Focaccia

May 25

I mentioned that I made six loaves and a focaccia last week.  I don't have much experience buying or eating focaccia, so I'm not sure what this product should look or taste like.  I rely on my recipe book.  Following Reinhart's instructions, more or less, this is what I did.

With the wetter of the two batches of pain a l'ancienne, I made the focaccia.  The oven came with a pan about 3/4" deep.  I lined it with parchment paper, and oiled it.  (Turns out, I didn't need that last step.)  I prepared ahead an olive oil coating.

Filled a small olive jar with olive oil (I love recycled jars).  Pressed three cloves of garlic into it.  Added a bunch of dry Italian herbs mix, added more basil and oregano, salt, pepper and a pinch of hua jiao.  The latter is ground from a hollow seed pod (the dictionary translates it as prickly ash); it has a numbing quality to it when the whole pod is used.  In small doses, it has a lovely taste.  At least, I am partial to it.  It is an important ingredient in the Chinese dish 'ma la dofu', which means numbing hot tofu.  That combines the hua jiao with red pepper in a sauce over cubed silk tofu.

I laid the dough in the pan, a rectangle in the center of a square space.  I then spread it out to cover the pan, dimpling it with my fingers to spread it, trying not to degas it too much.  I laid (instead of pressed, my mistake) some dried tomatoes on top, and proofed it for an hour or so, until it had risen to about an inch high.  Then I spooned the oil dressing all over it.  The instructions said not to worry if it seems like a lot, the dough will absorb it.  Well, even so I think I overdid it.

I baked it for twenty minutes, then removed it from the pan and cooled it on a rack.  I relined the pan with a large sheet of parchment, put the cooled bread back in the pan and wrapped it.  I laid it on the floor of my ebike, and carried it to Web.  It was part of the coffee and bread demonstration Monday.

The students preferred the focaccia.  It was a big hit.  Chinese love greasy food!  The tomatoes, however, had scorched.  I picked most of them off before serving.  Next time I must remember to press them deeper into the crust, so that they become more integrated when the dough rises.

My question now is, how do I display and wrap this bread in the store?  I envision it vacuum wrapped, but I haven't one of those machines.  I am thinking of more and more applications for one, however, so depending on how far the money stretches, I might buy one.  I've purchased a fridge with a big freezer.  It would be helpful to make dough and then freeze it for later use.  Especially if I ever hope to get a day off now and again.

Rye


The rye I ordered arrived Thursday.  I haven't opened the package yet.  Since I've run out of good whole wheat flour, I will experiment with rye recipes next week.

Speaking of next week, I had scheduled vacation days for the end of the month, thinking I had to move out of my apartment.  However, now I don't have to move.  I have some free time, to focus just on getting the store ready as well as baking.

Jane brought a man by the shop last night during my supper hour (which meant that I was still running on the pancakes I had for brunch and nothing more) to plan the electricity, water and basic remodeling.

The store had sent the blueprint as they promised (although I believe Daniel had to call them and remind them; it had not arrived by 3 p.m. as requested, but neither did the remodel man.)  I made a couple of changes to the plan, and we all discussed it.  Jane asked for an interpreter, but all the tutors were on lunch break.  I grabbed the student Jimmy who was finishing up his course ware on the computer before he left for the day.  He is not the most fluent student, but he is brilliant and has quite a vocabulary.

Bali Coffee Investment


Jeff WuGang is back from his three-week business trip.  Since he is the one who introduced me to this investment opportunity, and did the translating during its negotiations, I am eager to talk with him in person.  I let him know by email that I am aggrieved at the breach of contract, no quarterly interest deposit has been paid in a year.  Will the company give my money back without a fight; do they have a valid explanation for a bank snafu, while others have been receiving theirs; or do I have to hire a lawyer.  These are the possibilities.  So I hope to meet him this morning, Friday, before my classes begin.

Jane wants me to meet again with the decorator this evening after work, with a good translator.  But this evening there will be a soiree at the German Restaurant, a city-wide ex pat networking buffet.  I get off early on Fridays so that I can get a good sleep before coming back for a 10 a.m. class on Saturday morning.  A busy Friday night kills my Saturday.

I was whiney with Jane at the end of our first meeting with the contractor.  She suggested I meet him at 9 a.m. Friday morning.  I said No Way.  I didn't have to be so grumpy, she was just making a suggestion in her own way.  When I went back into Web and looked at the clock, I realized I had to get right back into the classroom with no supper.  I had made a stiff cup of black coffee during English Corner at 3:00, and with the empty stomach it really did a number on my equanimity.

She was adamant about meeting with Jeff after work Friday.  I feel like it would be an ambush.  I am hoping to meet him in the morning, and find out whatever I can about the Bali Coffee deal first.  Jane is a tigress about my getting my money back from Bali.  She has offered to give me an interest-free three-year loan when I come to the end of my savings.  Obviously she would prefer, for my sake, that my own savings were sufficient.

Equipment ordering day

Tuesday, May 22.

Daniel is just amazing.  A married man with a son about 9 years old, he had an office job at a trading company.  They live in my neighborhood, and would sometimes give me rides home when he was leaving Web at the same time my shift ended.

He and his wife opened an exporting business with a store front as well, selling kitchen cabinets.

Apparently his little business is doing well, because he quit his day job.  Now his time is his own.

He took his son to school and then swung by for me.  We drove to the restaurant equipment shop and although it was not yet eight o'clock, they were open.

We bought the heavy stuff.  A dough mixer, proofing box, cooling racks, refrigerator, tables.  The smaller stuff, like trays and bench scrapers, bowls and so much more, we would do next week.  They are at a different location, probably next door to their cramped store where we were shopping.  Most everything I wanted was probably in stock, so there is no hurry.

Daniel and I then came home to my place, and he set up his computer on the coffee table.  He finally found the same JUSTA oven at a better price.  He spoke with the vendor (online chat feature that is common at these online shopping sites) and got everything arranged.

I tried to pay for it, but there was a hiccup.  The bank limits my online purchase account to 5,000 rmb.  No problem, the vendor broke the purchase up to two items.  I paid one immediately, and the next day sent the second payment.  On Wednesday the vendor called me to confirm the shipping address.  She said it would arrive in a week.

With Daniel's help I also connected with a grain shop selling through Taobao.  I ordered rye flour.  She asked me what coarseness I wanted; ground to order!  I only ordered 5 kgs, to try it at first.

On Tuesday I sent to Sophia my order for bread flour, to be translated and sent to Mike.  I included photos. On Wednesday I finally got the prices from Mike.  I'm sending him over 2,000 rmb for 200 kg of flour, and some bran.  Now I wonder if I can't get better prices directly through Taobao.  That would be an ironic twist to a long saga.  Daniel and I will have to have another online chat session with the Rye flour lady.

