It's day 6. I've made several interesting discoveries. After my first failed sourdough I was curious to find out what happened, and my first suspect was the water, since I used citywater. I divided the remaining starter into two lots- using warm bottled water to feed the starter in one half and milk in the other. Surprisingly (to me), both did just fine, bubbling and frothing soon after I added the liquid and flour. So I tried making bread again and it was perfect. Three glorious loaves of risen bread and two pans of rolls. So, chlorinated city water is out (That's my theory of why the first batch didn't rise). Good to know. Imagine what it does inside my body when it kills hardy yeast so easily.
Here's the recipe I used (from allrecipes.com); I got the results above by doubling this:
Sourdough Bread
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 c. warm water (not chlorinated!)
1 1/5 tsp salt
1/2 c white sugar (next time I'll try honey)
1/2 corn oil
6 cups bread flour (I actually used whole wheat, which worked great)
1. Mix all but the flour together, then add the flour slowly to the mixture. Oil the dough (I sprayed it with oil), place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise overnight.
2. Next day knead the dough for 10 minutes, divide in half and place into 2 loaf pans, allow it to double in size (I did this step overnight).
3. Bake at 350degrees F for 40-45 mins. Turn out to cool onto wire rack.
Tomorrow I search for oils, dairy and local flour. I know dairy and flour will be easy, a matter of just making the trip, and I don't expect cooking oil will be difficult either, it's just a matter of finding it. I'm lucky to live in Southwestern Ontario.
My fridge and cupboards have fewer bottles and boxes now that I'm no longer purchasing anything new, and my freezer's filled with bags of soups, breads and homemade muffins to replace store-bought "granola" bars filled with additives and empty calories. I'm proud of my success so far and curious (with a hint of trepidation) to see what comes next.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
My first few days
Well, my 100 Mile diet commitment started officially yesterday on a Sunday. That was on purpose because I knew I'd need to do some research to even start to get started. I went to Crunican's in North London and found peanut butter made in SWOnt. I had thought I'd need to give that up.
My other adventures weren't quite so successful. I made my first loaf of sourdough bread- I had let it rise overnight and baked it even though it hadn't doubled to twice its size. The flavour was wonderful but it's about a quarter the height it should be. More research needed there, for sure. I also started baking using honey to replace sugar, starting with carrot and then morning glory muffins (I have lots of carrots to use :).
The morning glory muffins were OK, the carrot muffins too moist- I had decreased the heat to 325 from 350 as recommended by an online site on cooking with honey, I think next time I'll try it at 350. My daughter was unimpressed with the not so sweet muffins, perhaps that will mean she'll eat more fruit?
I can see some challenges ahead - my first will be meat- its not so much that meat will be hard to find but instead that my freezer's already full from summer produce. I'll have to think on that.
Next challenges will be things like vanilla, baking soda and powder. I wonder if I can find substitutes in my 100 mi radius?
I'm still excited about this and anxious to explore my 100 mi area to see just what I can find. At the very least, after my initial month experiment ends I'll have found local sources for my most often used meats and vegs. And that has to be good.
Today I'm back to work. My morning cup of tea was from my current stock, I'll see how I feel when that runs out and whether to opt for Fair Trade instead of giving it up. I think that's most likely. One project this week is to research Fair Trade options for spices, tea, coffee and flavour extracts like vanilla.
So far, I'm enjoying this challenge, and thinking of it as adventure at this point. Also wondering about the feasibility of making my own yogurt. I used to many years ago, I don't want to become a zealot with this, but I do want to change everything I can that's reasonably doable, y0ghurt seems like a possibility.
My other adventures weren't quite so successful. I made my first loaf of sourdough bread- I had let it rise overnight and baked it even though it hadn't doubled to twice its size. The flavour was wonderful but it's about a quarter the height it should be. More research needed there, for sure. I also started baking using honey to replace sugar, starting with carrot and then morning glory muffins (I have lots of carrots to use :).
The morning glory muffins were OK, the carrot muffins too moist- I had decreased the heat to 325 from 350 as recommended by an online site on cooking with honey, I think next time I'll try it at 350. My daughter was unimpressed with the not so sweet muffins, perhaps that will mean she'll eat more fruit?
I can see some challenges ahead - my first will be meat- its not so much that meat will be hard to find but instead that my freezer's already full from summer produce. I'll have to think on that.
Next challenges will be things like vanilla, baking soda and powder. I wonder if I can find substitutes in my 100 mi radius?
I'm still excited about this and anxious to explore my 100 mi area to see just what I can find. At the very least, after my initial month experiment ends I'll have found local sources for my most often used meats and vegs. And that has to be good.
Today I'm back to work. My morning cup of tea was from my current stock, I'll see how I feel when that runs out and whether to opt for Fair Trade instead of giving it up. I think that's most likely. One project this week is to research Fair Trade options for spices, tea, coffee and flavour extracts like vanilla.
So far, I'm enjoying this challenge, and thinking of it as adventure at this point. Also wondering about the feasibility of making my own yogurt. I used to many years ago, I don't want to become a zealot with this, but I do want to change everything I can that's reasonably doable, y0ghurt seems like a possibility.
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