English muffin toasting bread

 

Just like the name says - it is a perfect bread for toasting and spreading with jam and butter! The coarse texture makes for a crispy toasted bread! So delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 cups (361g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon (14g) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast
• 1 cup (227g) milk
• 1/4 cup (57g) water
• 2 tablespoons (25g) vegetable oil or olive oil

Method

• Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl.
• Combine the milk, water, and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat. It should be hot, not lukewarm, but not scalding hot either.
• Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. 
• Using an electric beater, beat at high speed for 1 minute; the dough will be smooth and very soft. If you don't have an electric mixer, beat by hand for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and starting to become elastic.
• Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan.
• Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible.
• Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, 1/4" over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 22 to 27 minutes, till it's golden brown.
• Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Know my name

 Author: Chanel Miller

A memoir by Chanel Miller, earlier known as Emily Doe to the world. She was a victim of sexual assault at Stanford, California. She is neither the first nor the last such victim. However, she is one of the few who opened herself to the world. Many victims don't even report their cases. She reported it and then made her statement public and now has written the full story. 

One must read the book, to see the story from the perspective of the victim. Right from when the attack happened to how her life changes for not just next few months but for years to come; and her struggles in the court. It is not just her but everybody around her as well who is impacted. Slowly and gradually as she reveals what happened to some of her close friends she finds out how many of them have gone through it in the past but never told anybody. What happened to her was a fact and yet she had to fight a battle in the court. How the media talked about what would happen to the sports career of the attacker but nobody talked about how it had ruined the life of the victim. 

In cases of sexual assault while people do always pity the victim, they also almost always find ways to point finger at the victim. Things like she was wearing clothes that expose her body or she was drunk or she was out in the middle of the night. I always thought it was wrong to think like that and when reading Chanel's story I felt even more strongly for it. There is no excuse for such a crime - just like there's no excuse for any other crime.