Sourdough Happenings

My new sourdough starter seems to be very healthy now. It is now doubling in size within several hours after you feed it. I've used it twice, but it wasn't at full boost (or it wasn't doubling yet). When I made bread with it, I doubled the amount of starter called for in the recipe and it turned out too sour. I won't do that again.

I happened upon this website called Breadtopia.com and found the starter recipe I used there. This is a great source for those who like making bread. The fact that he actually shows you what the starter should look like is very helpful.

Hope you enjoy the videos!







Sincerely,

Updates and Reviews

I thought I'd post an update and review post since I'm totally not updated and let's not mention the review, because we are just keeping this train moving along. :O)

• Our 1 1/2 year old is doing much better. We're not sure what caused his tonsilitis, but it seems to have been viral. His white blood cell count got up to 27,000! We are back home now from the hospital and he is back to his old self. He is very normal for himself now(finding all kinds of things to get into) and I am very thankful he is well.
• In other news, I started a Sourdough Starter Saturday and can't wait to try it out. I think the brew is just about ready! This is my first time making my own from scratch. I hope to post on this soon. I know, this sounds sooooo exciting. But what can I say- I dig bread making!
• To review our school week- well....we're getting the essentials done but I think for Social Studies and Science we may take a more Five in a Row(very relaxed) sort of approach to finish off the year and start back on our Weaver next school year. I'm just tired and about to pop. Well, not quiet that big but I'm getting there. So maybe I'll make it more storytime about Einstein, the Caesars of Rome..A Bug collection..and whatever else my kids want to explore and learn about while we sit down and relax.
• The Spring Cleaning Challenge didn't happen much last week. The children did get at least half the baseboards done around the house, and I did get the curtains washed, but that's about it. Between doctor's appointments and a sick baby, plus the hospital stay, I'm just glad to be home.

Spring is almost here and the trees out my upstairs bathroom window are starting to bloom. The birds are getting loud again about 6 am and we are watching our tomato plants take off indoors. My husband bought me two semi dwarf apple trees a few days ago. We just need to figure out the perfect place to put them.

In the midst of all of life's concerns, God is always so good!

Dear Journal Letter # 3 (flour ramblings)

Dear Journal,

My last post was about playdough, which is made partly with flour. I use white flour to make playdough. White flour's labels say that it is "enriched". Enriched means they put back some of the essential vitamins and minerals they took out. They took the germ and the bran out.

Last year I began to grind wheat grain. Can you believe someone would want to grind it? There's enough in life to do besides grind grain. That's why we all buy it at the grocery store, right? Well, I purchased a Whisper Mill (which by the way is a good mill but definitely does not grind quietly), and bought some soft wheat, hard wheat, and even some 7 grain.

You may be wondering what the difference between soft wheat and hard wheat is. Soft wheat is used for pastries, biscuits, pancakes,tortillas..etc. Hard wheat comes in hard red( red has a stronger wheat taste) and hard white grain. It is used to make bread, -the kind that you make sandwiches with. I have used it for cornbread, and even for pancakes, but it doesn't make good tortillas.
Switching over to the grain was a little of an adjustment and an extra step in cooking at times. I find that if I grind enough soft grain for biscuits and anything else I might want to make during the week, and I place the flour in the freezer in a freezer bag, it saves me the extra step.
I put it in the freezer because flour spoils and goes rancid without you being able to tell. So is it worth the trouble? This has been the first year that I can remember where my kids did not get a bad, last forever type of cold. They got colds, sniffled a day or two, and it was gone. Those markings on food products that say "enriched" are very questionable in my mind now.

Introductions..what is Holiness?

Some people would say that Holiness is a Pentecostal, ultra-conservation Christian sect that teaches certain strict standards of living characterized or plainly written in the Bible. It wasn't a sect at one time at all. It was the norm for Christians. Does scripture not say in Heb. 12: 14
" Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord;"
Holiness is so much more...to be separated from the tune of the world. A heart the says, "Yes, Lord. If that is what you ask of me, I will give you all. All that you ask of me to do or not to do, I will give you all."
Sincerely seeking Holiness, and not really knowing it.
This is where I started my precious walk with God. God knew what He was doing with my heart. God always knows what He is doing. His thoughts our so different than ours. We think we know what we are doing with our life and with our soul. This keeps us from doing what He desires. It's kind of like making bread. I've got a little confident in my ventures with breadmaking. Sometimes, too confident. Yeast is a funny thing to work with. Maybe that is why I like messing with it in bread dough. I love seeing it rise and make a beautiful loaf. But yeast dough is temperamental and needs to be worked. Kind of like us and our nature. God kneads our heart, gently. Allows us to sit and wait till we rise...

Introductions...I like to make bread.

Ok, ok. I must admit. I'm not very computer savvy. So this is my first post. I'd like to learn how to put cute clipart, but my 10-month old is wanting attention at this very moment. So I'll make this post quick..real quick. I like making homemade bread. I'll cut and paste the recipe I currently use to feed my darlings:

I got this recipe sometime last year and thought I'd pass it on. It makes 5 good loaves of bread if you use regular bread loaf pans.This recipe works good kneading by hand or with a mixer. If you use a heavy duty mixer you won't have to let it rise the second time. If kneading by hand, I always let it rise the second time. I make them with whole wheat flour, and sometimes substitute about 1 cup of 7-grain flour into the mix.

Mix:1/3 C. of hot water with 3 Tbs. of active dry yeast and a pinch ofsugar in a glass container. Let this sit 10 minutes, to make sure the yeast wakes up and starts bubbling. Don't use anything metal.

Meanwhile mix:5 C. of hot water
2/3 C. of oil
2/3 C. of molasses
1 Tbp. salt
3 Tbp. vital gluten( or dough enhancer)
Then Add slowly and mix:
Yeast mixture and 6 C. of flourContinue mixing in 1 cup of flour at a time until dough unclingsfrom the bowl. You probably will mix in about 12-14 c. of flour.
Knead 8-10 min.
After kneading by hand, let it rise till double somewhere warm.Cover with plastic wrap and a towel. When double punch down, shapeinto loaves and place to rise in greased bread pan.If mixer knead, then shape into loaves and place in greased breadpan, covered with plastic wrap and a towel.
Let it rise till double and then bake,uncovered in a 350* preheated oven 30-35 min. When done, remove from baking pans immediately and let it cool.I always let them cool, and then I pre-slice them and put them in the freezer. That way I can take them out as I need them and if frozen, pop them in the toaster.Enjoy!