I had no breakfast.  At lunch time we were both starved, but our transactions were still in process.  I had very little fresh food in the house.  I whipped together an omelet with eggs and powdered milk.  For filling I carmelized onions, then added sun-dried tomatoes and some kalimata olives, Italian herbs and a pinch of hua jiao.  I served it with toasted bread I had made last night, and a fresh pot of coffee.  He seemed satisfied.  He is delightfully open to new taste experiences.

He said he is frustrated with his English skills.  He's been studying ten years, he says, and he still can't speak it well.  Perhaps, then, spending a day with me was also beneficial for him and his English skills.  I hope so, I hope he got something out of it because he was an enormous help to me.

In the end, not counting the oven, I spent 13,000 rmb.

The apartment landlady came by, too, as the rent is due.  There went another 18,000.  How much longer before the well runs dry.

The restaurant equipment store has an added service.  They come to your site and do a floor layout for you. They came Wednesday.  They took Daniel and me to another bakery, so we could better visualize how we wanted everything.  This helped them, and me.  They would finish the drawing and fax it to me in time for the remodeler who would come to my shop Thursday at 3, as Jane arranged.

Ovens

Sunday was a very hot day, in the high 80s.  I needed cooling off.  I walked down the block to Happiness bakery for a red rice and oat smoothie.  I asked them to make it extra icey.

While I was waiting for them to whip that up, I took a long look at their small bakery area.  I noticed a proofing box.  Their oven was three-tiered, with digital controls.  One of the floor staff asked if I wanted help.  I asked her if the oven had a water mister.  She said of course not.  But a gentleman not wearing whites, but black trousers and a white shirt, heard the question and gave a different answer.  He was inside the kitchen near the oven.  He pointed to something on the digital control panel and said yes, it could mist water.  I noticed the brand name.

I found it through Alibaba.com.  The description did not specifically say it offered that feature, so I have to try to initiate a chat at their web site with one of the sales reps.

Monday evening I rode my bike to Tesco to pick up some groceries.  On the way I found that the new restaurant equipment store was receiving a shipment.  The door was open, workers were hauling stuff in, but the lights were not on.  I went in anyway.  I spoke to a man sitting at a desk, supervising the delivery people.  I gave him the manufacturer's name and location, and the oven model name and number.  Fireking out of Shenzhen, and SunStar ovens model HDQ-40, as best I could recall.  He said he'd give them a call and get back to me.  I left him my phone number.

In the end, that oven proved to be very, very expensive.  Instead, Daniel found another online.  It only cost 7,800 rmb (a little over $1,000), it has the steam feature and is two decks.  The brand is JUSTA, Lancaster model.

Canadian Hard Spring Wheat

May 7

Ah, these days off are too short.

I had whipped up a sponge Saturday night, after the walk in the park with Jane and her family.  I chose to finally use the sample of Canadian hard spring wheat.

This flour has a strange color; brownish.  I opened the sealed bag and a strange odor rose.  The closest name I could attach to it was chocolate, though obviously it wasn't chocolate.  It has a lot of large and small bran flakes.  I mixed it with the water and yeast, thinking I would make another ciabatta.  But Sunday night I rethought that idea.  I didn't think it would work as ciabatta.

I left the sponge out for four hours, and it didn't seem to be bubbling up.  I left it another hour, then put it in the fridge.  As I moved the bowl, it did give a ripple and a burp.  The yeast was active.

I am amazed at the generosity of these Changzhou people.  On Saturday night Jane took me to her mother-in-law's for dinner, where I met her father, her son, her husband and also her girl friend who is a cop like Jane's husband.  After dinner we strolled through the very big park until we reached the dancing plaza.  I tried the line dance they were doing.  Her mother-in-law...or was it her mother?..was already there in the middle of the lineup.  I finally excused myself; it was 8 pm and I was eager to whip up a sponge.

My bag was still in her car, which was in the apartment complex underground garage.  But I had taken my keys with me, and my cell phone.  So I rode my ebike home.  She insisted that the next morning she would pick me up because she wanted to see the house Lisa is giving me.  She seemed to have her doubts.

Sunday she came by at 11:30 to my apartment.  Her nine-year old son was in the back seat.  She said he insisted on coming with her to get me, that he really liked me and was calling me grandma.  He's a cute kid.

As soon as I got in the car she said we'd go to her mother's for lunch.  I had already prepared a salad for myself, which I had left in the fridge thinking she'd drop me back to my flat in time for me to ride my bike to work, at 1 p.m.

I persuaded her to take a look first at Lisa's house, at Zhong Tian Ming Yuan.  OK, she said, but afterwards we were going to eat with her parents.

Amazingly, when I tried the door to Lisa's house it was unlocked.  We went inside and looked around; I gave her an idea of how it would develop.  She was nodding her head in agreement as we wondered the three stories; she saw it, she got the picture.

We further discussed the next step of getting the business license so that I could get a visa.  For a business visa you must have a letter from a company saying you were a foreign expert whose consultations were critical to your business.  Could I write a letter for myself?  I still hadn't quite figured out how that would work, when she said no, I shouldn't get a business license yet.

But what about the visa?  She said that her company would sponsor me for the visa.  Her husband the policeman would shepherd the application through the system.  Problem solved.

Or so it appears.  Things in China aren't always as they seem.  But at least we have a plan.

Then it was time to go to lunch.  Her parents have a large flat on a modest fifth floor of a 28 floor building.  It has four bedrooms.  One is used for an exercise room, another for an office, and the third for the grandchild's sleepovers.

Both her parents seemed young, though Jane said they were 60 and 62.  The father has a business which seems to be that of a landscape architect.  Putting in gardens around new buildings, was sort of how Jane explained it.  I typed out those words on my phone and she looked them up on her phone's better dictionary.  She seemed confident in that translation.

I am still not sure who we saw dancing in the square the previous night.  I need to get to know the two mothers better in order to tell them apart.

Her mother's apartment building is one that I watched being built.  It is next to the new elevated road, on the left of the lane.  When I first came to Changzhou I lived in University Town and worked at the Mechatronics College, so I would ride my bicycle to the RT supermart.  It is a superstore where I could get everything I needed, including pet supplies, gardening supplies, clothing, shoes and of course, groceries and alcohol.

But then the construction began on that section of the elevated road, closing off all access to RT mart from their south entrance.  One had to go north one very long block and circle around to get back to that south entrance.  I think their business dropped off seriously during those long months of construction.

My second year in Changzhou was also in the same neighborhood of University Town; I had moved east a block on the same avenue.  RT was still my store of choice, especially once the construction was completed and it could be accessed directly from the south again.

