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Sourdough

 I love sourdough bread and it is so much more healthy for you. I would eat bread all day long but.....

I found some at Sprouts that did not have all the extra garbage in it but I decided I needed to make my own.  Bought a book at Barnes and Noble, bought all the tools and finally last week decided it was time to just pick the day and get going.  I got my starter going and today was the day to bake that first loaf.  

I got everything out, mixed it all up, did the risings, kneadings and finally it was time to bake that first loaf.  Pulled it of the oven, pretty brown color, let it cool and it was not totally done in the middle.  It was a very dense loaf. It tasted good.  So I did what anyone else would do, throw the bread in the trash and hit the internet.  What did I do wrong.

Well the book I got did not have you discard daily for the starter (more later on my thoughts about discarding).  The book also only had you feeding 5 days instead of 7 or 8.  Ok.  Every morning there was a brown crust on top, I need a denser cloth on top, I made my own but I will make another one with a piece of batting in it.   It had bubbles and I could tell it was raising a bit.  It was elastic like it should be. I did have a Dutch oven, one I had never used, I think I had a really good coupon for it cos it is Crueset and they ain't cheap.

I had enough started left for a batch of pancakes so I made up that dough as well. Never make bread and pancakes at the same time, cos they both require sitting, kneading, rising, etc.  The pancakes were good, I did not put the sugar in them.  The taste was a very mild sour dough.  So they went in the freezer for those breakfasts where I want pancakes but don't want to make them.

Discarding: I dont get throwing away half the starter, seems a waste and why?  I need to do some further research on that.  However for people like me who cringe at the thought of wasting starter daily there are many recipes to use it, just pop it in the fridge, feed it once a week and use it is pancakes, waffles, cookies, scones, etc.  

I found a couple of websites that are much more detailed, have printed off the information and will start a new batch on Wednesday.  The book was very lacking in instruction. It was like a beginner knitter trying to figure out a fair isle sweater with very little instruction.  That book will go in my donation box.  

 

 

 

6 Years

 6 years ago my dad went home.  One is never prepared to lose a father.  It all started October 24th with that 1am phone call, your dad is headed to the ER, he fell.  Once they figured out what was going on he had broken his hip on the fall.  Finally got him to a room and surgery was scheduled for the next day.  Knowing that if he slept he would wake up not knowing where he was with the dementia so I spent the night.  During the night they found out he also had a bad UTI, they stuck the catheter in and he continued to pull it out.  We had to fight him all night and eventually ended up putting on boxing mitts on him. He grabbed the string and pulled one loose enough to get it off.  So on to plan b to see how to keep it on.  They finally gave him some meds to sleep.  Next afternoon it had subsided enough to do the surgery.  They put a rod in.  They put him in ICU to keep an eye on him as he still had to have the catheter in.  He never recovered and after 4 days they moved him to Hospice.  He never woke up they kept him morphined up.  I know he knows I was there cos sometimes I would say something and he would smile.  Those women were angels the way they took care of my dad.  Someone brought in sandwiches and cookies daily for the break room.  My dad would often say mom I want to come home, I knew he was talking to my grandmother.  I told him to go.  He finally did but he waited til I went home on the 3rd.  The morning of the 4th the phone rang and they told dad had finally made that trip home.  A couple of days before I saw the bluish purple in his ankles and there was the death rattle.  There is nothing more scary than that.  

I miss him some days more than others.  That hole in my heart can never be repaired until I head home and the reunion begins.  I love you dad and I miss you more than I can say.