OK, what is the alternative? Well, the old-fashioned recipe book, of course! Not just any old recipe book, but a special bread making machine recipe book. Bread making is a very easy, but very tiresome process. The ingredients are ubiquitous, everyday, household items: water, flour, yeast, salt, sugar and oil. You most certainly have those items in your kitchen with the possible exception of yeast, which can be bought in any super store for very little money and it keeps for ages.

And I’m sure you already know what happens when you cook following a recipe, don’t you? You have already read the recipe through and you know you have everything in the kitchen, but when the recipe calls for, let’s say, sultanas, you open the cupboard door and see that you don’t have any sultanas – they were currants! Oh, well you think, they’ll do. You make do. You try things out. And that means that you are developing your talents and creativity. Bread making mixes cannot and will not do that for you.

A good bread making machine cookbook will have well over 100 recipes originating from a number of different countries and you will become really enthusiastic about trying out the various ones. Have you ever tried Welsh bread – Bara Brith? Or Amish bread? Cajun bread or banana bread? Cranberry bread is lovely too, but one of my all time favourites is Brazil Nut Bread – absolutely delicious.

The fact is that you may not find recipes for all these breads in one recipe book, but if you have a safe starting point, like a bread recipe cookbook, you can begin by using previously tried and tested gourmet bread recipes and gradually develop your own – oftentimes because you have to.

I once made a fantastic loaf by adding all the left-over vegetables from my Sunday lunch. It was lovely, but I could never quite reproduce it, because I did not write down the weights and measures. I could only remember that it had green beans, potatoes and sweet corn in it!

Bread machine mixes will never ever provide that, will they? Furthermore, bread machine mixes are fairly expensive compared to the cost of 10 pounds of flour. I usually vary the ingredients too: honey instead of sugar, milk instead of water, olive oil or butter instead of just corn oil. Rock salt instead of sea salt or visa versa. I’m sure you see what I mean.

Bread machine mixes are not only limited but limiting too. A bread making machine is a great way to use up leftovers. I have even added meat and fruit in my gourmet bread. My guiding principle is: if it’ll go in a sandwich it’ll go in the dough – like an Indian stuffed paratha or stuffed naan bread.

Stop buying bread machine mixes – they are a waste of money. Instead be creative with a bread machine recipes cookbook.

If you have been using bread machine mixes visit http://bread-machine-mixes.the-real-way.com to see what delicious loaves you’re missing.

The word tackle referring to fishing equipment comes from ‘takel’ which first meant the rigging of a ship, that is, the gear consisting of ropes supporting a ship’s masts and sails. Later, the same word was recorded as having a another meaning, that of apparatus for fishing and that meaning has been preserved ever since.

The most rudimentary fishing gear consists of a rod, a line, a hook, a lure, a bait and a weight or sinker. The line is a basic string especially made for fishing that is both long, thin and yet strong, so that fish do not notice it. There are various things that an angler asks about when buying a fishing line, such as its resistance, stretch, strength et cetera. The line will be chosen based on what kind of fish the angler intends to catch.

The sinker or weight, also called a plummet, is actually a weight that helps in casting the hook and the bait as far as possible from the shoreline or from the boat that the fisherman is using. They are usually made of lead as their purpose is also to sink and to get the bait closer to the fish in the water as fast as possible. However, lead sinkers have been outlawed in some parts of the world, especially the very small ones, which are often called ’shot’. If ingested by birds or other fish, the lead, which is well-known for its high toxicity, will cause the death of the animal.

Another basic piece of fishing gear is the hook. This device meant for attaching the bait on the line and for hooking into the fish’s mouth. It is attached to the line and the fisherman can choose from a very wide range of shapes, sizes and metals.

And last but far from least, is the bait or lure, without which the fishing equipment cannot be effective. A lure is a device tied to the end of the line that looks and moves something resembling the prey of the fish you are after. Its raison d’etre is to get the attention of the fish with its colour and vibrations. Artificial flies, tiddlers and sand eels fall into this category. When the fish eats the lure, it becomes hooked.

On the other hand, bait is the stuff actually attached to the hook. Bait is basically of two types: animal or foodstuff: ‘animal’ referring to small fish or other water creatures, insects or crawlers and ‘foodstuff’ referring to human food like grains, such as hemp, bread or whatever else the fisherman thinks might attract the type of fish he’s going for.

If you are interested in fishing and would like to read more, please go along to our website called Gone Fishing

These fairly basic tips may seem quite irrelevant for most modern householders with a refrigerator in the kitchen, but modern devices can make people lazy and it is still well-worth while knowing ‘why’ we ought do some things. It is also worth remembering these tips when there is no refrigerator to hand or when it so small that it will not hold everything you need, such as when camping, boating or on holiday in some parts in the world.

MILK:

Milk is known as ‘nature’s perfect food’, because no other food, consumed on its own, can support adult human life. It is of the utmost importance for the growth and development of adolescents, but it must be clean, because bacteria find it very nourishing too and quickly grow in it. If you did not buy your milk pasteurized, then you should scald it and cool it quickly before drinking it.

How To Scald Milk: Rinse a clean saucepan with cold water, pour in the milk and apply heat until bubbles form around the side of the pan. Keep it at this temperature, that is not letting it boil, for 3 minutes. Do not overheat, as milk burns easily. Pour immediately into a clean jug and place in a basin of cold water and cover with a fine cloth to prevent the ingress of flies and dust.

How To Keep Milk Fresh: If milk the is not be preserved in the receptacles in which you bought it, pour it into a clean container, which has been rinsed with cold water. A warm receptacle will cause the milk to stick to the sides and go off much more quickly. Always keep milk covered and in the coolest place in the larder. it is a good tip to remember that draughts usually occur at ground-level and that hot air rises. Never keep milk in an airless cupboard and in hot weather stand the milk in a container in a bowl of water with the cloth covering hanging in the water. The muslin will soak up water, which will evaporate, which dissipates the heat, ensuring that the container remains cool. Keep milk away from strong-smelling foods, as it absorbs smells easily. Never mix old and new milk together.

Sour Milk: Milk straight from the cow is slightly alkaline, but as it ages, lactic acid is formed and it becomes what we call ’sour’. Pasteurizing or scalding the milk slows down this process. Milk which is ‘just on the turn’ can be revived by boiling with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to restore the alkalinity. Once the milk has gone too far and has curdled, it can be strained through (cheese) cloth, thereby separating the curds from the whey. The curds can be used as a filling for cakes, tarts, scones etc and the whey can be used as the liquid for making scones, cakes and soups etc., as it still has much goodness.

Evaporated Milk: Evaporated milk is ordinary milk, which has had some of its water content evaporated by heat in some way or another before being placed in its container. Once reconstituted by adding water, it will last only slightly longer than fresh milk.

Condensed Milk: This is simply evaporated milk to which sugar has been added before canning. Sugar acts as a preservative and will keep the milk for about a week. Do not keep in the tin, but decant it into a jug or bottle.

Dried Milk: Dried milk comes is available in a variety of forms and particular attention should be paid to the instructions on the label. Niche market products can be bought especially for babies, invalids, convalescents and dieters, all of which contain varying amounts and types of added vitamins and minerals. Usually, they contain a great deal less fat than normal milk.

For deliciousgourmet Traditional Welsh Recipes, visit our website at http://welsh-recipes.the-real-way.com/