That tall new building which would become home to Jane's parents had yet to be landscaped, however.  A pond was being built between it and the elevated road, on both sides of the lane I traversed to and from RT mart.

First a huge machine came in and punched holes in the concrete of the portion of that short lane that had previously been finished.  By this time I had an ebike.  It was like an obstacle course, trying to avoid the holes.  But there couldn't be more than six inches between them, and they were randomly placed, so I hit my fair share of them.  Then the last 20 meters were as yet unpaved, pipes were being laid.  During rainy season it was sheer mud.  I doggedly steered my electric bike through the ruts and up and down the mounds and gulleys.  Then finally one day the entrance to that 1/4 mile road was actually roped off.  The guards that stood at the apartment complex gate on the right saw to it that no one tried to pass through the ropes.  Anyway, the drop off from the asphalted portion to the as yet unpaved portion was a foot or more.  It stayed that way for at least a month.  I constantly asked them, in my mind, how long does it take to pave one small strip of road?

Sunday the drive to Jane's parents' apartment was a smooth one, and a beautifully landscaped one.

From the window of the apartment, which is south-facing, a looked down on the other new development, a gated community of townhouses with peaked roofs.  I have admired them for a long time now, thinking that if I settled down in Changzhou that's the sort of place I'd like best to live in.  It was delightful to actually see the property close up, so to speak, rather than just passing by the gate.

A narrow east-west channel separated the two properties.  The channel is bordered by thick trees, adding privacy to the homes.  There is a swimming pool under construction in front of one of the buildings.  I am not sure, but I think there are four attached townhouses in a row.  That is the arrangement at Lisa's development, at least.  The yards immediately across from the apartment balcony were attractive.  One actually was all lawn, with a curved sidewalk in the middle of it.  The one to the right of that was much more typically Chinese, being mostly paved with cut stone and low walls.

When I see how these two ladies, Jane and Lisa, seem so committed to my success, I have to marvel at it.  I speculate about the psychology of it, their motivation.  Changzhou has gotten wealthy very, very fast.  Students have told me what the city looked like ten years ago.  The change is dramatic.  Can it be that these people are also somewhat amazed at the rapid rise of their personal wealth?  I wonder.  Clearly, this has been a farming community until just recently.  Many of my students talk about visiting their parents and grandparents 'in the countryside'.  I was invited along one time, and the house was indeed in the middle of planted fields.  I myself have ridden the ebike to the edge of the city and discovered simple farm homes with their large fields, some hydroponic applications, and some fish farms.

Perhaps they are still simple farmers at heart.  Farmers have a hard life, being subject to the whims of nature.  This can foster a close communities, interdependent, families lending a hand to each other when and where it is needed.  And maybe this generous caring spirit is still alive and well in the hearts that beat in the chests of the kind folk of Changzhou.

Life has taught me to be a bit of a cynic, to expect everyone to put their own self-interests first.  I look at the people I have met while teaching at Web, and all I see are simple-hearted, sincere and generous people.  I cannot see greed or superficial status building behind their actions.  They have nothing to gain from helping me.  They are just nice people!

Canadian Hard Spring Wheat
Getting back to today's bread experiment, I labored over the books until I had figured out how to convert the ciabatta sponge into a sandwich loaf dough.  I was surprised to find that the sponge used far less yeast than I would have used had I been making a sandwich loaf sponge.

I used some white unbleached bread flour for the rest of the batter, a little dry milk powder, clover honey and a small amount of olive oil.  And lots of yeast.

First proofing
While the dough was having its first rise, which would take up to two hours, I rode the ebike to the garden market.  It was much larger than I had realized on my previous visit, and I wandered up and down the lanes of stalls with a big grin on my face.  It was so lovely to see so many old 'friends' again.  Honeysuckle bushes, gardenias, peonies, and lots of shade-loving green plants.  I saw quite a few pots of spearmint and peppermint, but no other herbs.

I forced myself to break off the strolling and get back to business.  I found the young man I had spoken with on my previous visit.  I got a large sack of soil and two large round plastic pots for sixty rmb, less than $10.  I layed the dirt sack crosswise at my feet, and the pots on their side on top of the sack.  My knees straddled the pots, my feet rested on the sack.

I took that directly to Lisa's house and left it there, outside.  I'll have to get someone to help me carry the sack up to the third-floor balcony (not second floor, as I previously reported).  This week or next I will bring the herb seedlings there and transplant them.  I need to buy a five gallon bottle of water, since the house still is without utility service.

The batter was way too wet.  I still have never been able to use all the water that Ruth Levy Beranbaum requires in her pullman loaf.  I should have kneaded it for ten minutes after I first mixed it, but it was too wet.  I let it rest, then kneaded it for five minutes since by then some of the moisture had been absorbed.  I used copious amounts of flour to dust the board, working it in to the dough as I kneaded.

While it was rising the second time I constructed a couche, because there would not be enough dough to make a decent high loaf in the loaf pan.  I used aluminum foil, which Peter never mentions.  I made two long wells about two and a half inches wide, sprayed liberally with oil and then dusted.  After about an hour and a half of the second rise I dumped the dough out again on the board, but while in the bowl, using the bench scraper, I divided it in two.

I shaped each one into a squat batard, stretched them long to put tension on the skin, and laid them in their wells.  I sprayed oil on the plastic wrap and covered them. I could see that they would rise to join at the middle seam.  It was just an experiment, I had ripped off a random length of aluminum foil and that's as far as it went.

I baked the two loaves for 50 minutes; the tops were almost scorched, as I had this time set the rack higher, more towards the middle.  I only tossed in ice cubes, about half a cup, and sprayed at 30 second intervals.  I did not use the water pan.  I feel it blocks the heat and causes uneven baking, in such a small oven, so I'm not using it.

It is hard to describe the taste of this bread.  It is chewy, a nice crust.  I would say that the flavors are not subtle, but rather heavy as well as hearty.  There is a slight tingly sensation to the aftertaste. Perhaps slightly sour.

Falling into place

Monday.  I baked six loaves of bread (pain a l'ancienne) and a focaccia.

The first time I did the pan a l'ancienne I used the 'basic flour 13% protein'.  The bread did not brown, but remained a pale white.  This time I used the farmer's hard winter wheat flour, and the results were extraordinary.  Lovely golden color, good rise, nice crumb.  The first batch was stiff; I held back 1 1/2 ozs water.  The crumb of that one was good, chewy.  The second batch I made very wet, using all the water.The crumb on that one was far more moist, the crust softer.  This one, I thought, would appeal more to the Chinese taste.

Toasted, the crust turned a lovely light brown and gave off a sweeter taste.

I gave one of the loaves to Klaus, at the German restaurant.  He knows I am courting their business.  I handed it to him over the bar and he immediately sped off through the kitchen door to slice and try it, muttering something gleeful.  After a couple minutes I went back downstairs, to Web.

I brought a loaf to Web on my day off, to let the students have a try.  It was 4:00 when I arrived, having an appointment with the landlady at that time.  I didn't see her at first, was focusing on setting up my little impromptu display.

A few minutes after four she arrived.  I took her into one of the classrooms.  I gave her the money, a half-year's rent, and she wrote me a receipt.

Signing the lease


I lose track of time.  My head is spinning, so much going on.  It must have been Sunday when the landlady came to see me in the afternoon, while I was working.  I had a free hour.  I looked around for a translator.  In the Social club, at the back wall, all in a row were my three favorite translator.  I picked Shirley, who had just returned from a fun ladies-only trip to Yunnan with her old friends.  She had a pound of fresh roasted whole-bean Yunnan coffee to give me.   But first, business.

The three of us talked about the terms of our rental agreement.  Then Shirley went off to my desk and searched for a contract online.  She downloaded and printed one, in duplicate.  We filled it in, signed it, and it was a done deal.  That's when we arranged for her to return Monday at 4 to pick up the deposit.

Demonstrating Bread and Coffee


Rachel was holding a class in the Social Club/English Corner space.  Web offers these free group classes to the enrolled students frequently throughout the day, led by the Chinese tutors.  The foreign teachers only offer two a day.

I had my bread sliced, I had ground the coffee, I was all ready to pour hot water into the Boudum Press.  I waited eagerly for her to finish, or for her to wind up early and give me the floor.  She could see I had something up my sleeve.

With just eight minutes left before everyone left for the dinner break, I got her attention and she gladly yielded the floor to me.  I poured out the coffee, sliced up the bread, and everyone--students and tutors--were willing guinea pigs.  I brought the drier of the loaves.  I would bake the wetter loaves in the evening.  Never mind, they seemed to love it.  I am slowly building my customer base.

I wished I had done the coffee better.  I wanted them to try it with milk and sugar.  Black coffee is a bit of a shock for them.  On my part, I was very pleased with the coffee Shirley had brought me.  I thought it held up very well to any American supermarket's bean coffee.  The Yunnan bean naturally has a slight cinnamon taste.  It is delightfully distinctive.

I had told Rena and the other tutors that fresh ground brewed coffee was not as bitter as the espresso they are used to.  But their comments about this coffee was 'bitter'.  Sigh.  Yes, coffee is bitter.  You can soften the bitterness with milk, but it will always be a characteristic of coffee.  The young Chinese love coffee, the idea of coffee, so I need to stop selling the 'you won't taste the bitterness' pitch.  To me, there is bitter and then there is bitter.  Poorly made, stale espresso is unpalatably bitter.  That matters to me, but it is a difference unteachable to the Chinese.  As their tastes become more accustomed and subtler, they will see it for themselves.

I went home and baked the rest of the dough that had been fermenting, and tried to relax a little.  Tomorrow would be the day to finally buy the equipment.

The New Town shopping mall

Sunday May 20, 2012

I finished watching a movie ‘21’ with Jim Sturgess and Kevin Spacey around 9:30.  I went to bed and read The bonesetter’s daughter, an Amy Tan novel, until I dropped off to sleep.  That’s our Book Club book of the month.  I awoke during the night, as usual these days.  I got up at 4:30 and wrote into my journal for an hour, since it had been some days now that I have neglected that.  When I went back to bed I put on the sleeping mask and earplugs; I felt tired to the bone.

I heard the cell phone ring.  The Jamaican calypso steel drum followed by the sound of a marble bouncing.  I dazedly got out of bed and walked to the other room, fishing around my purse for the phone.  Daniel was on the line, it was 9:10, and he informed me that the landlady had called him and asked to meet at 9:30.  Oi.

Yesterday it rained cats and dogs.  Today, I heard, it wasn’t going to rain.  I confidently put on long pants and a short sleeved shirts, and sandals.  I rode the elevator down, walked out to the front gate and looked for Daniel.  He hadn’t arrived yet, so I scurried back to my room for a sweater and socks.  It was 60 some degrees out there!

Daniel and his son arrived.  Yesterday it was chess lessons, today the boy was going to play ping pong.  We drove to the Xin Cheng Shang Jie (the New Town) shopping plaza; Jane was already there.  He had called her.

Meeting the landlady

In short order the landlady arrived.  Daniel excused himself, and took his son to his play date.  The landlady is a fashionable lady, with a pixie hair cut.  Jane explained that I was planning on making western style breads.  As she and Jane chatted, she said she had a business in the neighborhood too, and would steer her customers to me.

Jane told the woman we wanted a 2-year lease, with us just paying the first year upfront.  The landlady said she would not charge us during the remodeling phase.  This meant the rent would begin June 1.  All of this is taking place in front of the shop.  The rusted U-bolt sealed the door; she had no key.  I still haven’t seen the so-called kitchen!  Never mind, whatever it took, I would fix it up.

Next steps: remodeling, decorating, buying equipment


On the drive home, Jane asked me to show her pictures of Panera, as we had talked about previously.  I think she still has in mind it will be an eat-in shop.  I don’t think there will be room for much decoration.  She is eager to begin!

She arranged with Daniel that he will take me Tuesday to the restaurant equipment shops, to buy the equipment.  Then we will call in the electricians and plumbers, to install everything.  The oven is the main thing, of course, and we have to buy that online.  Barring any delays in its arrival, I should have me a professional bakery up and running by June 1.

Since it is downstairs from Web, I can actually do some baking right away.  I suspect that, at least in the beginning, I will have enough helpers for kneading and shaping the dough.  I can imagine that the July Web ECA will be a trip to the baker’s, and baking your own bread.  Since rolls can bake in only 20 minutes, everyone can walk away with something in their hand.  this should be my first money-making venture.  Everyone should have a good time.

The location is perfect.

From Cloud to Cloud

After Lisa's husband got involved, she asked me to pay 2,000 rmb a month for the use of her cave-like home.

We both laughed when she said it.  No harm, no foul.  I started looking for a good commercial bakery location.

The Mah Jong Parlor



Thursday, May 17.

Today I work 1 to 9 pm.  Yesterday at Web Daniel said he’d help me look for a store front today.  He would come to my place after dropping off his son at school.  We had agreed to meet around 8 a.m.

I had set the cell-phone alarm for 7:45 am.  It hadn’t gone off by the time I woke.  It had been another rough night.  Every two hours awakened, read my Kindle until the eyes felt heavy, slept another couple hours only to awaken again.  I stretched and yawned, and felt like it must be time to get up.

