Top 10 Breads of the World

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Today I have a user submitted guest post for you. Interested in guest posting on BigFatBaker? Contact me here!

Across the globe, breads of all shapes and sizes are a staple part of cultural cuisine. Traceable back to pre-historic times, bread is one of the oldest forms of fare, and to this day is one of the most comforting. We take a culinary journey round the world to discover some of the best breads the planet has to offer.

Bagel 

A dense and doughy, ring-shaped snack that is said to originate from 16th Century Poland. Boiled and then baked, these wheat-based bread products were often given as a gift to women in childbirth. Since the middle of the 19th Century, they’ve been sold in the Brick Lane area of London, and they were brought to the US by Polish-Jewish migrants. Traditionally served with cream cheese and lox, or salt beef and mustard, a shipment was even taken into space on the 2008 shuttle!

individual rolls Top 10 Breads of the World

Brioche 

A rich and buttery Viennoiserie, this Gallic delicacy is light and pillowy, with a fine, shiny crust. Often embellished with fruit or chocolate chips, this flexible foodstuff is great at breakfast or as dessert, but can also be served toasted to accompany foie gras or soup. Hailing from Norman origins, a region famous for the quality of its butter, its name derives from the French verb broyer, which means to break or grind.

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How Baking & Blogging Can Save Your Sanity {A Guest Post from Carla at Chocolate Moosey}

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Hello friends! Today is my final guest poster for my week of stress management tips. Today I present to you my new friend Carla from Chocolate Moosey! She is an awesome baker and she sweetly agreed to open up to all of you today and share her stress management experiences. With out further a’do, I present Carla! Enjoy icon smile How Baking & Blogging Can Save Your Sanity {A Guest Post from Carla at Chocolate Moosey}

Hello, everyone! I’m Carla from Chocolate Moosey. I want to thank Erin for having me guest post today.

Stress is something everyone experiences, whether you are a student, a worker, a parent, whatever you do for a living. And everyone has different ways of dealing with stress – reading, running, sewing, gardening, fishing.

For me, I have baking. I may be exaggerating, but food has saved my sanity. Several times. Funny I’m writing this post of all days because today marks Chocolate Moosey’s five year anniversary.

Five years ago, I studied abroad in Ireland. During my last month, I had a tough time dealing with my homesickness. Blogging allowed me to focus my energy on something positive and not so much on my emotions.

cliffs How Baking & Blogging Can Save Your Sanity {A Guest Post from Carla at Chocolate Moosey}

Of course over the years, that all changed. After graduating college, I blogged less and less. Then almost two years ago, I moved to a small country town by myself. No friends or family within 2.5 hours.

I work at a male-dominated company in a male-dominated career. Everyone in my building is either in a relationship, married, and/or has kids. For awhile, I was the youngest one in the building and the only female in my department. I had such a hard time connecting with people. Pair that up with living alone, and the loneliness quickly takes over. [Read more...]

Stress Management Foods from Sam at The Little Ferraro Kitchen

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Hi friends! Today I have Samantha from The Little Ferraro Kitchen to share some of the foods she uses to help curb her stress. Sam is a lovely person and I can totally relate to everything she says in her post and I hope you can too icon smile Stress Management Foods from Sam at The Little Ferraro Kitchen Enjoy!

Hello BigFatBaker readers. I am so excited to be helping Erin out today. When Erin asked me to offer up some advice on coping with food and stress, I was more than delighted.

See, Erin and I are in the same boat. We are both full-time college students and both working through our Junior year.

Finals are not too far away and the stressors of maintaining a successful transcript haunt us every time we take a test. Internships and part-time jobs are thrown in the mix. Social lives and relationships are put on hold, and learning to deal with everything is a headache in itself.

When I started this semester, I was on a mission for a “healthier-me”, it’s a constant mission really.

QuinoaBeauty Stress Management Foods from Sam at The Little Ferraro Kitchen

A few months prior, I was dealing with depression, stress, anxiety and doubt. I didn’t want to start a new semester with these raw feelings and therefore made it my goal to create energy packed foods to brighten my day.

