Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Car care and Brioche based Sweet Rolls and Croissants

The month of July went by too fast, and here it is at the end of August.  But I learned a few things more about my mini-van even after 16 years.  My mini-van is a 1995 Plymouth Voyager SE with 453,230 miles.  For the first time in its life, it didn't pass the smog inspection that was due on July 4th.  And it was all because the smog standard changed.  Not necessarily because my van was emitting too much... but nevertheless, I was frantically trying to get the van fixed so I can drive another 100,000 miles out of it.  It now has new catalytic converter.   And a few fuel pump.  There was no choice.  Then, just when it passed the smog test, I find out that my back brake lights were ON without pressing the brake and my cruise control is out.  After finding out that my brake switch has gone bad, with the help of information available on the Internet, I managed to replace the brake switch myself.  It is now as good as new and drove us all the way down to Disneyland and back with no problem.
So, this is the month of test baking Brioche.  This buttery dough is so easy to make and I liked the way it rolled out and shaped into croissants.