As it turns out, I had carelessly set the alarm for 8:45.  My internal clock had gotten me up at 7:55, and I set about quickly washing my face and dressing.  I was grabbing a granola bar from the cupboard when the phone rang.  Daniel was patiently waiting in his car, reviewing his English lessons.

We walked around my neighborhood on DongFang Rd.  Up and down we walked, calling any cell phone number we found on shuttered shops.  The side of the street where my apartment is has been redeveloped in the past few years.  The opposite side of the narrow two-lane road is old.  I have often thought that those buildings would soon be scheduled for demolition and redevelopment into expensive apartments.  These old buildings stand between the Grand Canal to the north, and the spreading up scaling of the Hutang district.  On the southwest corner of my development’s block new shops are opening, keynoted by a sleek new Audi car dealership.  The first shop I showed Jane was a few doors down from that dealership.

That shop owner was asking 68,000 rmb a year for 45 sq meters.  Today we were looking at stores less than two football fields to the north, where the asking prices are a fraction of that.

While Daniel waited for me he took a quick survey of the shops just west of my complex’s north entrance.  Together we walked down the length of the east end.  The redevelopment ended with my building, which is on the northern edge of this complex.  Further east the store fronts were deep narrow dark caves, brown stucco and smoked gray.  One had six-inch spools of threads spilling out the door.  It seems to be a factory for spinning threads for the textile industry.  The many colored spools are loaded into gunny sacks, onto a blue three-wheeler electric cart and carried off.  Most of the other shops dealt with food of one sort or another.  Steamed bread, a muslim place with flat breads, a tiny grocery store.  There is also a mechanic’s shop for repairing ebikes and miscellaneous mechanical things.  Other shops were still shuttered at this early hour.

We wandered back towards my complex and the car; Daniel felt we had plumbed the depths of the neighborhood and come up empty.  I said I’d take him to see the ‘expensive’ place in the southwest corner, on the main avenues of Ren Min Rd and He Ping Rd.  We could leave the car and reach it on foot in a few minutes.

Before we got in the car I looked one last time towards the west, on the old side of the street.  I saw a blue shutter with a phone number on it.  I asked Daniel again if he had checked that end of the block.  He said he hadn’t noticed that place.

He read the sign and made the call.  The speaker said he’d be right down to show us the place.  It was a double-wide shop, over 50 sq meters.  We waited ten minutes, and then a tanned muscular fellow with a gold and green knitted shirt sporting racing car logos rode up on his motorcycle.  He had a deep voice that oozed testosterone.

He opened the two shutters and let us wander.  The first impression to hit the senses was stale tobacco.  Every surface was brown with tobacco stains.  The floor air conditioner in the corner was thick with it.  I fiddled with the grill to see if I could check the filter, but the front seemed rusted shut.  There were shiny new mah jong tables with chairs in rows, about eight or ten of them.  The room may have been square, but three square pillars across the width of it cut the space into two rectangles, front and back.  There is a small room with an air conditioner, suitable for a round dinner table and eight chairs at the right end of the back rectangle.  Beyond it a door led to the back.  A dark toilet stared at me, as I made a left turn into a narrow room leading to the back door.  In that narrow room a sink and counter space had been built from tile-faced bricks.  It was crumbling, chipped tile cracked cement stained porcelain sink crooked pipes.  Beyond it a step down led to an add-on room with plastic roof and an exterior door.  It measured perhaps 9 by 9 ft.  Perfect for receiving deliveries, but then, I had no idea what lie behind that door.  I know there is new construction just beginning west of this block, at the corner of He Ping Rd.  I had no idea what was directly behind this building.

Daniel interpreted now and again, as they engaged in conversation.  The asking price was 17,000 a year, he told us.  We could have a six month lease, or one year.  Wow, I thought.  Yes, it would take a major work force days to clean and paint.  I wondered how difficult it would be to find that paint that seals in odors.  The wiring seemed a mixture.  There were extension chords with power strips hanging from walls and snaking along the floor.  I observed four ceiling fans, coated black, and a small wall fan.  I flicked a switch and the blades began to lazily turn; I flicked it off again.

Then came the kicker.  This gentleman was not the owner.  He had entered into a lease in October.  A few months ago a new, cleaner and brighter mah jong room had opened a few doors down, and was now the place to go.  He needed out of the business.  He wanted me to give him 15,000.  I was stunned.  For what?  Daniel variously translated it, first as an improvement fee.  I would be paying him for the improvements he had made on the place.  Huh?  The only things that looked younger than six months were the mah jong tables.  Then later Daniel tapped into his phone dictionary and translated it as ‘transfer fee’.  He said that was a normal business practice.  I balked.

He wasn’t asking us for the money outright.  He said, if we just had it in our hands while he introduced us to the landlord, he would be satisfied.  If we closed the deal, we’d hand him that extortion money.  If not, we’d walk away with it.

While Daniel and he had talked, my imagination and I wandered about the place.  I saw it all, and it was perfect.  Just the space I needed for my bread factory.

I called Jane.  If indeed this was the right place, I needed to bring her in on it immediately.  I knew what her reaction would be.  It is filthy, it is in a working class neighborhood, it is totally unacceptable.  It took her a half hour to pull herself together and get to us.  She reacted as I knew she would.  But she saw how I glowed, and eventually agreed that we should at least consider it.  We said goodbye to the mah jong dealer and the three of us walked away.  Daniel had still not seen my beloved spot near the Audi dealership.  I was hoping our steps and conversation were leading us there, but we stopped at Jane’s car and got in.  She wanted to show us the spaces near her apartment, at the south edge of the huge Xin Tian Di park, not far from Web.

Altnernatives


We wandered those spaces.  We found a fruit shop that was willing to rent out their space.  It was 60 sq meters, including an upstairs room.  The upstairs room might have been adequate for a hermit’s life, with a toilet and large living room.  But the stairwell inhibited use of the ground level space, and I found it entirely too small.

Nor was it facing the road, Guan Dian Rd; it was in the back of the building, where there was no foot traffic.  For this they were asking only 30,000.

In the end, Daniel drove me home.  He told Jane he’d look at the shops right under Web.  Many of them were empty.

I had only enough time to make my lunch and rush off on my ebike to Web, for the start of a long working day.  My last class ended at 8:00.

I called Jane, and asked her if she was home, and if I could drop by.  She was pleased.  I had to talk to her about this man’s attempt at extortion.  She assured me that it was a common business practice, and also agreed with me that it wasn’t right.  I told her I thought I was paying him for being a bad business manager.

Tangled Investments--the Bali Coffee Ponzi


We talked again about the possibility of my getting my 50,000 back from the Bali Coffee investment.  I said I’d try to get a transaction history printed out, from the bank, to document Bali’s breach of contract.

