family party.

Friday 13th January.

New Family Learning course started this morning. They made both plain and fruited soda bread loaves.

Next week they've asked if they can make loaves - and my vegan chocolate cake. I'd taken in a sample, which went down very well.

In the afternoon in my fortnightly care home we made jam doughnuts and a chocolate spread twist.

Thursday 12th January.
Had a go at these Speculaas rolls at Longrun, today. I mixed the marzipan with Benedictine instead of egg - but, on reflection, the marzipan was soft enough anyway. I wonder if the egg prevents the marzipan from melting?

Leaked out marzipan all round the rolls

But the rolls were still very tasty. Also made chocolate and banana loaves

I wasn't able to get the spices necessary for this bread - used a mix of mixed spice, coriander and white pepper.

2nd attempt on the Speculaas rolls, along with more C&B loaves and Matts curried focaccia with olives on top.

I shaped the 2nd batch by only making 4 cuts, and then folding each 'lobe' so that the cuts only face upwards and nipping the edges together.


Saturday 7th January.

Had the first pizzas of the year in my chiminea today - even though I was scratching around trying to find enough charcoal!


Story and pics.


Saturday 31st December.
Been a bit neglectful of this blog recently. I've been away for Christmas and I'm only now getting back into the swing of things.


Apart from this, I've begun a blog on another of my passions - early development. This is necessarily going to take up some of the time I've been devoting to bread - but obviously, it's far more important!


For Christmas lunch I made a vegan haggis en croute which was delicious [Have pics which I'll post shortly]


Friday 30th December.
I took along much of the stuff I'd bought for Xmas loaves and got rid of most of it in a couple of batches of - well, sliced Xmas loaf is all I can think of to call it [pic to follow]


One of them contained chocolate covered marzipan, yellow and green cherries, pieces of dark chocolate and orange and citron candied peel!


Thursday 29th December.
Breadmaking at Longrun House - made several pizzas in the morning session. In the afternoon, as a sort de-luxe pain au chocolat, Eric and I used some Roses chocolates from a large tin one of the parents had brought in for the staff - and we made a seeded flower loaf.

Tuesday 20th December.
This afternoon I played crib with some friends of mine. I've been thinking a lot about no-knead, overnight bread these days, with a view to incorporating it into my classes. So, to get a feel of how it would work, I asked my friends to bring a plastic container to take away a batch of dough each. 


I took along some dough I'd mixed up in the morning and demonstrated folding and shaping the dough using oil. It only took a couple of minutes - and I finished up by chafing the dough and placing it on some baking parchment.


My friends all mixed up the dough


 [More to come on this!]


Finished all my classes - at least until Thursday the 29th - which allows me to catch up on here.


Starting with my classes at my Thursday care home, Longrun House, Taunton. In the first session we made several Christmas loaves:

The number of cherries denote whose loaf it was

A slice from one of the loaves

Breadmaking at Glebe Primary School

As regular readers of my blog will know, I'm in the habit of occasionally visiting my grandchildren's schools to make bread with them and their classmates. They've recently moved schools, and last year I made some bread with Alfie, my 6-year-old grandson and his class.

Since November, 8-year-old Olivia has been trying to organise a similar session - but Christmas got in the way, and it's only now that we've been able to manage it.

It finally got underway this morning, and, in two sessions - first the boys, then the girls - all 29 children in the class made a batch of bread rolls.

Here are some pics I took of the session. I'm not allowed to show faces, but they do give an idea of the activity and the results:

The dough is mixed and the children are kneading or beginning to make their shapes. Those are my demonstration shapes in the middle of the table. 

And here are the results:

Whole lot of shaping going on! (Sorry!)

The boys were more into hedgehogs...

...whilst the girls were more into hearts.

The rolls were placed on their identifying bags to be collected later

I have to say I received great support from Karen (TA) and Mrs Flowers (returning teacher?) - they helped enormously!

Later in the evening I received a lovely email from the class teacher:

Hello Paul

Just a quick note to say thank you so much for this morning.
The children all enjoyed themselves and were thrilled when
they had their rolls at the end of the day. I've eaten two
as well* and they were very nice. 


Janice


Which was much appreciated!


*Of my demo rolls, which I left for the staff. Wouldn't want anyone to think that Janice was pinching the children's rolls! :-)

Occupy London LSX Breadmaking workshop

Sunday evening, 29th January.
Well, 'The best laid schemes...' and all that.

Suffice it to say it didn't happen. I wasn't expected - even though the workshop was on their web page - and no-one I could find knew anything about it. The kitchen had no spare capacity, with only two burners, both in use. So I gave up on St Paul's.

However, one of the group told me I may get a better reception at Occupy Finsbury Square, a 20 minute or so walk away. So, given directions, off I went.

And it was the same story here - no joy!

I'd wasted my time, really. After the success of my experience with Occupy Bristol I thought it would be even better in London, but it was not to be.

Still, looking on the bright side, I was now the proud possessor of an Oyster card, I'd had a couple of enjoyable trips on the tube, and I'd had a brisk walk through part of London. Also I managed to avoid Starbucks, finding a Cafe Nero instead.

I've come to the conclusion that if I'm to do this properly I'll have to provide my own heating unit - which I don't have at the moment. And I'd have to make much better contact with the group I'm hoping to work with.

Saturday 28th January.
Plans are all in place for this session in the morning - at Tent City University, St Paul's.

I've been planning this for the past couple of weeks, but, the night before, I'm never sure if I've covered every eventuality.

I need to be at West Ruislip tube station by 9.00am to be sure of getting to St Paul's on time. I've a rucksack packed with strong and s/raising flour, dried fruit, lentil and potato dahl, chocolate spread, mincemeat; plus mixing bowls, jugs, rolling pins - oh, and an apron, mustn't forget that,

I'm a bit unsure of what I'll find there - I've had one tenuous contact who has told me the session is booked, but as to what facilities are available, I don't have much of a clue.

However, these things have a way of working out, and I'm sure I'll have a great experience to look back on.

I'll certainly post all the details of the session on here, tomorrow evening, hopefully with pics!