Now we’re in business!  I woke up this morning to find that my starter had fully doubled in size and it’s really starting to smell pleasantly sour.  I fed it in the morning and watched it grow throughout the day.  I expect it to be fully doubled again by the time I feed it this evening.  That’s a good sign.  We’re getting close. Continue reading →

Well, it’s definitely alive, but I was hoping it would have doubled in size by now.  I’ve decided that now is the time to start feeding it twice a day, morning and evening, and keep up the regimen until it gets to the point where it will double in size within four hours or so.  Once it gets there, I think it will be strong enough to bake with.  These photos were taken in the morning, about ten hours after feeding. Continue reading →

I was really excited to check on my starter this morning, because after the activity yesterday, I was sure that it would double in size overnight.  Wrong.  Today it looked about the same as yesterday.  Yes, it did bubble and grow a bit after feeding it last night, but it never grew past the level it reached on day three.  Continue reading →

My starter has come to life!  Well, at least it has bubbles and has grown a bit for the first time.  When I checked on it this morning, this is what it looked like.  I thought it might grow a bit more throughout the day, but no such luck. Continue reading →

I’m back to tell you about day two of my sourdough starter experiment.  So, 24 hours later and my jar of flour and pineapple juice looks exactly the same.  But that’s okay, I wasn’t expecting any change yet. Continue reading →

Today we begin the great sourdough starter experiment.  The goal of this experiment is to catch some wild yeast and try to keep them happy so that they will multiply.  By harnessing the power of wild yeast in a sourdough starter, we’ll eventually be able to bake bread without using any commercial yeast at all.  That’s what traditional sourdough is – a bread leavened by wild yeast.  The process can be very technical and scientific, but I’m not going to delve into all those boring details right now.  Instead, we’re just going to jump in and get started and I’ll explain things as we go. Continue reading →

I recently returned from a 10-day trip to Oregon.  Three of those days were spent in Portland with a fun and inspiring group of food writers and photographers, the rest were spent between Eugene and Florence, where I spent some time with my ex-husband’s family who I’m grateful have decided to keep me in their lives.  It was my first trip to Oregon since my husband and I separated in the spring of last year and though I was a nervous, emotional wreck in anticipation of it, the entire trip turned out to be a cathartic and healing experience. Continue reading →

I first made and fell in love with this corn bread two summers ago when I was diligently working my way through Peter Reinhart’s book for The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge.  It was a fantastic bread – rich and sweet and moist with sweet corn bursts and bits of salty bacon.  The texture was unlike any corn bread I had ever experienced, thanks to Mr. Reinhart’s method of soaking coarse ground cornmeal in buttermilk overnight before making the bread.  Yes, it takes a bit of planning, but it’s worth it. Continue reading →