BED BUGS!! - Do Not Ever Stay at Red Roof Inn at Southborough, Massachusetts

During my trip to Boston, I booked a hotel through Hotel.com.  I thought Hotel.com checks all the hotel's cleanliness and their background before recommending at their site.  I was very wrong with this one.  At this Red Roof Inn in Southborough, outskirts of Boston where I stayed two weeks ago - it was a nightmare.  I should have known when the counter staff does not look professionally trained - don't stay there rule.  It was so late in the evening when we arrived in Boston, and after all - this is based on a review someone posted that it is a clean reliable motel.  BUT PLEASE Do Not Stay There - Room 208's bed is covered with Bed Bugs!!  Yak!!  I made sure the room is clean before we got in, but I failed to lift the mattress to check.  The room is clean, but oh my goodness. . . When I saw one little bug crossing the edge of the sheet, I smashed it, I didn't think about it.  Until 30 seconds later I thought, "what in the world is a bug crawling for?" And I flipped open the sheet, I saw blood markings on the sheet near the feet.  Then I saw another bug crawling out where the dead bug is!!! Oh, My Gosh!! it's the Bed Bug!!! I could not even get money back!! It's 2 am.  I waited through till the morning in the bathroom.  Luckily I  didn't put any stuff on the bed or had opened any of he luggages.  The only consolation the next day that was made up was a good lobster dinner at the Warf.

Double Apricot Upsidedown Coffee Cake

This is my test coffeecake made from Fresh Organic Apricots and Organic Apricot Preserves.  It turned out quite good.

Prepare the stuffed apricots toward the end.  But know that you need them in the recipe.
Cut 9 large ripe but firm organic apricots into halves and remove seed.
Organic Apricot Preserves - Scoop a good teaspoonful of it to cover the Apricot halves.
3 Large Organic whole eggs - room temp - beaten with 1-1/4 C Organic Cane sugar until pale yellow and fluffy.
In a bowl, shift several times - 1-1/4 Cup organic Red Mill's Pastry flour with 1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder without aluminum; 1/4 tsp Kosher salt; 1/4 C Organic Cane Sugar; 1/2 tsp Ceylon True Cinnamon. Mix well.
Heat oven to 350'F.   Center Rack
MIX: Add 2 tsp Pure Vanilla extract to 1/4 C Organic Stremicks Heritage low fat milk room temp and 1/4 Cup Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil melted (solid in a jar), 1/2 Cup Daisy brand Sour Cream.   After mixing these together, Add to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Add half of the puffy beaten eggs into the flour mixture.  Making sure that there are no flour lumps left.
Fold in the rest of the beaten eggs.
Pour into brownie mold over the parchment paper.

Prepare filled Apricots.
Place each halves faced down into the batter - lined up or in any pattern you want.   They are going to Sink eventually.

Bake till the tester come out clean.   Around 30 minutes, check the color of the cake.  If it is still too soft at the top - wiggly, bake 8 minutes longer.  If the cake is still soft at the top and tester still look moist at the top but browning at the edges, lower the temperature to 300'F.   Your Apricot should be fuming out at the top here and there.

 

I can't remember how long I baked since I didn't set the timer on, but I think the whole thing took 35 to 45 minutes?   I was doing a visual checking every 5 minutes after 30 minutes.

Happy Baking!

Bagels, Baguettes, and Jalapeno Loaf

Sometimes you wonder if you could make several different products from a single dough.   Especially you don't want six same baguettes.  Bagels, mini baguettes, and Jalapeño loaf are what I decided to make.  And this is one of such test.   

The same starter has been fed and used to make the leavens over and over for next starter to make these breads.  Poolish and bulk leavens are the keys to make the sourdough bread style bagels, mini baguettes, and jalapeno loaf.  

To begin, a week to a week and a half ahead start building the starter.  

50/50 flour and water and a pinch of dry yeast in a clean jar with a lid.   I followed Tartine's starter recipe.  Let it ferment away from the light.  Keep the normal starter exchange duty every day.   Mx, cover, and ferment.  Once the leaven passed the floating test, it is added to the leaven ingredients to make bulk leavens.  Check previous postings on the sourdough bread formulas.   Once it also passed the floating test, it is combined with the main ingredients listed to make Leavens in the previous posting for the sourdough bread formulas, then, as instructed, mixed with the poolish, and so forth.     http://rockdavinci.blogspot.com/2015/12/polly-sourdough-bread-adventure.html

When leavens and poolish are mixed in well with the ingredients listed in the fomula.  Cover and let rise.  Do four turns every 40 minutes.  If the dough feels more time to develop gluten, do more turns.  When doubled in size after the satisfied last turn, transfer to work surface. Divide dough equally.  (I use digital scale.) 

BAGUETTES:  Shape some into baguettes.  Make slits.  Let rise till 1-1/2 time its original size.  Bake at 500'F. With steam. Doneness:  When golden brown and sound hollowish.  

BAGELS:   Shape others into bagels.  Cover and let rise to double in size.  Bring a pot of water to boiling, add some salt.  Turn heat to simmer.  Lower the raised bagel dough into water.  Boil for 1 minute.  Remove onto a rack.  'tranfer to baking sheet line with Silpat or parchment paper.   Apply eggwash.  Apply poppyseeds or other favorite toppings.  Bake in 500'F oven on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. 

JALAPENO LOAF:  Chop up well drained jalapeños  and roll out the dough for loaf bread by hands.  Sprinkle the jalapeños evenly on the rolled out dough.  Fold in each end of the dough to the center.  Form into rounds.  Line a bake proof round breadpan or pot with parchment paper.   When it rose 1-1/2 time its original size.  Bake at 500'F with lid on. With steam.  Done when the internal temperature reads 210'F at least.   Open the lid to Brown the bread, if necessary.  Lower the temp at that point to 475'F.

            frothy starter                                             floating test

 

 

Bagel is simmered in hot water for a minute, transfer to a rack, egg wash is applied, poppy seeds are sprinkled, baked in pre-heated 500'F oven. 

Divide some dough out to make bagels.  Round the dough.  Cover and rest. 

Apply egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds.