Here comes 2024!
Yes, dear friends, it has indeed been awhile since we spoke and since I shared anything at all with you. Albeit, my presence has been most frequent on Instagram, much of my time has been gobbled up with some personal shifts as also a new venture.
So, yes! That happened. I’ll tell you more about the venture a bit. I want to start the year by sharing the journey of the personal shift (TPS). After all, it is part reason I am back here.
Basically, a lot of the last two years have been spent in self-discovery and understanding my true self which meant doing some hard stuff like letting go of a lot of baggage that were convenient crutches. I am not going to lie, it is a work in progress, it is a journey, not a goal. They say, “What you shift out creates space for something good to come in”. Today, looking back, I can say this to be very true. Once I got over my deep seated reluctance to let go of expectations - largely for what I had thought of for my life - I had the experience of attracting a flood of “so much more” amazing stuff. If this sounds a bit woo-woo to you, I get it. This is what working on your self in conjunction with a healthy respect of your body and ignoring the chitter of the mind, helps in creating.
Obviously, one of the most amazing parts of this journey is connecting to create the network of people who see me for who I am beneath all that sh*t I had piled on as emotional layers. :)
Yes, this blog has always been part of my true self but slivers needed to become the whole, before I could see the star shining. On that vein, this blog and site have seen quite a few transformations since 2008 when I started here and there is more coming. I have not fully fleshed it out; the goal is to create a cohesive flow of the NOURISHED ventures. So stay tuned!
Me hiking Devil’s Hopyard State Park. It was a new and wonderful experience to hike on snow. Fortunately, it was not icy and I did not need special gear.
Finding Joy and Offering Gratitude
Connection & Gratitude: I have always been a people person! Extraverted, gregarious, social and all that. And, yet, I was not completely an open book, a.k.a. vulnerable. I have learnt to truly connect and learn to trust my gut on who is on my energetic level to connect with. I have learnt is the power of women friendships, the collective wisdom of different and yet similar life experience and the solace of leaning in on another in honest vulnerability. In return I have received and given - space, and energy - creating a beautiful ecosystem of support.
I also reconnected with things that make me happy - travel, chatting with strangers (yes, I do), spending time outdoors and more than anything truly being present and seeing the world through the wondrous eyes of my girls! So, I am going to actively plan and make time for all this and throw myself into each with deep gratitude and a full heart!
Creating Joy, Giving Back and Spreading Awe
One of the biggest epiphanies was how much I want to create - beauty, joy, wonder - my values. I love to see people smile and be present, connect. Food was my first medium, what I was personally vested in since childhood. Over the last decade in my advisory work with clients and in the last few years of breaking ground in CT, I have built a passion for the land. I also realized that this resource is a lot less fraught and a lot more welcoming to people than food. It was easier to bring joy to people through working the land, to create beauty that everyone appreciate, to showcase wonder that transcends ideologies.
And so, I birthed NOURISHED Gardens + GreenSpaces, an ode to my life and a journey to bring wonder and joy to as many as I can - an endeavor to give to others and to myself. The new baby, coming on 9 months now, shares DNA with this site, my first baby, in its emphasis on sustainability, being NOURISHED and the Earth, ummm… quite literally the Earth. :)
I am rather proud of how I went about launching this one, not from the vacuum of my ideating mind, but from the grounded principles of product launch and market research! I am excited for what this year brings for this venture. I am spending these quiet months planning and designing what and how I want this to move forward.
All in all, people, can you see I am growing up and becoming an adult? :)
CLASSIC BRIOCHE
Notes:
Brioche can be baked in the same day or allowed to slow proof overnight. In the interest of time efficiency, I recommend the overnight as otherwise you basically spend the whole day waiting on the dough :)
A lot of baking recipes call for using unsalted butter and then adding salt. Now, it is best to do that to keep the ingredients clean. But, I find that salted butters, especially European ones, are far better tasting and I really do not see the point of having two steps when you can optimize with one.
Finally a note on the kneading once the butter is incorporated. It takes a while, be patient, make sure the dough passes the windowpane test. If you have kids, they will find this property of the dough remarkably wondrous. Let them play with it :)
Ingredients
FOR THE SPONGE
128g all-purpose flour
7g active dry yeast
1/2 cup milk, lukewarm
FOR THE DOUGH
6 eggs, room temperature
384 g all-purpose flour
105g granulated sugar
2 sticks salted butter
FOR THE EGG WASH
1 large egg
1T milk
Directions
Start with the sponge - To the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 cup flour, yeast, and milk. Using a spatula, mix until well combined, then cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 45 minutes.
Once the sponge has formed some air pockets add in eggs, remaining 3 cups flour and sugar. Mix on medium speed until well combined, then gradually increase to medium-high speed and continue mixing until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and becomes shiny and elastic, scraping down bowl every 4 to 5 minutes, 10 to 13 minutes.
With the mixer running, add in butter gradually, 1 tablespoon at a time, letting each tablespoon fully incorporate into the dough before adding the next, about 15 minutes. Continue mixing on medium-high speed for about 8 minutes minutes until the dough passes the windowpane test. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest about 1 hour or doubled in size.
Once dough has doubled in size, punch down to deflate dough completely, then re-cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight until you are ready to bake the next day.
On a floured surface, pour out the dough and divide into two halves. Divide one half into three pieces and keep the other covered in plastic or towel while you work on the first half. Roll each of the pieces into 3 logs of about the same length and about an inch in thickness. Overlap and braid the pieces. Tuck the corners under and gently place the dough in a prepared bread pan. Do the same with the other half.
I bake my bread in a parchment lined pan because I have a vintage loaf pan. If you have a modern one, you can simply rub the sides with butter.
Allow the loaves to proof and double in a warm place. If you are baking in Winter, I recommend proofing in an Off oven with the light on. This will take about 2-2 1/2 hours. You’ll know it is ready when you press on the dough and it springs back.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375°. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining egg and water. Brush egg wash on top of loaf. Bake until deeply golden on top and the center of the loaf registers between 190° and 205°, about 30 minutes. If the top is browning too fast, tent a foil over to allow the dough to finish becoming bread.
Let cool 5 minutes then turn loaves out onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely before slicing.
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