Hobbies

[Sheilbh]

What is the recipe for the monastery bread?  It sounds interesting.

I'm making it this afternoon.  I'll post the recipe if it goes well

Success?

Sorry I forgot about this.  Yes.  Very much so, it's delicious in a really earthy wholesome way.

Anyway the recipe is:
500 mgs of wholemeal flour
A knob of butter melted (or some olive oil)
A bit of salt
A tablespoon of honey
5mgs of yeast
About 300mls of warm milk or warm water

Put all of that in a bowl and mix until you get a rough dough.  Pop it out of the bowl onto your work surface (heavily floured) and knead for about ten minutes.

When you're kneading stretch out the dough and put in three handfuls of chunky oats (rolled oats is the technical term I believe) after each handful knead it a little before adding the next handful so the oats are relatively well distributed.

Pop in a well floured bowl or big pan and cover in a black bin bag.  Leave in a warm room for about an hour.  When you come back the loaf should have doubled in size.

Knock it back (deflate it).

You can do that 2-3 times if you want and it does add a certain lightness to the dough, but that's not really the point with this bread so I'd only do it once.

Shape the dough into the loaf you want (or put it in a well floured bread tin), again cover in a black bin bag and leave in a warm room for about an hour.  It should, again, about double in size (this is called proving, as it proves whether the yeast is active, if the dough doesn't rise at all the bread won't be too nice).

When the dough is ready to bake (if you give it a light squeeze with your fingers it should spring back) then put it into your oven.  I have it on full blast for ten minutes and then turn it down to about 190C for another 20-5 minutes.

Leave to cool.

[FunkMonk]

I dont have hobbies. I have obsessions that direct my behaviour.

I have obsessions that last for several weeks at a time, during which I try to learn as much as I can about the subject, and collect as much stuff as I can. Then my interest wanes and I move to another topic.

This is me to a T.

[Martinus]

A knob of butter

[crazy canuck]

I used to have a number of hobbies but as my boys grow older it seems that their hobbies become my hobbies.

[The Brain]

I used to have a number of hobbies but as my boys grow older it seems that their hobbies become my hobbies.

Chasing teenage girls?

[crazy canuck]

Chasing teenage girls?

They are not quite that old yet but thanks for the cheery thought.

[The Brain]

yw

[Martinus]

Ok, I just thought of one thing I might consider a hobby, although I'd say it is pretty weird - I am fascinated with finding seemingly random (and sometimes, definitely random) "patterns" in popular culture, that imply some sort of a hidden message or a theme. I pursue such strands with obsessive inquisitiveness bordering on autism. It is especially fascinating when I go back to some work of art years after I first experienced it, and then discover some references there I have not previously seen.

By way of an example, I have been recently obsessed with the name "Sebastian". So far I have gone through the myth of St. Sebastian, Sebastian in Tennessee William's "Suddenly Last Summer", Derek Jarman's "Sebastiane" (with haunting music by Brian Eno), Sebastian Flyte in "Brideshead Revisited", "Sebastian" as a pseudonym under which Oscar Wilde travelled Europe, paintings by Dali, "Sebastian" by Cockney Rebel which is a great rock ballad featuring prominently in "Velvet Goldmine" (which is my favourite movie of old, which also heavily references Oscar Wilde, and also has some music by Brian Eno), and Sebastian Love, a character from Little Britain. It seems Sebastians have a tendency to end up poorly.

I wish you could change your Confirmation patron saint - now I would have chosen Sebastian.

The kind pleasurable elation I get from this sort of a semiotic scavenger hunt is probably the closest I have ever come to a "religious" experience. I wonder if it means I am insane or have a brain tumor.

[Pedrito]

it's a pretty interesting "hobby", or quite a form of mental fitness exercises.
Only be careful and don't become like those Templar-obsessed people who find absurd linkings in everything under the sun

L.

[Valmy]

The kind pleasurable elation I get from this sort of a semiotic scavenger hunt is probably the closest I have ever come to a "religious" experience. I wonder if it means I am insane or have a brain tumor.

There is a spiritual spot in the front of your brain that when stimulated gives you religious experiences...so it means you are going insane but the natural way.

Anyway I was always fond of St. Harvey of Hourneau

[Caliga]

I believe that it's somehow connected to seeing ghosts/poltergeists too.

[Martinus]

Actually, it seems you can change your confirmation saint since it's a "personal faith" decision, and the church keeps no records of the saint you chose originally.

[Grey Fox]

I wonder who I chose, I really don't remember.

[Ed Anger]

Great, Marti has stolen my porn zip files password.

[PDH]

Finding patterns in unrelated things is what humans do.  It is in part why religion exists.