Sourdough

In these strange times we are living in, there is some comfort in knowing that old traditions are still alive and well.  Baking has fallen back into the forefront of many people's minds and I am grateful that useful knowledge about making such a basic staple of our diets still exists in the world.  I have jumped on the sourdough bandwagon this month and am trying my hand at making my own sourdough starter.  It is easier than you think.  It can also waste a lot of flour if you don't plan ahead well, but that being said, it can also waste nothing if you use it to it's full potential.

The basic starter is super easy.  I followed the directions on the King Arthur Website: Mix 125g of flour with 125g of water.  Stir it well, then let it sit in a warm place (mine is on top of the fridge) overnight (or two nights if your house is chilly like mine).  Once it starts to show some activity you can start feeding it.  Feeding consists of removing some of the starter (about 1/2 cup) for a new batch and then adding 100g of flour and 100g of water.  That 1/2 cup is removed so that you can keep your starter to a reasonable level.  If you don't "discard" some, you will eventually end up with enough starter to run a small commercial bakery.  Most recipes say "discard" the extra starter, but that is where the magic happens.  That discard can be used to make any number of different baked goods.  Once you have fed your starter mix once or twice a day for about a week, your starter is considered ripe and ready to be used for anything.

Because it is just me in this household (the cat and chicken's don't really count), I only need to make about one loaf of bread a week, maybe two if I'm eating a lot of sandwiches.  That means that to make the most efficient use of my starter, I should keep it in a way that I will only need to feed it once a week.  The way I do that is to keep my established starter in the fridge.  The cool air won't kill the yeast in my starter, but it will slow it way down, which means that I can get away with feeding it less often (about once a week).  Every time I feed it I will use the discard to make a new recipe.  I am discovering that all kinds of things can be make with sourdough starter, not just bread.  So far I have made a loaf of bread, an handful of hot dog buns, and tortillas, and pretzels.

On my list to try are cinnamon rolls, pancakes, and dumplings.  The things that I have made so far have turned out better than I would have thought and I can't wait experiment more with this new "old" knowledge.

Updates

It has been awhile since I have written regularly on this blog, but I came across it again and I realized that I had been missing out on sharing my story with the rest of the world.  A few things happened since last summer so I though I would take a moment to bring us all back up to speed on the happenings around the homestead.

I had an addition of 8 more hens to my flock.  They came from a friend of mine that could no longer keep them.  They are 3 ameraucanas, a black sex link, and 4 anconas.  They are a little more of an handful than my docile older gals, but they do lay some colorful eggs.  My egg cartons now hold green, white and brown eggs.

I have also finished my garden clean up for the spring and have been working on getting all my beds turned over in preparation for planting.  Some cold tolerant crops went in the ground this week.  These included potatoes, onions, peas, carrots, parsnips, lettuce and spinach.  I am hoping to plant out my brassicas soon too, but the nights have still been dipping into the 20s, so I will have to wait a bit longer. 

My seedlings that I started this winter are coming along beautifully as well.  I have 3 varieties of pepper again (jalepeno, paprika, and spanish mammoth), broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, celery, thyme and basil.  I just planted my tomato seeds and I hope I am not starting them too late.  My garlic started coming up a few weeks ago and they are already over 6 inches tall and looking very happy.

Over the winter I had time to do a little extra preserving. I made my first attempt at homemade instant mashed potato powder.  I also dried onions and crushed them into powder to be used for seasoning in many of my homecooked meals.  I dehydrated my late harvest of parsnips that I finally dig up just before the official start of spring.  I also dehydrated any extra mushrooms that I bought on sale.  Turns out they are great additions for breakfasts and dinners alike.

In my fiber world I have been working on spinning a few pounds of wool that I bought at the local fiber festival last fall.  I wanted to try a variety of different wools to see how they worked up and so far I have been pleased with the results.  I have also added knitting to my repertoire this winter and manage to make a couple of pairs of socks and started working on a cardigan for myself.

All in all things have stayed fairly busy around here even though I haven't taken the time to post much since last year.  With all the crazy going on in the world right now, I am quite happy that I have a nice home base to work with and now I will have a little more time to share the goings on here since I am temporarily out of work like many others in the country.  I hope that if you are reading this, that you are well and making the best of whatever situation you find yourself in!

Graditude

The world can be a pretty scary place these days, but I am still looking for the good.  Today I am reminding myself how very lucky I am.  I have a warm house to live in.  I have good food to eat.  I have many wonderful friends that have taken the time to ask how I am doing, which means that they are thinking about me even though we are apart.  The weather is warming and spring has arrived which means that my garden will be keeping me busy again soon.  I have had time to work on projects that I had been putting off for when I had more time.

I find that if I can keep myself busy then I have an easier time being positive about what is going on around me.  I have no shortage of hobbies.  I have learned to knit this winter and have been adding to my collection of fiber crafts day by day.  I have spent hours spinning new yarn from roving bought from local farms at the fall fiber festival.  I have also spent hours in my kitchen cooking up delightful meals from ingredients that I grew and preserved myself.  I am grateful to live in the unique and special place and time, and though it hasn't always been easy, it has always been worth it.