The sourdough is not going well. I didn't end up dealing with it for Thursday after all (I know, huge surprise, right?) and instead started the dough/baking process yesterday. The first rising went splendidly - the dough looked exactly as it was described it would. Punch down and loaf formation was similarly smooth. What I'm regarding as a potential Sourdough Waterloo came in the form of the second rising, which, well, didn't. In an effort to salvage the operation, I rekneaded the two loaves together and am now attempting a third rise. After four or five hours, if it's risen at all I will bake and report back. Sourdough, I am told, is at once fussy and forgiving. Fussy in the sense that it requires a good starter made with good yeast but forgiving in the sense that rising times and baking windows are flexible. So we'll see. All is not lost, but I'm not exactly discouraged. If this doesn't work I will start again from square one with very fresh yeast and then move on to other troubleshooting.

We've got a busy weekend planned of GETTING. STUFF. DONE. The Boy Wonder needs new sneakers with which to partake of his soccer lessons and he's been invited to a birthday party, which will require the purchase of a present (something in the construction genre, I've been informed). There's also the matter of writing thank you notes and finishing the birth announcements, as well as marking the photographs of the babe (four rolls so far) with the who and what - I am nearly fanatical about this, no boxes of mystery photos in this house. Then there's the usual house stuff, vacuuming and so on. I'm also planning to take the kids ("The kids" - how strange to write that) to the park tomorrow to get some walking in. It's supposed to be a beautiful day and it will be nice to get moving.

Post Title

→

Post URL

→

https://beat-hairstyles.blogspot.com/2004/02/sourdough-is-not-going-well.html

Visit Trend Wallpapers And Desktop Background for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

I just finished making a sourdough starter. I had tossed around the idea of buying one from the fine folks at King Arthur Flour but in the end decided to take a DIY approach. Some quick googling on the subject revealed that a simple mixture of yeast, water and flour ought to do the trick and every recipe had just about the same proportions: 1 tablespoon of yeast, two cups of warm water and two cups of flour mixed in an earthenware or glass container. After 48 hours of bubbling away at room temperature on the kitchen counter it should be ready to use, depending upon the cooperation of the wild yeasts in the air here in Charlottesville. One recipe, much more complicated than the others, used green grapes to start the fermentation process - I bet it's fantastic, resulting in a very yeasty, winey bread but for my purposes I think I'll stick with the simple and familiar. If all goes well, I'll have homemade sourdough bread on Thursday. My, but that seems like a long way away, doesn't it?


The only other cooking project on tap for today is the making of pizzelles for my husband's Wednesday lab meeting. We had originally planned on sugar cookies but, realizing that good pizzelle weather (that is, clear and non-humid) is likely to be ending soon, changed our minds. Homemade pizzelles do not do well in the spring and summer - they just get all floppy and moist so we're going to take advantage of the last of the "pizzelle season". They have another advantage over sugar cookies in that they are quick to make and therefore perfect for squeezing into an infant's nap time.


This afternoon I will be accompanying the Boy Wonder to the library. He's asked for more "airplane and train books" on the grounds that he's memorized the ones he has and wanted to go to Barnes and Noble for their acquisition. Given my current non-income-earning status we've decided that the time is a good one to introduce the joys of borrowing rather than purchasing books. Although I don't wish to rein in his enthusiasm for reading and books I'm thinking that I might limit his selections to three or four books for this initial visit. Not only would I like to teach him prioritization and that he cannot have everything he wants, but I think that three or four is all I'll be able to track on any given day. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he picks out to bring home.

Post Title

→

Post URL

→

https://beat-hairstyles.blogspot.com/2004/02/i-just-finished-making-sourdough.html

Visit Trend Wallpapers And Desktop Background for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection