My random dump

I need a place to show all the pictures I have in mid-craft related type random thing. So this will be it. Or maybe not related.

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Baking blog has moved!

I am actually writing about my baking stuff somewhere else. If you are interested please visit:

Bake to Slightly Impress

I will probably still post craft shit here. :D BUT I HAVEN’T BEEN CRAFTING! SHOCK! HORROR!!!!!

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I am making a sourdough starter. After numerous failed attempt by baking boyfriend I managed to get it to bubble on the first go! It looks disgusting and isn't smelling great. Er. I wish I know how it's supposed to be!

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Two weeks ago baking boyfriend decided to try a recipe called "Hokkaido milk bread". Which is an Asian style soft bread which is lightly sweet. It was not an easy bread. It took the better of the entire day for kneading (20 mins on the stand mixer) and long proofing time. Baking time was tricky because it was eggwashed and hard to judge if it's cooked through. Also it didn't keep very well. So while tasty, I wanted to try a different recipe. This one I tried has all kinds of nice things in it. Butter, milk, sugar and condensed milk. Oh ya. So I started the dough with the autolyse process. I have had great success with other breads I have made. Just combine flour and your primary liquid for 45 mins ish. It is supposed to help gluten develop before you add your other ingredients and shorten kneading time. Glad I did it this time too or else I might still be kneading now. After that you add in the rest of the ingredients. And it became a sloppy mess. I couldn't even mix it properly because of how sloppy it was. Recipes I have read usually say "dump everything into the bread machine".. Well I don't have one. I figured keep mixing and throw it into the stand mixer and see it it improves. It helped to know that the milk bread took 20 mins so it's not unusual for it to take time. The dough hook couldn't even knead the dough properly because there was nothing to knead. So I tried using the paddle for a while to at least mix it all up properly. I was a bit more encouraged after the paddle combined it all and it looked more like it could become a proper dough. I switched back to dough hook after a while and let it go for 10 mins. It was better, it got more.... Dough like. But I can see the dough hook is still not really giving it the workout it needed so I decided to do it by hand. I have no idea how long I kneaded it. It took forever and I stopped when I got tired. It was less sticky but still stickier than any other dough I have worked with. The house was very cold so the first rise took almost two hours.... Then I divided the dough up into balls, knowing full well they are still not as smooth as I'd like. Second proof was done over a bowl of hot water in a bowl wrapped under a towel. Lol It turned out well! I am pleased to report. They were pillows soft and slightly sweet. For the amount of elbow grease tho I'd like to double batch it next time... But I will need to know how well they keep in the bread box. So we shall see!!

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Made a pavlova for friends birthday. Made pizza for ourselves.

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Three repaints now with their hair done. Duchess took so long my painting style has changed!! I think Darling is my fav tho.

[acomik]

Happy Canaday! Not a typo - I think we should all start calling it that.

Patreon / Twitter / Instagram

[machotrouts]

Scottish Grindr users on the EU referendum

I’ve previously taken to Grindr to ask users their opinions on the Scottish independence referendum and the 2015 general election.

More recently, I’ve been asking Grindr users in and around Edinburgh whether they believe the United Kingdom should withdraw from the European Union. Here is a representative sample of the replies:

STATISTICS:

I was only able to question 327 users before Grindr moderators intervened. 151 users left some kind of response. Of these, 108 settled on a yes or no answer. 81.48% (88) would like to REMAIN in the European Union.

18.52% (20) would like to EXIT the European Union.

Other responses can be divided as follows:

10   Undecided 8     Don’t care 8     Miscellaneous evasion 6     None of my business 3     Too bewildered to answer 3     Too horny to engage politically 3     Turned out to be a spambot 2     Incomprehensible

(This leaves 38 users who presumably blocked me by the time the results were counted. Any responses they may have given are not counted here.) In conclusion, Scottish Grindr users are overwhelmingly against leaving the European Union. With it looking increasingly doubtful that such a comfortable victory for remainers will be reflected in the broader United Kingdom’s vote in the upcoming referendum, Grindr may have to consider declaring itself an independent nation to remain in the EU.

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Real talk. 

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Day out. 

Not super weather but it was nice enough for walks. And some potato quality photos. XD 

[hey-key]

We gonna find your parents, ok?

[perzadook]

Behold the rotating dog.

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Pork pie adventure. So the first ones we tried last weekend was filled with mince and bacon and boy were they fatty. Left a tray of grease.... Luckily I learned my lesson and made sure they sat on another tray. They were too big. I couldn't only eat one quarter each sitting and they were not very tasty. But baking boyfriend insisted we should follow the recipe he has. The week after. Which is the last photo I made pork pies my way with more seasoning. They turned out great. But baking boyfriend says they weren't the taste of his childhood :p

[cassandracalin]

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This speaks to me

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Together at last!

Sorry for potato quality. :<

[finnichang]

The real Princess Twilight! Sorry Twilight Sparkle. :P

Bonus: Midna and Zelda alicorn designs I sketched first! If anyone wants to use these designs, please feel free (and let me know too, because I wanna see!)

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A second attempt was made. I tried to make this orange sponge which calls for zest of 4 oranges and juice of one. I did zest for two and I think it is plenty. Maybe it was for small oranges which don't exist here in North America. The sponge is very orangey though I am not sure how much it should rise. I brushed in a layer of apricot-triplesec jam in between the cake and cream. I think it made it too sweet tho. The chocolate buttercream was made in the method of German buttercream with a chocolate custard. It tasted less buttery than the SMBC I made last time but I think the chocolate flavour was the key here. Cake is overall a bit sweet but is probably ok to go next time.