Alice Waters' Vision for Obama

LISTEN to Alice Waters talk about her vision of an organic victory garden on the White House lawn.

Chocolate Marble Bread

I'd this recipe from some of the blogger and also from the book of 孟老师的100道面包. At first, it looks like a bit complicated but after a trial, I think I would do it again as it's not that complicated as I imagine and it taste really good! I think children definitely will like this bread as the cocoa flavour and chocolate chips really boost up my appetite in the morning.

The edges of the bread a bit chewy whereas the crumbs are supper soft. I toasted the last two slices on the 3rd day, that is another special texture which is incredibly crispy and cholatey.

Recipe:
(A) 1 piece of cheddar cheese kraft
70g fresh milk
20g bread flour
(B) 260g bread flour
40g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4g yeast
130g water
(C) 20g butter
(D) 25g chocolate chips
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp water

Method:

1. Melt the cheese kraft with the milk in a pan at low heat. When the cheese completely melted, add in the flour and keep stirring until it become a dough. Let the dough cool down on a plate and cling wrap it then tuck it into the fridge for about one hour.


2. Knead the ingredient (B) with the cheese mixture (1) until a smooth dough then add in the butter. Continue the kneading process till a smooth and elastic dough.


3. Weigh 200g of out of the dough for the plain dough and the rest for cocoa dough.


4. Mix the chocolate chips into the 200g plain dough and shape it into a smooth dough. For the cocoa dough, mix the cocoa powder the water until it foam a small cocoa dough. Knead the cocoa dough with the rest of the dough until the whole dough become chocolate dough. Shape it into a smooth dough. Let the doughs proof for 80 minutes.


5. Roll out the cocoa dough into 20cm square in shape and 16cm for the plain dough. Place the plain dough on top of the cocoa dough. Roll it up and place it into the bread tin. Let it proof for about 60 minutes till the dough fill up to 90% of the bread tin.


6. Lid on the bread tin and bake at the 190'C preheated oven for 30 - 35 minutes.

Best Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

The folks over at the Environmental Working Group are hopping mad over the way the Energy Star label has been turned into something less than perceived by the public.

Seems like the label is on a lot of products that aren't as efficient or environmentally friendly as they should be when compared to the best in their class.

They are asking us to join in sending a message to Energy Star asking them to lower the amount of mercury permitted in Energy Star rated compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).

They have done their own research and named the best CFL manufacturers, sizes available, mercury included, and estimated life:

Earthmate Mini-Size Bulbs (13, 15, 20, & 23 Watt) about 1 mg 10,000 hours
Litetronics Neolite (10, 13, 15, 20, & 23 Watt) about 1 mg 10,000 hours
Sylvania Micro-Mini (13, 20, & 23 Watts) less than 1.5 mg 12,000 hours
Sylvania DURA-ONE (reflector bulbs) less than 1.8 mg 15,000 hours
Feit Ecobulb less than 2.5 mg 8-10,000 hours
MaxLite 1.2-2.5 mg 10,000 hours
Philips with Alto 1.23-2.7 mg 8-10,000 hours

You can print out a handy shopping cheat-sheet at:

EWG’s Guide to Light Bulbs

Thanks EWG!

Peggy