And now, the unexpected


The next day Daniel came to Web to study.  He spent time looking around at the empty shops nearby in the immediate block.  I was busy with classes, but he called me to say that he had found something.  On Saturday he would show it to me.  This had always been the most obvious place for my shop.  The German Restaurant had recently opened on the third floor, bringing foreign foot traffic.  Web's clients were Chinese of the class that would be interested in trying new cultural experiences. But I had dismissed the possibility from the outset as being simply too expensive, out of my range.

Saturday came and almost went.  I started with a 10 a.m. class.  On my lunch hour I walked the length and breadth of the mall looking for the phone number Daniel had texted me, without success.  After that I was busy with one class after another, and never saw him arrive.  At 2:00 I had a free hour between classes, so I ran across the street to look at televisions.  Graham, in Shanghai, had emailed me earlier in the week saying he wanted his TV back.  I was addicted to the beautiful look of the flat screen tv, so I had to buy a replacement.  The landlady had supplied the flat with a TV, but it was thick and old fashioned and I could no longer be satisfied with a 19 inch screen.

Meeting old friends.  I intended to do comparison shopping at the three big stores right in the Web neighborhood.  But the first one I went into was the last.  As I wandered around the flat-screen displays, a salesman approached me and asked me, 'You're Megan, aren't you?'  No, I said.  He kept talking, and said at last that I had been his teacher at Mechatronics, my first year in Changzhou!  We talked about other students and what they were doing now.  Then back to the TVs.  He showed me the special of the week, selling for 3,500.  It was a Haier, a brand I know well as being reliable, with good customer service.  Oh, that was more than I wanted to pay.  Not to worry, he said, with a broad smile.  He gave it to me for 2,300 rmb.  And that was that.

I called Daniel, only to discover that he was actually at Web in the computer room, working on the courseware.  He said we’d meet at 5, and he’d show me the place.  He had ducked out to run a family errand, and it wasn’t until 6 pm that he finally returned.  It was a miserable rainy day.  We went downstairs and he showed me the place.  He spoke to the shopkeeper next door, and learned that the place had rented previously for 28,000 rmb.  He obtained a better phone number for the landlady and actually had a conversation with her.  During that, she asked him how much he wanted to pay for the place.  He said, 25,000.  She said OK.  He couldn't believe it!  He was rightly proud of himself, and wondering what if he had said a lower price.  Ah, human nature.

We then drove across the street and loaded the new TV into the car trunk, and Daniel drove me home.  On the way he called Jane, and talked about this new possibility.  He gave her the landlady’s phone number, and they agreed that Jane would call the woman and arrange a time to meet on Sunday.

What do I think of the new place?  I haven't looked inside yet, but from the front window it looks too small.  It is 50 sq meters, but no where near the usable space of the old dingy mah jong parlor on Dong Fang Rd.  Still, it had been used before for food service, and had a small kitchen behind a serving counter window.

On Friday during English Corner I discussed the latest events with the small group of regulars.  Jimmy told me that when it came time for the city’s sanitation inspection, I should tell him.  He is a city sanitation inspector, and would take care of it for me.  During the course of that hour he also let drop the information that his wife worked for the Security bureau.  This is the dreaded PSB.  Recently their responsibilities for foreigners had been transferred to the newly formed Foreign Affairs Office, but I imagined that there might still be an opening to get help on the precarious business visa application.

Things were falling into place.  I was eager to meet the landlady of this store front and actually have a walk-through.

Ebullient

May 5

Lisa collected me at 7 pm after I clocked out, and took me to her townhouse.  It is just a block away from where I am currently living.

Unlike other gated communities that have ornate and elegant architectures, these homes are square brick blocks, and attached.  Her unit is on the end, and so has a lot of windows and light.

It is three stories, and a garage basement.  She says it is over 300 square meters, but I don't know what that is in square feet.  I think they calculate the space differently, anyway, so that a straight conversion would not be an equivalency.  Bottom line:  it's big!

It was dusk when we got in her car and left Web.  By the time we parked and walked inside, night had fallen.  The house has no electricity.  The street lights shown through the abundant windows, and so I was able to get a general idea.

In China, when you buy an apartment the price you pay only includes an unfinished interior.  Then each homeowner pays for the styling and furnishing of the interior, from tiling the floors to finishing the walls, installing toilets, sinks, overhead lights, everything.  There is basic electric wiring and outlets provided, and closed off water pipes showing through the walls.

My first impression was, Do I want to throw my mattress down on bare concrete and camp out?

During the ride over and back, she kept rephrasing the same theme.  Start small, ship your goods out and sell them.  Don't open your doors to the public.  And I always answered, yes, that's my plan.

On the drive I asked her what her plans were for the house.  Why did she buy it?  She said that her present home was plenty big for now, for herself, her husband and their son.  But when their son is older they will need a bigger space.  Maybe in five years.  So, until then, this apartment will stay empty, unfinished.  An investment.

She dropped me off at my home, and I told her I'd get back to her on Monday.

I went to bed early and read a while.  In the background, my synapses were firing.  It took a while, but eventually I saw what she was offering me.  By morning, I had a new plan in place.

It won't make any difference to her if I have a plumber and electrician in to remodel the place to build my bakery kitchen on the ground floor.  When it comes time for her to occupy the house years from now, she can just pull out all my renovations.  Meanwhile, I was going to spend that money anyway renovating that store front I am enamored of.  But what I don't have to spend is the money for a year's lease.  She is giving me the space, no strings attached.  I'll just pay my expenses, my utility bills and such. That's an annual savings of $10,000!

And then, why not spend some money on the second floor, and make a living space for myself.  She graciously said she'd build the bathroom.  I need only buy a couch for myself, maybe a table for the TV.  An air conditioner will also be a must.  As for a kitchen, I can simply place my microwave and dishes down on the ground floor.  I'll buy an induction cooker for about $50, which is my preferred cooking stove anyway.

The new delineated plan:

1.  Buy the oven, proofing box, work bench, double stainless steel sink etc. Have it delivered to Lisa's place.

2.  Move my stuff out of my lease-expired apartment.

3.  Call in the electrician and plumber to install the equipment.

4.  While they're doing that, take a trip to Kangding to visit Angela.  It's time for a vacation.  While I'm there, pick up 10 or 20 kg of yak butter.  Maybe some barley, too.

5.  Finish up the contract with Web

I should have enough cash on hand to do all that, although if I fall short I can ask Jane to supplement, since she offered.  Somewhere in those steps 1 through 5 I will get my business license, and then apply for a business visa.

This morning Mike's reply to my email arrived.  I haven't had the whole thing translated, but basically he said he will support my bakery, by providing me with flour at a low price.  He is in Fujian this week so he can't come on Monday, but will the following week.  I will know how much flour to order by then, and ask that it be delivered on or around July 1.

