The Anatomy & Science of Yeast Breads

Long sigh...sourdough schmourdough. Why so complicated? Yeast, that's why!

I did a ton of research today on making sourdough from scratch, starter too. There is so much out there I'm not sure where to begin. My research answered a question I've been asking myself for a long while now, but never had the time to look up, how were they making bread 100 years ago? They couldn't go to the store and buy little jars or packets of yeast, so what did they do? Now I know.

They made it. They "woke up" yeast that is naturally present in flour. Only back in those days, they were grinding their own wheat berries and such to make their flour to start their bread. What women! And I thought I was baking bread from scratch! I've learned that buying yeast and adding it to your starter, is apparently "cheating" and "taboo" in the world of sourdough breadmaking. Excuse me!!

So as I walk through the valley in the shadow of bread, I shall fear no yeast and all I say is..bring it on baby...bring it on! One day, it won't have nothin' on me!

I will perfect you.

A Tribute To My Parents

Dear Parents,

I can't thank you enough for teaching me the value of a home cooked meal. You guys never fed us kids shit, and I've never realized that more than I do today.

Thank You!

A Busy Day In The Kitchen

Unfortunatly, I didn't take a picture of the breakfast that I made. I made a scramble at my husbands request. It had potatoes, breakfast sausage, red bell peppers, eggs, cheddar cheese, mushrooms, salt n' pepper and parsley. It was delish!

I did remember to take a picture of the coffee cake muffins that I made. I've honestly never made muffins from scratch until this morning, just never really got into it, until now! They were good, they weren't overly sweet like I thought they would be, so really they were perfect. My husband also liked that they didn't taste like a spoon full of sugar. I'll definitly be making these again.

I have these blueberry bushes, 5 to be exact, that produce a ton of blueberries. The first year we harvested them, I think I made at least 10 pies with them and we ate a lot of them as just snacks. This year was the same BUT we froze a bunch. I measured out 3 pies worth and froze them in individual foodsavor bags. I'm getting in the mood to do something with them...blueberry muffins??

Tonight I made my lasagna, really it's my mothers lasagna, she gave me the recipe a long time ago. It takes a bit to put it all together, mainly because the sauce alone takes 45 minutes. I use 4 cheeses with mine, mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan and cheddar cheese. I don't make it often but my husband sure loves it. It went good with the bread that I spent 4 days on.

Speaking of the bread, there was nothing sourdough about it and I am a bit disappointed. The bread IS good, but it tasted more like an egg bread than anything else. I feel like I wasted my time. It just gives me the drive to find a different recipe. I did notice that there are many different forms of sourdough starters out there. But I think it bumms me out more that I spent so much time and had so much anticipation with it, to smell the sourdough while it was baking made my mouth water...and for not a simple hint of sourdough taste. This is a recipe I will be blacking out for sure. I've done it before and I'll do it again.

A Finished Product, 4 Days In The Making

Ahhh, finally! This is the longest I've ever spent on something that will go right into my mouth. 4 days ago, I made sourdough starter. I cradled it, sang to it and nursed it. Not literally but I may as well have! Finally I was able to complete the bread. Picture #1 shows it sitting after adding some flour, it had to rest for 8 hours. Picture #2 shows it rising after I added the rest of the igredients, this took almost 2 hours. Picture #3 shows two loafs ready to be baked. I had to keep brushing them with cold water while baking. Picture #4 of course is the finished and ready to eat product.

After I let these cool for over an hour I just had to taste it. The end slice was nice and slightly crisp on the outside and the inside was just as it should be which meant my kneading was good. I've learned you don't want large air holes, or even small ones. You want them right in between. My final say on spending 4 days to make bread? It was really good BUT didn't really taste of sourdough. I'm hoping that it was because I took a very small slice from the edge, maybe as I dig deeper into the loaf, I'll get that sour that I'm looking for. It sure smelled like sourdough while it was baking and the starter was very strong.

It's football Sunday and I will be watching football all day, but will make my lasagna to go with this bread for dinner. I'll post a picture.

Pepperjack and Sourdough

Good Morning! I always find that the first sip of coffee is just a sip of heaven, I love it. Yesturday for breakfast I made a meatless scramble with a ton of pepperjack cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Served with toast and topped with my homemade grape jam. I have a huge grape vine in the backyard.

I forgot to take a picture of dinner. I made chicken cacciatore but served it over jasmin rice. I was happy with it. We are still enjoying small bites of fudge, I think I ended up with close to 3 pounds it seems. I've been thinking about Christmas cookies. I want to make molasses cookies, which we've done before but I want to smother them in red and green sugar. Simple but those are one of my favorites so I'm always out to make them.

And about my sourdough starter, its going good so far. It's been in the glass jar in the fridge now for 1 1/2 days and there is now a clear liquid on top so I guess its ready to be used. I plan to make my lasagna, which takes about 1 1/2 hours, to go with my fresh baked sourdough. Once I use my starter by adding a couple ingredients, it has to sit at room temp for 8 hours. I wont have time to make it for dinner tonight, I would have had to start it around 5:30am to have it had sat, risen and baked in time for dinner around 6pm. Even then I feel I would be cuttin' it close. So I will do the bread today which will make two round loafs and save it for tomorrow.

I'm feeling my husbands need for red meat today so I will be cooking something very hearty tonight. Haven't yet looked at my list so I'm not sure what it will be.

Chicken Catch A What??

Today so far I have enjoyed my coffee, blue sky and bright sunshine. I'm thinking about making chicken cacciatore for dinner in the crock pot. Last time I made it, it called to be served over pasta. My husband and I both agreed that it would be better served with rice. So thats what I'm going to do. My sourdough starter is now in a glass jar. I'm suppose to wait until a clear liquid rises to the top. Haven't seen that yet but I only put it in there early last night. I'll give it another 24 hours.

My sewing machine sure has put me through a few twists and turns lately. I've been trying to finish Mia's fleece blanket, but not only have I broken 2 needles, I've had to pull out quite a few stitches. I seem to be having a problem with the bottom bobbin. I re-thread and start over only to have it bunch up on me again. So after going through a process to fix it all, only to have it happen 2 more times, I called it a day and walked away. On the bright side, I've learned how to take my machine apart, clean it properly, oil it, and then put it all back together.

I get my washer back today! There wasn't anything wrong with it, one of Mia's socks got jammed in between the tub and an outlet causing all the problems. Once the sock was removed, it was running perfectly. It's a good thing because I have a ton of laundry to do. I've been piling it up for the past 4 days. I also have all the napkins and tables cloths to wash, so I'll be in laundry heaven today. Weird saying so, but I'm thrilled!

Sourdough, Turkey Talk, Wine, Fudge & The Needles

Well, I have my sourdough starter going. I mixed it up a bit this morning so now it has to sit 2-3 days until I have a clear liquid on the top, then I can use. Sure smells...well..sour!

I still has 1 bowl left of turkey and we are all sick of turkey sandwhiches so I did what millions of other people are doing with their turkey, I made a casserole. Simple and easy. I have been enjoying a wine that is AWESOME in my opinion. Kenwood Vintage Red Wine. Yumm!

Also I made fudge today for the first time ever. The picture above shows it still setting. If it dosent set properly, a common not so well understood problem I hear, thats ok, I'll spoon it! I also worked on Mia's blanket a bit today. I've reminded myself I have til Christmas Eve to finish so I'm not rushing it. I'm trying to think of something else I can add to it, maybe on the edges or just on the corner. We'll see, I'll post a finished product when I can.