Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Bread starter


I'm so jealous of these bakers with starters passed down from Medieval times! Yesterday I decided to begin my descendants' starter. There's a bowl of half flour half water on the counter. One day they will pinch off bits and give it to their children headed for Mars. I washed my Central Park Hoodie and it grew a little. I need to block it back to size but I can't take it off. I'm not sure if I'm shivering from the rum raisin ice cream or trembling from the concentrated ice coffee.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

My Mother lived in Colorado one time and a neighbor gave her some starter that had been in her family for several generations. My Mother was a sporatic baker and after keeping it alive for a couple of years, she said the burden was too much and she threw it out. She felt guilty for months...

Kay said...

I'll pick up a pinch of your starter next time I'm in town.....

I tried to do this once, maybe 15 years ago when I was more squeamish than I am now, and I freaked myself out keeping that "thing" growing in the fridge for weeks on end....and got rid of it. More fool me!

SloKnit said...

Would You like a starter?

Mrs. Lear said...

Thank you SloKnit, but I think I'm going to be okay with this muck on my counter. It's very exciting. We're going to try a little of our dough for some naan this weekend.

Anonymous said...

Dear Ms. Runcible,

I found your blog through Mason-Dixon knitting, I think, and have been checking in once in a while for a hit of East Bay nostalgia (I used to live in Berkeley but am on the East Coast now.) Even your mention of clover weeds/oxalis made me miss California. My yard on Cedar Street was overrun with it.

I just wanted to say that I too have been experimenting with sourdough starter over the last few days. And I'm another person who simultaneously knits and watches All Creatures Great and Small. Helen has so many beautiful cardigans! I'm on season three right now and am trying to space them out so I can watch them for a long time.

Mrs. Lear said...

Nina! I hope your breadmaking is going well! All the wild plum trees have flowered - the whites, light pinks, and lately the deep pinks. We have had so much rain we lost a large pine tree in back. The Peet's on Vine and Walnut is closed for renovation, but at least we have the Cheeseboard. I have added challah dough to the frig - it only keeps 4 days, but you can throw it in the freezer if need be.

Anonymous said...

oh, the plum blossoms sound beautiful. I tried baking two sourdough loaves yesterday and they came out quite leaden and bricklike, but they actually tasted good once I managed to saw off a slice. The crust was really hard but they were fine inside. I'm going to keep experimenting. My goal is to someday replicate the City baguettes at the Cheese Board!