So, I'm back in business!

This evening, Jane will meet me after work, we'll have dinner and then go for a walk around Xin Tian Di park.  It will be a relaxing evening, spent building relationships.

My basil seedlings have their second leaves.  I have picked out a spot, on Lisa's second story south-facing balcony, for my herb garden.  Soon I'll have fresh basil, dill and parsley to add to my breads.

A plot with more twists than a drunken pretzel

May 4

Shirley is one of my favorite Web students.  Thin as a stick, always expensively and tastefully dressed in soft pale colors, clomping down the hall with determined energy on spiked heals that look so uncomfortable.

She and her husband have built a successful trading company.  Their son is an adorable 6 year old.  She is a Fujian native, and had a successful business career in Shenzhen but gave it up to be a housewife and mother.  Her husband loves it when she spends his money on a lavish lifestyle.  They had a week's vacation in the Maldives, NOT traveling with a Chinese group.  He threw her a birthday party at a tony restaurant.  A table of ten for the women, another for the men.  The dishes served were exquisite, including a large dish five deep in whole crabs, a lobster platter, and a floral center piece of chopped ice attractively arranged with slices of sashimi.  I recognized salmon and tuna, but there was more.  When the meal was finished and we were saying goodbyes, she pressed a huge bouquet of pink roses on me.  She said she already had two at home.

The way they do these bouquets here is clever.  The stems are encased in a plastic water-filled sack.  A paper cuff is artfully wrapped around the large bouquet.  The effect is that they stand alone, you don't need a vase.

She is always disposed to grant my favors.  I try not to take advantage, but in a pinch she can be a lifesaver.  I pulled a frozen loaf of whole wheat sandwich bread from the freezer, and called her.

I had collected four phone numbers from the doors of the empty storefronts adjoining my complex, and facing the busy intersection.  She called each one for me.  She hit paydirt, and that is the 45 sq m place I now have my eye on.

English corner can be a trial, or a pleasure.  More often it's the latter.  Especially on slow afternoons, when only the old faithful show up.  This handful of students doesn't expect a dog-and-pony show.  They are content to just sit and chat about whatever is on our minds.  Too often, whatever is on MY mind.

One day like that, Shirley was there as was also Lisa.  Lisa is a little older than Shirley, but otherwise a similar story.  Personalities, though, are different.  Where Shirley is energetic and bubbly, self-deprecating and always quick with a smile, Lisa is more serious.  Her eyes are deep with thought and observation. While her wardrobe obviously doesn't come off the discount rack, the colors and styles are subdued.  We were talking about my business dream, and they were offering solid advice from their own experience being business owners in Changzhou.  I brought up the dilemma of having to move out of my flat at such an awkward time, when I want to quit Web and just bake.  Lisa, whose English is not nearly as good as Shirley's, turned to Shirley and said something.  Shirley translated.  Lisa has a townhouse she's not using.  I could bake on the ground floor, and live on the second floor.

A townhouse?  While the government has a plan to move 800 million people off the land, out of their one-family farm homes and into the life of a high-rise city dweller, the wealthy are building and buying these estate homes in gated communities.  They are jammed in close together, but they are one-family free-standing homes elegant.

Yesterday I ran into Shirley in the hallway.  She came and sat down with me.  'What do you need?' she asked.  What a dear.  It felt good to say 'nothing'.  I just wanted to bring her up to date, and also satisfy my curiosity as to why she seemed so busy lately, spending so little time with us.

A couple of weeks ago she had told me that her husband had given her permission to take a vacation with some of her old classmates.  Now she tells me that the other ladies are 'letting' her do all the travel arrangements, from booking the flights and hotels, to planning the touring itinerary in Yunnan.  And what's worse, the group of five has now grown to nine!  More keep asking to join them, too.  But Shirley has put her foot down; it already feels like she'll be traveling with a crowd.

I showed her the brochure from the Yunnan coffee company that will probably be supplying my coffee shop, if ever I have one, and suggested she contact them to inquire about a tour.  Her ladies would enjoy that, I think.  I mean, coffee is so IN, so trendy and hip.

As we chatted, she reminded me about Lisa's offer.  I asked if she thought Lisa was serious about it, and whether I could afford it.  Shirley assured me that the offer was good, and I would be a guest not a renter.

I saw Lisa shortly after that, and talked with her about it. We made a date to see the place after work on Friday.  That's today!

I mulled it over some more, and realized it would not be practical to put the professional baking equipment in her home.  It would require rewiring!  But it is not that far from where I live now, and where my desired location is, so I began to think about going ahead and renting the space right now, and beginning the remodeling of wiring and plumbing.  But I will hold off at least until I hear back from Mike.

So, maybe now my living situation is resolved.  Of course, her house is unfurnished, probably not even air conditioning.  But I'll deal with that when I have to.

Partnerships revisited

Wednesday I arrived at work late.  I hadn't slept well Tuesday night, my head filled with so many concerns.

The security guards at the gate had hooked me up with a landlord who showed me a studio apartment in the newest building of this complex.  Actually, 50 yards from the storefront I want to rent.  He was asking 1,500, the same I am now paying, for half the space.  The studio had no sofa, no room for a sofa.  Otherwise, it was really cute and brand new.

I should have clocked in at 10, but I knew my first class was at 11.  I don't like to time it so closely; I walked in the door at 11:01.  Grabbed the lesson and found the student.  At the moment, the wall clocks in the school are reading slow, so for the student I was just about on time.  Unless he looked at his cell phone, of course.

I gave him his 55 minutes, then went back to my desk.  Rena came and sat next to me, all concerned.  Not about my lateness..this is never an issue, if I get the job done.  Rather, she had some bad news.  Jane had decided that she just didn't have the confidence to go ahead with the coffee shop cum bakery.  But she felt bad, and assured me that she would still lend me a three-year interest free loan of 100,000 rmb, and help me get the license.  With this, plus my own money, I could afford to rent the 45 sq meter place near my flat, buy the equipment, and start a bakery.

After my long talk with Oliver Monday night, who is a long-time friend and business associate of Sophia's, I realized I had to send her an email to set her mind at ease.  I had taken care of that Tuesday.  She replied expressing great relief that we could still be friends, and admitted that Mike was miffed at her for botching our deal.

With this new wrinkle, it occurred to me to try once again to bring Mike back into the picture.  I wrote an email which Rena is translating for me.  I'll send it to both Mike and Sophia.  I would love it if Mike came from Suzhou to spend the day in Changzhou on my next day off.  I'd like to show him the location I'd decided on.  I politely asked if anyone would mind my bringing my own interpreter to the meeting.  What I am thinking is that I would love to finally sit down with Mike and pick his brain, without Sophia editorializing.

