We all need to be heard for a little while.

Stoodles

those birds sound amazing. I'm so glad you could meet them

A few months ago we rescued a buzzard who couldn't fly, and took him to the Wildlife Hospital (hubby used to work there)

In the car I kept uncovering first his body then his head for fear of him overheating. Even though I had him firmly pinned down, he stared me out every time - it was so clear that he was trying to communicate that it was him or me, and it WAS NOT going to be him.

Such power and dignity in a small package.

Waves_and_Smiles

Aw, that's lovely of you, Stoodles! Although Jilly, and the birds held next to me so I could see them up close were very happy to sit on human arms I was told under no circumstances to touch them or they would attack. They have to sedate them for any veterinary treatment because although they are used to people they are still wild. They are incredibly brave and dignified, the large size of another living thing does not mean that they wouldn't fight to the death if threatened.

Georgiegirl256

Sounds like you had a brilliant day WaS! They certainly are beautiful creatures.

Georgiegirl256

Well, my bread came out fine, am pretty chuffed with it actually! DH says he's impressed too. Works out at about 33p a loaf.

Waves_and_Smiles

Yay! Well done, Georgie! I used to make all of my own bread and it tasted so much better than shop bought. Now you can start adding things to it. WaSp used to like onion bread or chilli bread with green chilli's in it. I always liked cheesey bread. If you want something resembling a hot cross bun add a couple of eggs and extra sugar to your recipe with cinnamon, allspice and sultanas. It tastes almost exactly the same. Any dried fruit can be added to bread along with sugar or honey to make it a sweet treat and almond bread (just add crushed almonds) is also really nice. You can add cooked vegetables or sundried tomatoes which is my favourite for an accompaniment to soups, just use a bit more flour until it doesn't feel sticky. Oats also work well but add a bit more water and be aware it will make a heavier bread.

There are a huge amount of things you can put into it including mashed potato if you like it fluffy! Bread is very forgiving, too wet add flour, too dry add water. As long as you don't add loads of flour to the yeast ratio it will turn out fine, even if you do a half teaspoonful of yeast will help. Once you have made one loaf and got the kneading and rising times correct it is very hard to mess up bread short of burning it.

Georgiegirl256

I know where to turn to to ask for bread advice now! WaS the bread guru! Does it affect cooking times by adding stuff in? Onion bread sounds yummy btw, might give that one a try.

Like you say, it seems pretty hard to mess it up! I found that pretty straight forward to be honest. I'll have to take some round to my MIL....she never could get the hang of making bread appartently!

codemonkey

I'd have been terrified WaS. I'm scared of birds! Well, big birds. Little ones are OK. As is Big bird from Sesame Street.

Just had an embarrassing moment. I almost missed my train and would have to have waited for almost an hour for the next one, so I had to run for it for a lot longer than is comfortable for me in work clothes. So picture a size 18 woman running like Pheobe from Friends, in work clothes, handbag flying, hair falling down, considerable bosoms bouncing, face bright red, huge jacket on, panting like a dog. The nice ticket inspector on the train held the door for me so I didn't miss it.

So I posted a thank you on the operators facebook page and they want to know what he did. I'm worried that him holding the train up will get him in trouble so now I'm ignoring them.

jobbingmusician

Wow WaS, what an achievement. Not only obviously charming Jilly, but walking around all that time without a blanket, and obviously enjoying yourself!

soooo.......... what's your NEXT day out going to be about?

Wow Stoodles! VERY impressed that you rescued a raptor!

Georgiegirl256

Phoebe running! :rotfl:

They might have some sort of staff recognition thing, ie, like when DH does a good job, he gets vouchers. I just reckon they'll be pleased that their staff are being so helpful and polite to customers.

Waves_and_Smiles

It doesn't effect cooking times unless your water or flour ratio is altered a lot, for all of the breads above I just cooked them for the same time as I would a plain loaf. If it is a bit wetter than usual add 5 minutes, drier minus 5 minutes seems to work if it's needed. Just tip it up and tap it on the bottom, if it doesn't sound hollow pop it back in for another few minutes. A lot of people mess up bread due to the kneading and rising time, once you can do that bit the rest is easy. Lots of people either don't knead enough so the yeast doesn't fully activate or knead too much and dry out the water content. Also, bread loves warm hands! Having warm to hot hands when you start kneading can make a much better bread!

Freshly ground black pepper in bread is also very nice, as is nutmeg. Don't forget you can also decorate the top with cheese, tomatoes, onion, herbs, etc. Can you tell I used to make a lot of bread?

Aw, it shouldn't get him in trouble, code but you could always ignore it if you don't want to risk it. I would imagine that they would see it as a good thing, though. What a nice person. Don't worry, if I even could attempt running I'd just knock myself out with a flying boob.

My next trip out is the big surprise I have been hinting at for the last month, JM...