A Great Day! And…Pi Li Li’s

If you want to read about my great day, you will have to read to the bottom of this post. If you want to read about what the heck Pi Li Li’s are start here:

Pi Li Li’s or Pee Lee Lee’s, whichever way to want to spell it,( it sounds like the second version) are little fried pillows of dough. These are a sourdough version of a fried doughnut that grandma made. Quickly made, rolled in sugar, or cinnamon/sugar, powdered sugar or dunked in a honey glaze, they are great for a Sunday breakfast.

Peter Reinhart’s new book…Artisan Breads Every Day

Peter Reinhart’s new book is out! I have two signed copies, one for myself…and one…for one of you… 

Sourdough Breads from the Store

La Brea's French Baguette

I couln’t believe it but I found some La Brea Bakery bread in a Hilo store! Not only that , but I found some San Francisco Sourdough bread as well from Raymond’s Bakery. So I bought them and brought them home to see how they compared ( In the last post there was a a contest for a free sourdough. The fourth responder, Patty, is the winner of the Hawaiian Sourdough Starter, please email me with your contact info Patty).

My Dad’s English Muffins

I have made some unusual baked items while living in Hawaii. I had a sourdough recipe for sweet potato muffins and one of the nut pickers gave me some purple sweet potatoes which are very popular here. So I baked up some purple muffins!

 

Purple Muffins

Sourdough Tortillas?!!

Sourdough Tortillas

Need a fun recipe to help use up the extra sourdough starter?  How about sourdough tortillas?   Something fun –If you want a chance at a free sourdough starter, read to the bottom of this post.–

To make 3 lbs of dough add together in a medium mixing bowl:

Bob’s Red Mill vs Gold Medal and King Arthur

Bread made from Bob's Red Mill flour

If you have been following the last few posts, you will know that this post is about testing Bob’s Red Mill bread flour. So far I have tested King Arthur and Gold Medal bread flour, which you can see in the two previous posts. I made up a formula to follow when testing each flour and it can be found in the King Arthur post here:

Comparing Flours – Gold Medal vs. King Arthur

 

Bread made with Gold Medal flour

In my last blog post I decided to compare the bread flours I could find locally here in Hawaii, where different brands are somewhat limited. I decided to do this because at the Costco on the island, I bought 100 lbs of a flour which was giving me grief. There don’t seem to be many places here to buy flour in bulk. So to do a comparison test, I bought 5lb bags of flour at the local markets. I found King Arthur, Gold Medal and Bob’s Red Mill bread flours.

Comparing Flours..and Warm Weather Baking

Comparing three flours

After my last post about poor quality flour, I decided to see what other kinds of flour I could find locally. I found a 5lb bag of King Arthur Unbleached Bread flour at the local KTA market and also a Gold Medal Bread flour, which was five pounda as well. The King Arthur Flour cost me 6.99 for 5 lbs!  The Gold Medal was 3.49. I also found a 5lb bag of Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached Bread flour at the local Cost U Less, and it was 3.99. Don’t forget, prices are high in Hawaii. 

I’m Back! With some Sourdough Egg Bagels…

Sourdough Bagels

 

Hi Everyone, I’m Back! Back in cyber world that is! Many thanks to those of you who generously donated so that I could get back on the internet and keep my site going. It is an ongoing expense, so donations are very much appreciated. I was able to get satellite hookup here in the remote area of Puna, Hawaii. It is ten times slower than the cable hookup I was used to, so I have some adjusting to do! I have been doing much baking here in Hawaii since I arrived two months ago.

The Winners are…

Banana Trees near our farm.

Banana Pancakes made from Hawaiian bananas.