We love, we forgive, we eat hot cross buns

Hey everyone!

How is everyone going?

I bet some of you can’t wait for the long weekend to come 🙂

Or..I bet some of you can’t wait for the lent to be over and eat whatever you have given up over the lent (me holding one hand up LOL)

I want to share some thoughts on what I came across recently. I was at the church last Sunday (Palm Sunday). It’s the Sunday leading up to the Holy Week.

In that mass, my mind happened to wander a bit (oops) and I was looking around the church. The church wall was full of drawings and artworks made by the children from Sunday School. It was about love and forgiveness. There was one drawing of Jesus (I assumed he was Jesus) holding a little girl’s hand. It also says, ‘God loves, God forgives. You love, you forgive’. It was very simple but I was so touched.

It reminds me to forgive. With love, we forgive. Because of love, we forgive.

And if you are like me, forgiving is not as easy as it sounds. To completely forgive someone, it has to come from heart. No grunts, no grudges, no vengeance and no revenge. Just a smile and let go. It is not always forgiving somebody else. It can be yourself.

I found it very difficult to forgive myself. It might sound funny- but forgiving yourself is not easy. You have put the highest expectation on yourself, to be the best parents, the best student, the best in your class, the best staff, to achieve this and that. You might have promised yourself to be more organized, not to forget things, to go to the gym regularly, to eat better, to lose weight and not eat those junk foods, etc. You’ve said to yourself to be good, to try harder and not give up. For whatever it is, you have once disappointed in yourself and angry to yourself.

Well, this easter, I have learnt to forgive and let go. Give yourself a pat on your back and say, ‘Don’t worry, because everything is gonna be fine’. Because with love, we forgive. We let go and move forward. Whatever mistakes we have done in the past are something we have learnt, so we can be better and better.

So, Happy Easter 2012!

I hope you enjoy your long weekend 🙂 – spending time with your loved ones, or in the kitchen, or out and about in the sun (I heard it’s gonna be sunny for a little bit)! Wherever you are, whatever your plan is, I hope you promised to love and forgive ;P (and eat my hot cross buns ;p)

Dea’s Hot Cross Buns

makes 17

2cups plain flour

2cups wholemeal flour

2x7g dried yeast sachet

1/2cup sugar

2tsps cinnamon

1tsp nutmeg

1tsp ginger

1 1/2cups mixed dried fruit (or sultanas/dates/raisins)

300ml warm low fat soymilk (or low fat milk/rice milk/almond milk)

3 eggs

for cross: 1/4cup plain flour and 5 tbsps of water

to brush: low fat soymilk

How?

1. Mix the yeast in the warm milk, stir and let it sit for 10mins. It should start bubbling.

2. Combine flour, wholemeal flour, sugar, spices and mixed dried fruit in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, and crack the eggs in. Then, add the yeast mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon- just until it comes together as a dough. It will be wet and sticky. It’s alright! because that’s why we need to work on it! Turn it onto a lightly-floured bench. Don’t forget to wipe clean and sterilize your kitchen bench 

3. Before you start kneading the dough, preheat the oven at 100C. Now! Time to work out :p knead knead knead- for about 15-25mins, or until it turns into a dough and not sticky.

4. Turn off the oven, and put the dough on a oiled and floured oven-proof plate or baking dish. Put it in the oven, close to the door, for 1hr. Don’t close the door completely- leave it ajar. It will help the yeast to do the work!

5. After 1hr, the dough should be expanded to at least double the original size! Take it out, and turn it onto the floured bench again. Punch it down, to let the air out. Knead the dough again, not too long- just half the time you did at the first time.

6. Now, make approximately 17-18 small balls of dough, and place them next to each other in a baking pan. Let it sit one more time for 30-45mins. When it’s 15mins left of the second proofing time (when you wait for the dough to expand), preheat the oven at 180C. Make the flour mixture for the cross. Pour them into a zip bag. Cut the corner to start piping.

7. Finally, brush the bread with the soy milk, make the cross on top of each bun and put them in the oven  bake for 30mins- or until it’s golden in colour.

Nutritionally, a dea-licious hot cross buns is equal to 789kJ, 3.5g fat, 1.1g saturated fat, 33g CHO (2 CHO exchange), 5.4g protein, 112mg sodium and 3.9g fibre.

Have you got a chance to bake your own hot cross buns this year? Why don’t you give this one a go 🙂