And my own thinking has matured.  Now I don't care what Mike wants to do with the shop.  All I want is a corner of my own in the kitchen, to work and experiment and develop my breads.  I no longer envision creating a space for ex pats to gather.  I'll ship the bread out to them, they don't need to come to me.

Wallace shared what he had done in Zhejiang, creating a restaurant using mostly student labor as he taught them how to create a business.  He had people buy VIP membership, and set a schedule for English corners for them, in a space at the restaurant.  I'll pitch that to Mike, if I get the chance to meet with him.

Learning the Principles

May 1, now with a freezer full of pretzel-shaped thingees.  Fodder for next week's first Book Club meeting.

As I studied my textbook (Peter Reinhart's 'The Baker's Apprentice') to try and figure out what I had done and what I can do with mis-proportioned biga, I had a real good homework assignment on my hands.

After heating up the keys of the calculator, I at last figured out that I had used way too much yeast.  The basic proportions for a loaf of bread are flour = 100, water = 60, salt = 2, and instant yeast somewhere around .66, for a total of 162.66%.  (The flour = 100%, TFW, or Total Flour Weight).  The author actually gives the yeast weight for fresh yeast, at 2%, then goes on to say that instant yeast actually weighs a third of fresh yeast.  A biga should use 2/3 water, 1/3 flour and half the yeast of the bread recipe you're using.  I used something like three times too much yeast!

This sad biga sat in the fridge for 24 hours while I labored over the books, the calculator and my incoherent notes. At one point it filled the bowl right up to the plastic wrap.  A few hours later it had collapsed a little.  That meant the yeast was running out of sugars to feed on.  It would die if I didn't feed it pretty soon.

I had a dinner date with Oliver.  We were meeting at six, at the new German restaurant upstairs from my Web training school.  Last year we never needed such a formal arrangement.  We shared a kitchen at our dormitory housing, as teachers at Changzhou University.  We often bumped into each other there, while one or the other of us, or both, were preparing a meal.  A quick trip into the kitchen for some hot water would turn into an hour long conversation.  We never ran out of things to talk about.  We both missed that companionship, so we were looking forward to this long leisurely get together.

I rode my ebike home, getting back after nine.  It had started to rain, but not until after we had digested our meal with a walk around the extensive Xin Tian Di park which adjoins that shopping center.

I sat down again with the books to decide what I would do with this sponge. (Any preferment is called a sponge, whether it's a poolish or a biga.)  Of course, I could have thrown it out and started afresh, no loss but for two cups of flour.  I saw this as a great learning opportunity, as mistakes tend to be our best teachers.

I pulled apart the ingredients I had used, figured them out proportionally, then looked for a recipe that could use them--especially the large amount of yeast.  I would build a recipe around the yeast.

I am not yet ready for a baguette or other french style, because I don't have the right shaped molds and this oven just isn't up to the misting required, nor the hot temperatures.

I looked for a pretzel recipe.  I was disappointed to discover in the 'Apprentice' index that Peter's only reference to pretzels is in the page on shaping instructions.  There was no recipe listed in the index.

Next I checked RLB's 'The Bread Bible'.  But she shapes her pretzel dough into little footballs.  ?  That doesn't help me for baking time or temp.

I fired up the computer and searched there.  All the recipes I found required molasses.  By now it was too late to add a sweetener, and besides, I don't have any molasses.

I took a side trip through Taobao and Alibaba, while I was at it, and discovered that I could order molasses online.  But not tonight.

I added the required flour, water and salt to a large bowl.  Adding a sweetener at this stage was too dubious for this apprentice.  I did not add anymore yeast!!  I did add as much bran as I dare, and I used the coarse bran not the fine-ground stuff. I added a cup or more of flour (precisely according to my calculations), which I felt would be enough food for the yeast to reawaken and feed upon.  I tried cutting the biga up into big pieces as I added it to larger bowl.  Peter says slice it, don't stretch it.  Had I been an octopus, I probably would have adhered to that detail quite nicely.  I worked the wet mass in the bowl.  It took a while to incorporate the new flour, bran and water.  I worked it with the scraper as long as I could, folding and pressing.  At last I had to work it by hand; it was quite sticky.  I worked it for a long time, all the while remembering about the big rough bran cutting through the delicate bubbles.  In the end the dough smoothed out, and I set it in an oiled bowl and covered it.

It did rise nicely.

Pretzels call for an alkyline wash, but I did find an online baker who makes his without the wash and swears they taste fine.  Pretzels also call for toppings, like kosher salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and even cinnamon and sugar.

Well, I had the last of this list, so why not.  I missed out on getting molasses or any sugar into the dough proper, so why not augment the loss through a topping.

You know, I missed out on kindergarden.  My mother pushed me into the first grade.  (I've been ahead of my time ever since.)  I took the dough out of the bowl and started working with it, dividing it, shaping it.  This must be what kindergarden feels like; being creative with playdooh.

Most of what went into the oven looked pretty much like that, too, a child's first attempt with playdooh.

I dutifully brushed each 'pretzel' blob with an egg wash.  The instructions said egg and water.  So I beat up an egg and threw in a dash of water.  Enough?  Who knows.

I dipped most of them in a soup plate of crystal sugar and cinnamon.  That was a trip.  How to keep the pretzel shape while lifting it up, turning it upside down, and rolling it around the bottom of a dish?  The first mix was a tad too heavy on the cinnamon.  I replenished it with more sugar.

And some I left without topping.

 The dough, worked into a long strand. Twisted, washed with egg, and dipped in cinnamon sugar.

  The first ones were rather large, as I followed directions ('cut a piece 2 to 3 ounces').  As I went along I was cutting smaller and smaller pieces, which worked out better.

It was 1 a.m. when I finished.  I laid ten of the eleven into two plastic bags, and set them in the freezer.  A big juicy cinnamon sugar one I left out.  Now that ChuChu the Little Dickens is no longer a resident, I didn't have to worry about it getting eaten while I slept.

This morning I made a lovely cup of fresh-ground Yunnan French Roast coffee, and enjoyed the pretzel roll. The topping was delicious, if rather overwhelming; I could not taste the bread.  But, being one of the first of the batch, it was a large bun so I was able to attack it from beneath and find mouthfuls without sugar coating.

Of course, it doesn't have the taste of pretzel.  Still, a flavorful bread.  I will bring it to the Book Club meeting, and if I am industrious, will make some sour cream dips for the plain ones.

This afternoon I will go back to one of the restaurant equipment stores and write down prices on a long list of big equipment.  Like, work tables, cooling racks, proofing box, sinks, ovens.

I need a good oven!!!