Tomato bread solution and Yogurt 2

The other day I found myself once again in a breadless, money-less situation, but this time with a twist: I had a mere two hours before embarking on a four-hour block of classes. Enter, the Internet! Searching for quick whole-wheat bread recipes landed me lots of fruit-laden holiday breads, fry breads, and finally (and with the most potential) Irish soda breads. Intriguing.
I took a couple recipes, averaged their ingredients, and then halved the amounts. This is what I ended up throwing together, in the most unrefined manner possible:

• Preheated to 325, lined a baking sheet with parchment paper
• Whisked together 1.5 cups whole wheat flour and 0.5 cups all-purpose
• Added some salt, a smaller amount of sugar, and 0.5 tsp each of baking soda and baking powder
• Made a well and poured in 0.75 cups of liquid (mostly vegetable juice, supplemented by water), mixed
  
• Kneaded a minute or two until smooth, formed a loaf, sliced in an X, and threw it in for 30 minutes.

Every recipe I found used buttermilk (or some substitute conglomeration therefor), but my lack of all things dairy led to a nice mild tomato taste in the finished loaf (as well as a pinkish-tinted dough). It would have gone well with salad or soup, or, ooohh, made into grilled cheese! Wow... I haven't had grilled cheese in a long time. But that's a whole 'nother post.

Next time I will form the dough into a flatter, wider shape, to cook the middle more quickly, but I had really no qualms with this bread. It was so fast, and really everyone has flour, leavening ingredients, salt, and some kind of liquid. So easy! I was sad, though, not to have had more time to spend baking. For some reason, I feel like my food always turns out better when I am happy and relaxed, and especially if I am cooking for a friend or family. Does anyone else feel this way? It reminds me of those studies about plants thriving when someone reads them bedtime stories. Maybe I should start playing guitar for my sourdough starter...

An old friend of mine comes from a staunch Irish background, and as I was chewing on a tomatoey wing of crust, I was imagining her mother turning in her sleep 4,000 miles away. Someday I will make this recipe authentically, I promise! Other (traditional) suggestions were to add some amount of currants, some recipes used oil or butter, and I'm sure you could go in all sorts of directions with other additions and flavoring.
My loaf was the perfect size for someone living alone, two people using it as the main part of their meals, or three people looking for an accompaniment. I'm lucky I had class right away, though-- otherwise I might have stayed and eaten the whole thing then and there.

I know all of you Germany-dwelling yogurt lovers have been refreshing your homepages like crazy, praying desperately for another report on products of the single-serving, cultured-milk variety. Well, wait no longer! I bring you:

This is an offering from Landliebe, a squat 200g tub of whole milk blackberry goodness. It retailed for €-.49, if I remember correctly, and my somewhat low expectations were happily exceeded. There were good pieces of near-whole berries (which had at one point been frozen) throughout, and it wasn't obnoxiously sweet. It was a pleasant breakfast even without bread or cereal alongside (see dilemma above), and I am usually a firm believer of pairing yogurt with some kind of chewy grain in order to offset all that smoothness.
Verdict: Well done, Landliebe! I look forward to trying more of their flavors, and although it isn't organically certified, my student's budget approves. Bonus: the container fits especially well in my lunchbox.

This episode of Bread and Yogurt is brought to you by spring weather and the goodness of carbs. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures!