Kostbrote

A not-so-funny, kinda funny carneval story. In two acts.
Act I: Just Like every year since 2019 (I believe), this carneval tuesday, aka today, aka february 13th 2024, I decided yet again to prepare the delicious, fatty, fried doughball known as 'Krapfen' in Austria. Now, since I am a multi-faceted person that keeps om travelling, keeps on learning and definitely gets bored when she does the same thing 5 times in a row, I decided to give my Krapfen a twist. Lucky me, I had only just (in october) been to Georgia (the country). And there, I learned of ponchiki! Basically a Krapfen, just with a pudding filling that is fried within the doughball! Now. What could go wrong?
Here's what went wrong: my yeast had been in the fridge for a while already and apparently, had died. The dough did not rise enough during proofing, the doughballs stayed too heavy with too little air inside to stay afloat and that heavy pudding inside as well! When put into the frying oil, they sunk to the bottom of the pot and while nicely browning on the outside, they did not cook all the way to the middle. Yet another proof that even a failed experiment can look kinda nice.
And so happy I found the third picture, a mural in Tbilisi! I knew i had not taken a photo of the ponchiki I had in Tbilisi, but at least a surreal representation of a ponchik in a pocket. 👌

The second attempt in last year was a big fail. As you might see, I did not only underproof it (in German we say 'it stayed seated', as in, it did not rise properly), I also trusted my boy to turn off the oven for mw in time, cause I had to leave the house before it was ready. Two mistakes in one batch. It all boils down to a critical first mistake: not taking enough time to bake.
Well, the good side: it made for an incredibly crunchy crust and produced quite nice bread crumbs that I could then use for 'Panier' (the breadcrumbed batter for Schnitzeling).
Ways to use failed and non-failed breads in meals will follow in later posts.
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Samichlaus, Saint Nick, Hl. Nikolaus, Nikolo. Whatever you may call him, he's usually a jolly little fella and today - Dec. 6th - is his day!
In Austria, St.Nikolaus is accompanied by his counterpart 'Krampus'. Krampus, Knecht Ruprecht or Schmützli (if I remember the Swiss name correctly) is depicted as a little devil, usually sticking out his ridiculously long, red tongue. There are demonstrations of 'Perchten' (another word for Krampusse) parading the streets on the days leading up to December 5th, 'Krampus Tag'. In reality they are young guys (maybe women too?) sporting amazing, hand-crafted wooden masks, intricately worked and painted, heavy, furry costumes, chains, whips and cow bells. They.are.terrifying! And that is exactly what they are supposed to be.
Saint Nick represents the wise, old man, telling you about your past good-doings and treating you to nuts, tangerines and chocolates, if you really were good enough. In my family home, he used to actually hold a sermon - he is supposed to be a bishop after all. If you weren't all those things, there was still Krampus to take up the job. With his whips, chains and a big jute bag presumably there to abduct you 🫣😳 that's what we we're told at least. Honestly, I am not surprised how shaken some of us turned out these days..
The nice traditions, however, lie in the baking. These are neither complicated to make nor all too breathtaking to eat. But I Always enjoyed getting one of the brioche krampuses as a child. Way to face your nemesis 🙃😝👹

or 2023 has been postponed (in this baking community). Since life sometimes gets in the way and none of my friends or I are Swedish anyway, we decided to celebrate our love for all traditions foody and goody on the coming weekend instead of midweek.
Luckily, I remembered just in time that I had made kardamom bullar with my own pistachio twist (pistachio cream inside) earlier this year for my Mum's birthday. As to not leave this October 4th completely uninspired in terms of ye**ty goodness. Happy Kanelbullar Dag to anyone celebrating! 🥳
Please note how I made a real effort to twist and knot them all equally and when you take a closer look... none of them look the same. It must be a metaphor for something. No matter how hard you knot, you cannot knot a knot to knoticable knotoriety.

Heute ausnahmsweise auf Deutsch: unser Herr BK hat geniale Spartipps für die gemeine Bevölkerung. Ich bin ihm nach ein paar Tagen fast schon dankbar, denn Kinderarmut in Ö hat nicht mit den Aussagen des BK begonnen, aber durch seine qualifizierten Einschätzungen sehr viel mehr Aufmerksamkeit bekommen.
Ich hab diese Seite vor 5 Jahren gestartet um kostenfrei/durch Tauschhandel mein Brot zu 'bewerben', das ich sowieso jede Woche backe. Das hat während des Studiums gut geklappt und ich habe damals für einen Laib Schwarzbrot oder ein paar Semmerl selbstgemachte Marmeladen, Chutneys und sogar Fußmassagen und v.a. gute Freunde gewonnen ☺️ Seit ich vor 3 Jahren mehr zu arbeiten begonnen habe (übrigens nur Teilzeit, 30-35 Stunden, je nachdem. Nicht freiwillig, sondern weil das die Jobs sind, die ich bekommen habe), habe ich kaum mehr Zeit mein Brot zu teilen.
Dank meiner Teilzeit-Arbeit habe ich aber einen Tag in der Woche (Montag), den ich zwar meist für Arztbesuche, Behördengänge o.ä. brauche, in Zukunft aber auch wieder nutzen möchte, um mein Brot an Frau/Mann und Kind zu bringen. Ich bin in Linz. Gibt es in Linz einen Bauernmarkt oder anderen Standplatz ( Urfahr, .sgartenlinz ) wo ich kostenfrei 1x/Woche mein Brot anbieten kann? Kennt wer wen/was, der/die da helfen könnte? Es ist 'nur' Brot, aber zumindest frisch gebacken, mit gutem Mehl, kein Zucker und gutem Sauerteig, definitv nahrhafter als ein Hamburger bei McD. Das kostet im Kilo dzt. 5-6€ beim Bäcker. Ich würde es gerne verteilen an jede/n der/die vorbeikommt und den/die es entlastet. Natürlich gerne Kinder, Eltern, aber ich mach da keinen Unterschied. Wer es nicht braucht und trotzdem vorbeikommen mag: ich würde freiwillige Spenden für Materialkosten annehmen. Hat wer Lust mich dabei zu unterstützen? Danke.