The First Day of April

Monday morning is one of our sports days, and today is the first day of April.  I had to remind me that today is April Fool's Day, just in case I have to face something unusual or funny thing, I have to be ready.  Anyway, nothing had happened, the sports went very well, in fact, no one mentions about the April Fools.  Instead, I had great games in the first session, to be with a talented/smart partner.  As the day goes on, I meet her again, Shilla is the name. She is kind and understanding, one of the best players in the club.  I asked her if she won't mind being with me as the partner and this time to play against the boys,  and of course, she said yes. Why I did that, the question just come from my mind then, I felt so foolish. The games went well, as always she's so good to be able to carry anyone.  I have robbed thirty minutes of her precious time today.  Thanking her, and I am sure for the future, I have to let her be spending time with her own peer's.  Thank you for today. So, I was not getting the 'prank' on April Fool's Day.  But the feeling of foolishness was mine. Serve me, right!!!

CURIOUSITY.
As I mentioned it before, today is April Fools Day.  I have been so curious about the story behind it. This is what I found from my research, I pasted the information below.  Enjoy Reading! 

Although April Fools’ Day, also called All Fools’ Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery.

Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563.

People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognise that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes.

These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “Poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolise a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.

Historians have also linked April Fools’ Day to festivals such as Hilaria, which was celebrated in ancient Rome at the end of March and involved people dressing up in disguises.

There’s also speculation that April Fools’ Day was tied to the vernal equinox, or the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere when Mother Nature fooled people with changing unpredictable weather.

April Fools’ Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on phoney errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people’s derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them.

In modern times, people have gone to great lengths to create elaborate April Fools’ Day hoaxes. Newspapers, radio and TV stations and Web sites have participated in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences.

In 1957, the BBC reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees; numerous viewers were fooled. In 1985, Sports Illustrated tricked many of its readers when it ran a made-up article about a rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch who could throw a fastball over 168 miles per hour.

In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell. In 1998, after Burger King advertised a “Left-Handed Whopper,” scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich. Citation Information
April Fool's Day
Author: History.Com.Edito

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Personally, I don't like to celebrate April Fools Day, why should be making a prank to others, good or bad.  It can be very damaging, I believe.  Every day is a good day, start from there, a positive attitude is always fun, and friendly.

In my kitchen.  Am I a fool to bake the French bread - brioche without any recipe?  Of course, it has nothing to do with April Fool's Day, I love to play with the word as today is the first day of April. Brioche consists only plain flour, yeast, egg and butter add a little liquid of course.  But the result is a fluffy, light, rich bread.  You could make savoury brioche and also sweet with fruits or plain. Today I am feeling rich, baking brioche with saffron,  I will play with the dough, just see what I come up with.

Brioche Ingredients

Preparation The Brioche, with Saffron.

Seven ingredients for this brioche; plain flour, yeast, salt, sugar, saffron, butter, and egg.
Put the flour, yeast, saffron mixture, in the electric mixer, beat them on a low setting, it will look thick and heavy, add one egg at the time together with the sugar and salt. Eventually, the flour mix becomes lighter, add softened butter a cube at a time.  The flour mixture becomes softer with a body as a light bread dough.  It is the brioche dough, then you need to cover the bowl with cling plastic and let it rest in the room temperature until it grows twice in size.  Punch it down, mix lightly, put the cover again and let it sleep in the fridge overnight  In the following morning it is ready for shaping.  Let it rest for 33 minutes to proof or as long as it takes to make the brioche rise to double again.  Bake in a hot oven.

 Un measures ingredients to prepare brioche, I hope it is going to be alright.  As I remember it, the  brioche dough is made out of :225g plain flour,  4 gr dried yeast (I thought it's not enough, the only yeast left I have) flour 135 unsalted butter, 35 gr castor sugar, a pinch of salt, 2 large free-range eggs plus a yolk a little saffron soaked in three tablespoons hot water. ( all are approximate)

After Over Night in The Fridge, it has not changed much, the brioche dough's firmer to touch.

Shaping in the morning, I have decided to make a brioche loaf, just wait for the result 

Knead lightly for a few seconds, cut the dough into eight, shape them to balls.  Place the balls on the buttered loaf tin, cover, place it on room temperature to proof.

Bake the Brioche in a hot oven at 175 degrees C for 45 minutes.

What a gorgeous golden rich bread, it is as light as a feather.  I hope it cut well, smooth and airy for the crumb.
So I was not a 'fool' to bake the brioche without any recipe, I was so blasé, just gathering and adding the ingredients together.   Rayner said that it is lovely and light.  WOW, it is a wow indeed comes from him even though he does not know how to cook.

The freshly homebaked brioche sits nicely on a red cloth.  It cut beautifully, and indeed, the crumb is smooth and soft.  A delightful Classic French Bread was my baking for today.   

Is it, brioche for the Fools?  Just See.  It is a very good one, I am satisfied.

An evening to have the beautiful brioche, no, I don't feel foolish.

It is a shame, the girls would be so pleased to have a taste, next time when you come home for a visit, this rich golden brioche with saffron should be on the menu.

The brioche was baked in the late afternoon, as I talked about April Fool's Day, it has a long-gone as it holds only up to the midday.

It has been an exciting day, facing April Fool's Day was one, and baking brioche without a recipe was another one.  It came up to be a better day after all, in fact, we could have the brioche today instead of the next day.

The First Day of April So Far Is So Good.  Started off with an enjoyable morning, and we are having a pleasant evening.




Until Next Post
Thank You for Stopping By
Susy