English Muffins - Not your typical muffins

I really love having English Muffins for breakfast and I've tried many different recipes, but the following recipe by Laura Vitale is the one that I like best.

English Muffins:

Makes 18 or more, depending on size.
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
2 cups of Whole Milk, scalded

5 cups of Bread Flour
1 Egg
2 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter, melted
2 Tbsp of Vegetable Shortening, melted
2 ½ Tbsp of sugar
1 ½ tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Baking Soda
1 Envelope of Active Dry Yeast,
(2 ¼ tsp) plus 1 tsp of sugar
Cornmeal

Process:

1) Sprinkle the yeast and 1 tsp of sugar over the milk and allow it to sit and foam for a few minutes. Add the shortening, butter and egg to the yeast mixture and whisk together to combine.














2) In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and milk mixture.

3) Mix the dough on low until the flour is incorporated, turn the speed up to medium and knead for 3 to 4 minutes or until the dough is smooth but still sticky.

4) Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, place it in a warm place and allow it to rise for about 2 hours.
















5) Dump the dough on a floured surface, knead it together and cut it into 16 equal pieces (if you like smaller English muffins, cut them into 22 equal pieces). Roll each piece into a ball, press them down with your hand to form a patty and place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal.














Sprinkle the top of your patties with a little more cornmeal, cover them with a kitchen towel and let them rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

6) Preheat your oven to 160(325°F) degrees Celsius.

7) Preheat a griddle pan to medium, gently lift each round with a spatula, place it on the hot griddle and let them cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown on both sides (do them in batches) . Place them back on the baking sheet and place them in the oven for 10 minutes.

Allow them to cool a bit before serving.









The finished product:

I prefer eating them warm, even though they are just as good when they are cold. The next morning I usually toast them and spread some cream cheese or butter on them.

By taking pictures of the baking process I've realized how many steps there are to complete the Muffins and I've also learned that no matter how many times I bake something, I still burn myself. ;)



Recipe from: http://www.laurainthekitchen.com/recipes/english-muffins/
Pictures are my own.

World explorer

“Vanessa’s going to see it all” - that’s what my friends wrote about me in our senior year yearbook and I think they’ve captured my personality quite well with that one sentence. I’ve always been a very inquisitive person and traveling manages to quell my need for seeing and doing new exiting things quite well, at least for a little bit. 

The countries I've been to so far

Growing up, I’ve always been very lucky that my parents were able to afford traveling to different countries every year, so going to foreign places is a thing I’ve always been fortunate enough to do. When I was finally old enough to start exploring the world on my own, I had already been to Italy - multiple times, Greece, Germany, Tunisia and Turkey - 10 times. I mostly don’t remember the trips to Italy because I was simply too young, but I still have fond memories of the rest of these trips.

Me in Trieste, Italy at age 2

  My first trip without my parents was to Exeter, England at age 14, where I went again the year after that first time. Since then I’ve been to Oregon on a student exchange, New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco and more. It wasn’t just my own initiative taking me to new places though. My class went to Ireland, Paris, Brussels and Munich and while these trips were a little too tightly scheduled for my liking - I prefer to just wander around and discover things

like that - they were still amazing.

Oregon 2011

San Francisco 2012

But all these trips aside, there’s not a single one I’ve loved more than my trip to Australia this February. Going to a country that is so far away on my own is one of the experiences I’ll remember forever and I can honestly say that it’ll probably be my favorite country ever - or maybe at least until I find an even better place.
 

               Sydney, 2015

I’ve learned a lot of things about people and different cultures that way and I think I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my travel experiences.