why i've been busy the past few weeks

the past few weeks have been really busy for me.

ahem, went to hanoi for a week. nice place but vietnamese aren't as tourist friendly as thais. anyway, the baguettes there are marvellous!

but this doesn't mean i have not been baking bread. still do and been experimenting as well.

instead of spraying water into the oven, i now place ice in the oven just before placing in the dough for baking. this ensures a steady rate of steam for at least a few minutes. the resultant crust is softer.

also, i score the dough before placing into the oven. scoring a very wet dough looks really messy but don't worry about it. just do it! cut deep say 1cm into the dough. do it just before you place the dough into the oven.

okay, enough about that. the reason we have been busy the past few weeks is that we have an addition to the family. and he's a blonde.

he's a golden retirever/local breed mix. 9 months old, err 9 and a half now actually. we adopted tonto (he was initially named coco but that's not right for a boy!) from "save a stray", an non-profit organization that exists mainly for the love of our canine friends.

tonto's right hind leg was involved in a car accident and the resultant medical bill was deemed too high, so he was abandoned by his owner at the vet. the vet fixed his leg, then passed him to jacqueline from "save a stray" and it is jacqueline who recommended tonto to us.

he's quite playful but very gentle. he's at that age where he wants to chew everything in sight so he is leashed all the time now until he outgrows this.

when getting food for him, only i realised the pet food industry is like our food - full of junk. take a peek at the contents of kibbles and you'll be shocked there's all kind of rubbish inside. the canned versions are even worst with a protein content <10% but coloured to look like meat so that its human owners are fooled into thinking they are really paying for premium dog food. sigh...

we make dog cake for him. it's really easy. all you need is good ingredients and a food processor!
http://sites.google.com/site/montanaraven/samshealthwiserawfoodcakes


why adopt? well, since we work all day, we can't take care of a puppy. we need an older dog so tonto at 9 months old is more suitable. he's toilet trained and quite independent but of course, asks for our attention all the time!

also, when you adopt a pet, you actually save a life. malaysia isn't the best place for dogs. the government bodies couldn't care less for man's best friend thus strays and abandoned dogs, if not for organisations like "save a stray", don't have much chance of living to an old age.

you could also check out pet finder.my. they do organize pet adoption drive from time to time too.

i'll add a permanent link on my sidebar.

you could also contact jacqueline at 012-2070436