I read a saying recently that said “Food doesn’t hug you” and I couldn’t DIS-agree more. Food hugs you visually and emotionally.

A stroll through the local farmers market is a weekend necessity. I watch and talk to the local vendors and farmers and awe at their beautiful edible works of art. Food hugs me. [Read more...]

Food & Stress

Stress. It’s unavoidable.

Especially this week! Last week was tax week (totally stressful) and finals are coming up for many students around the nation… As I’m sure you remember finals week is a demoralizing and terrible time of the year. It steals student’s sanity.

People everywhere deal with their stressors differently. Some exercise, some go out with friends, some listen to music and some just like to be left alone.

For me, it’s baking and music combined. I know, surprise surprise. But it’s therapeutic for me to chop up some fruit, knead some dough, or measure out the perfect amount of sugar and flour for cookies and dance around my kitchen.

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There’s nothing better than putting on some music and getting down to business in the kitchen. 

I’m sure you’re wondering what’s the point of all of this.

The point is that I want you to view food and your kitchen as a positive way to relieve some stress. I don’t want you think of making dinner or baking a cake as a chore. It should be a fun and relaxing practice.

Even if you don’t eat everything you make, doesn’t it feel good to make something delicious for someone you love? I know that I love the look on people’s faces when I bring them a giant brownie or slice of pie.

brownies 2 Food & Stress

Back to my point… This week on BigFatBaker I am going to be sharing some of my favorite foodie friends and their stress relieving tips. We all handle it differently (like I said before) and I want to share multiple people’s point of view.

So if you find yourself needing some stress relieving tips over the next few weeks, stop by and take a minute to read how others are handling it.

Now I leave you with one of my favorite songs to listen to when I’m having a hard day…take a deep breath and enjoy icon smile Food & Stress

A Few Awards…

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I was recently awarded the Sunshine Award, the Kreativ Blogger Award, and the Versatile Blogger Award by Renee at Magnolia Days. Thank you Renee! You are so sweet and I’m so glad I’ve been able to get to know you!

sunshine A Few Awards...

The Sunshine Award The rules for the award is to include the logo in your blog, answer 10 questions about yourself, nominate 10 bloggers, link your nominees blogs and post a comment on their blog to let them know they are nominated, and link to the person who nominated you. Here are the 10 questions about me:

  1. Favorite color – purple
  2. Favorite animal – dog
  3. Favorite number – umm.. 1?
  4. Favorite non-alcoholic drink – Water
  5. Facebook or twitter – Twitter
  6. My passion – food, family & travel
  7. Prefer giving or receiving presents – giving
  8. Favorite pattern – don’t know
  9. Favorite day of the week – Saturday
  10. Favorite flower – sunflower

kreativ blogger A Few Awards...

The Kreativ Blogger Award The rules for the award are to list 10 facts about yourself and then nominate 6 blogs for the award. Here are 10 random facts about me:

  1. I like doing arts and crafts.
  2. My family has 2 dogs; Pearl our English Setter and Chuck our Coton de Tulear.
  3. My favorite vacation destinations are Hawaii and the Caribbean.
  4. The first concert I ever attended was Britney Spears.
  5. One of my favorite kitchen tools is my Ice Cream maker.
  6. My least favorite kitchen activity is washing the dishes.
  7. I don’t like cupcakes very much.
  8. I am afraid of falling/slipping in public.
  9. I would love to open a bakery.
  10. I’ve never broken a bone.
Versatile Blogger A Few Awards...

The Versatile Blogger Award The rules for the award is to thank the person who gave you the award, list 7 things about yourself (see above), and pass on the award to other bloggers.

Now to choose 10 more deserving blogs. This is very difficult! I have come to be a big fan of many bloggers and wish I could share them all with you.

Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Click HERE to Enter the Latest BigFatBaker Giveaway!