The Fresh Loaf

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Hamelman's Hazelnut & Prune Bread, and pictures from my Kenya/Tanzania Vacation

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

Hamelman's Hazelnut & Prune Bread, and pictures from my Kenya/Tanzania Vacation

Just got back from my 2 week vacation in Kenya/Tanzania last weekend. It was our first time visiting Africa (one more continent off the list, Antarctica is the only one left to tackle now), so much too see! We did 10 days of safari trips, 4 parks in Kenya and 2 in Tanzania.

 

Saw all  Big Five. Lions are lazy, especially the male ones. Both my husband and I are leos, I told him: no, I am NOT going to hunt and do everything for him while he sleeps and poses. And NO, he can't have 4 wives. :P

African Elephants are BIG. And gentle. In the lower right picture, two baby elephants are napping, 3 big ones are guarding them. :)

Cheetas, very hard to see since they are so alert and fast. We got lucky on the last day, saw them twice! They are my favorite animal.

African Buffalo, I think their horns look comical.

Black Rihno, even harder to see than cheetas, since there are so few of them. Also saw it on the very last day. Stretching the zoom on my digital camera to the limit here.

Lots of other animals and birds to see. Hippos, apparently they are dangerous and lethal. I just can't comprehend since they are huge and move soooooooo veryyyyyyyyyy slooooooooowly.

We were there to witness the annual wildebeest migration, boy there are a lot of them. 2 million in Masai Mara alone.

Flamingos, so pretty when they all fly, but so hard to catch that with my crappy camera

Look at me, look closely, are you getting sleepy?

Don't raise your head too quickly, might get dizzy

These are blue monkeys, because they are blue...in an unmentionable area, neo-blue too, I at first thought they sat on some paint!

Yeah, the little one looks cute, but don't be fooled...

Bald Eagle, my favorite bird

Hippo's personal massage therapist

Vulture, and their breakfast

Ostrich, they are allover the place

I like this one's "headpiece"

For the last 4 days, we went to Zanzibar, a tourist island off Tanzania's coast. Superb beach and water, one of the best scuba diving locations in our experience. So many fish, and they are not afriad of people.

Between beaching and diving, we visited the historical stone town on the island

Doors from past

Great vacation, there are so much more to see, we definitely want to go back. One day I will climb kilimanjaro!

---------------

before we left for vacation, I baked Hamelman's hazelnut and prune bread from "Bread", easy and straightforward formula, delicious too.

Since the formula is quite easy, I played with shapes to make it fun. The oval one is cut into pieces then proofed and baked with the pieces together, nice effect without having to score.

The other one was just 3 triagle pieces proofed and baked together

Nice open crumb studded with yummy hazelnuts and prunes

Due to the butter in the formula, the crumb is quite soft, so the dough can be made into buns or sandwich loaves.

Comments

Yippee's picture
Yippee

小德:

Looking forward to more of your wonderful breads!

Yippee

Mebake's picture
Mebake

Lovely Txfarmer! as always..

khalid

SallyBR's picture
SallyBR

Oh, what a wonderful series of photos!

 

I am so happy you got to see it all - elephants are my favorite animals, I wish I could one day do the same trip

 

Thanks so much for posting, it's nice to live vicariously through your experience - and the bread looks awesome too, I am tempted to bake my first bread in the new home, but still afraid to go for it

 

Welcome back, Txfarmer!

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Wow, that looks like quite a trip!

Welcome back.

LeeYong's picture
LeeYong

Thank you for sharing your pictures from your trip. You're one lucky gal! That would be one of my dream vacation to be able to see all those beautiful animals. I'm glad you got the chance.

Welcome home!

Happy baking!

LeeYong

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Welcome back!  Thank you for sharing your lovely vacation photos and bread too!

Sylvia 

paulm's picture
paulm

Those pictures are amazing.  Glad you made it back in one piece.  10 days on safari through 6 parks - you guys were really moving.

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Very creative shaping!

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Your wild life photos turned out well. Considering you didn't spend a ton of money on expensive gear, you got nice clear images of some beautiful animal's.

And, a 3 piece section of monkey bread is a nice touch.

Welcome home.

Eric

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

My little digital camera has 10X zoom, which helped a lot since a lot of the animals were far away. Too bad that we got it wet on Zanzibar beach, and it lost most of the functionality since then. Auto mode only, no other adjustment. :(

 

I have since got a new DSLR (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035FZJI0/ref=oss_product and http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00007E7JU/ref=oss_product), just got them, I am sure I will have questions for you! :)

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

:)

ananda's picture
ananda

Welcome back txfarmer,

Bread still up to the usual standard too.   I loved this bread when I made it earlier in the year.   Prunes and nuts; yummy!

Best wishes

Andy

wally's picture
wally

Thanks for sharing your vacation photos. Wow!  And then your ones of your tricks with dough.  Really nice and certainly enjoyable!

Larry

highmtnpam's picture
highmtnpam

Would you mind if I asked the name of your travel agency??  It looks like it was a perfect vacation.

 I am very impressed about the way you shaped the bread.  Do you think it would work with Hammelman's Current and Hazlenut bread?? Thanks for the pix. Pam

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

We booked it through an agency in China (cheaper but a bit lacking in customer service and communication), so I am afraid it's not much help for you. However, if you search online, there are many similar agency here in US.

I am sure the shaping method would work for most breads, including the one you mentioned.

turosdolci's picture
turosdolci

I took a photo safari in South Africa and it was the most memorable trip I've ever taken.  Love the pictures and they bring back memories.  Also the bread looks great also. Love all the ingredients.  This kind of bread goes so well with great French cheese.  Thanks for posting the photo's

Regards,

Patricia

emmsf's picture
emmsf

My two favorite things - Africa and bread.  I've been to some of the places you visited in Africa.  It's breathtaking, isn't it?  Oh, and the bread was beautiful too.  Now if only you could have had some of that bread while on an early morning game drive....

highmtnpam's picture
highmtnpam

Dear txfarmer,  Thanks so much for the information on travel agency.  Might have to go to China first and then Africa!  HeHe!  Thanks, Pam