We have a big bottle of ube haleya in the fridge which has an expiration date of one month so I don’t know how we would finish it. Of course I don’t want to waste it as it’s not cheap and it’s made by nuns in Baguio. Have you tried it? It’s really good and made with no preservatives hence the short expiration date. So I thought about baking ube bread. Wow it’s been a long while since I last baked something. Hmmmn… let me think when’s the last time… I really can’t remember so I guess it’s been almost a year.

Another factor why I baked? It’s because of the weather! It’s so hot outside it will be perfect for dough rising. And I was right.

Ube Bread

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp. lukewarm water

1 small egg + 1 egg yolk

1/4 cup milk

1 tbsp. melted butter

1 1/4 cup bread flour (additional for dusting)

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup ube halaya

6 inch diameter round baking pan

So I had ideas about shaping them. I don’t want to make a loaf because in my experience before in baking monggo bread, the filling inside didn’t distribute well. It didn’t have that nice design even though I rolled it well.  I thought about making it cinnamon rolls style too. Also individual buns where I’d use my muffin pan. But I ended up making knots and baking them close together in a round baking pan and it turned out really pretty. I haven’t made knots before so I’m just glad it turned out well.

I had a lot of thinking these past days mostly about how things are much different now than when I was about eight years old. During those times, only a handful had their own mobile phones and I was lucky enough to have one when even my teachers didn’t have one. They’d even borrow one from me. No pre-paid lines as well. So not responsible with using it then, I’d call people I didn’t know and hang up on them just because I was bored. And calls per minute then are way more expensive too. My dad would reprimand me when my line’s bill reached more than Php3000 plus. I do not remember if texting already existed then. Or maybe I was just not aware about it. Now there’s internet.

There’s video calling and it’s free… well kind of as you still need to pay for your internet connection. I just hope internet here doesn’t suck this much. Another thing I love is online video conferencing, I could talk to Daddy and Bee at the same time. There’s blogging too. An online journal. These are just some of the things I appreciate having been born in this day and age. Will I ever survive in the 1800′s if I was born then? I guess so. You don’t long for something you have no idea about.