Lets make some bread

I've been working on this for a couple days and the first try was embarrassing, the second was a lesson and the third was decent but needs a lot of improvement. Talking while making attempts would have been like a certain woman in Melaque telling everyone she was quitting smoking and then she couldn't quit. Better just work on quitting and talk about it later. So I made some bread and quit smoking ;)

So the first one didn't rise and I have no idea. The second was way too wet and didn't rise much but it did make a couple of bricks. The third try was a lot drier, rose a lot and resembled a loaf of bread. What I found was parchment paper is heat resistant but not moisture resistant. The paper tears easily when damp and it stuck to the bottom of the loafs. So I'm thinking it's almost a moisture guide for the dough. Maybe an oiled pan but the paper makes it easy to transfer to the oven. Also think my old oven's temperature does not match the dial. A little hotter next time.

It's hard finding the right utensils and materials to work with in Melaque. I'm sure Manzanillo would offer more choices but I'll make do for now. I bought some plastic wrap and it was thinner than thin and totally stuck to itself. I had to throw it out and use a plastic bag. Can't find a good rubber/plastic spatula. No heavy all metal cookware. Pyrex like glass ware are all the wrong shape and size. My local small store had that bread knife and I think she sold it to me for 20 pesos because she'd had it for years and couldn't get rid of it.

Time to take a break for a couple days, maybe look for a few more things in Cihuatlan and try for a drier dough soon. Also need to find some yeast or levadura. I didn't bring a lot down from Seattle. Does corn meal exist here .... we'll see.

My bricks

Just mixed

Rise after 2 hours

Very edible with olive oil and balsamic vinegar 

Tinaco work

I tried to find pictures of the way these tinaco bases were made but maybe peculiar to this area or my builders. Anyway, they build a ring of bricks on the roof surface about 3 high, stucco it and fill with sand. The problem with that is water seeps into the sand from rain or an overflowing tinaco (broken float valve). My lower tinaco was causing water to come out between the original roof and the flat tiles above it so I knew it had to be seeping thru the sand. The last thing you want it trapped moisture on cement.

My solution was to seal the space between the tank and the base with impermeabilizante and fiber material. About 2 inches up the tank, the flat area and down the side of the base. I eventually did the whole roof of the lower tinaco and just started the process on my upper one. It's all part of getting ready for the rainy season and luckily a broken float valve alerted me to it in the dry season.

The upper tan tinaco base sealed

Lower tinaco with whole roof sealed

Upper tinaco - just an interesting foto