Adventures in Sourdough Bread Making

First off I will start by saying I totally admire people who make sourdough bread and keep their starter alive from week to week and some for years.  My first experience with a sourdough starter was January 2015 (I think) or it could have even been January 2014 however I think I'm going with 2015.  Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial blog mailed out to some readers some of her very famous sourdough starter (dried) called Priscilla.  At the time it was school holidays and it was extremely high temperatures in Brisbane and I didn't really know what I was doing and I failed at getting my starter to work.  This was no fault of Priscilla (Celia's starter) it was me who was inexperienced and it was extremely hot and humid in Brisbane.

This is the starter that I made 2 weeks ago and this picture was taken when it was ready at day 10.

This is what's called "the sponge".

After mixing the sponge etc. and ingredients to get my dough.

Shaped dough with waiting to prove.

Stretched out and then put back into a ball and proved and then stretched out again.

Shape the bread.

Dust the bread with rye flour, letting it prove while the oven heated up and then before it goes into the oven to slash it with a serrated knife.

Finished loaf which was just baked on a tray as I didn't have my enamel cookware at the time.

 This is the texture inside that on first go I was very happy with.

I made my starter and fed it every day for 10 days (it says 7-10 and I went with 10) and I had what I thought resembled a good starter.  I will say that making Sourdough bread is all about the "timing" and using overnight for your dough to prove rather than during the day because other wise you will end up baking bread at 11.30 pm at night like I did keeping every light on the house so that you don't fall asleep with the oven going on at extremely high temperatures.

I made enough dough for 2 loaves however decided to cook one loaf (not sure why) on a tray as I didn't have anything to cook it in at this stage.  The bread was baked and it looked great and and the texture was perfect...SUCCESS.  The next morning I cooked the other loaf and it was dense and no good.  The crust was perfect but the texture inside was no good.  So 1 good loaf out of 2 loaves.  

I then had another go the next day and the starter looked good, everything looked good I had longer times to let it prove etc. however the next two loaves came out like the 2nd loaf...beautiful crust on the outside and dense on the inside.

Determined not to give up I re-read Celia's blog again and got my starter out from the fridge and fed it however there were no bubbles and so I got a little bit more out and still the same, no action.  I fed the actual starter again as well and as of late last night about 11 pm I thought that I had killed my starter and would have to start my 10 day process again.  I decided to leave it overnight (the 3 bowls) and sure enough this morning it was looking good.  Only thing is now I couldn't mix the starter with the flour, water and salt and leave it overnight for 12+ hours.  Still I have not given up at this stage and my dough is still proving as I type this.

The key is to first of all...know you are going to be home the next day to cook your bread and of course make sure your starter is alive and well at night ready to mix up your dough.  After it took me nearly 12 days to make my first loaf of sourdough I totally appreciated paying $6-$7 for a good bakery bread.  We'll see how I go making this loaf tonight.  I totally loved the texture of the first one and my sister and I had home made baked beans on my home made sourdough for lunch the other day and it was so yummy and I felt very proud after my marathon effort of 12 days to produce this loaf of bread.

Thanks to Celia at Fig Jam & Lime Cordial for the tip on getting this enamel bakeware to cook my bread in which was $25 + $10 postage which arrived in 7-10 days at my front door.  I was looking a couple of weeks before and I had found $55 plus postage so I was so happy to be able to purchase this one.  I love it and its lightweight and perfect for baking bread.  It's only an on-line product and I couldn't pop down to my local Harvey Norman to save $10 on postage.

So this is my adventure into sourdough breadmaking.......I will keep you posted on my next loaf to see if I can master the texture.  If not, I may have to make a new starter again.

Here's a few other blogs that have some information on making Sourdough Bread.

Clare from The Life of Clare in Melbourne.

Jodi at Jellywares blog in NSW.

Brydie from The City Hippy Farm Girl blog in Sydney.

Green Living Australia have a post on sourdough bread making.

A guest post on Sophie's Local is Lovely blog on sourdough.

Tricia from Little Eco Footprints talks about simple living lessons learned from making sourdough.

Jane from the Shady Baker experimenting with sourdough.

I look forward to being able to master this sourdough bread making adventure.

Around Here

Around here I have made a sourdough starter and sourdough bread...some good results...some not so good.  Here's a few pics.

James at footy last week and their team won which was great.

After school at the park.

After school at the park.

After school guitar playing.

After school painting.

First sourdough loaf.

Happy with the result.

At the park with the scooter and skates.

A bit of Polar Express jumping on top of the train.

Sunset at the park.

Early game out at Amberley which is 1.5 hrs drive...luckily they won and made the trip worth it.

Early morning at Amberley, crisp air at 7.20 am rugged up and some pretty light for me.

"Leibster Award"

Recently Fiona from Life at Arbordale Farm nominated me for a "Leibster Award" which is to recognise bloggers that you enjoy connecting with and finding out more about them. Fiona asked the following 10 questions:-

1. If you had to choose 3 charities to give $100,000 to which charities would they be and why?

The Leukemia Foundation because I lost a flatmate who was 27 to it 12 weeks after being diagnosed many years ago.  Also my friends 8 year old daughter died 6 months after being diagnosed as well.  Secondly would be Breast Cancer because that has affected my immediate family in the last couple of years and is still ongoing.  Thirdly the Homeless as I could think of nothing worse than having no family or friends to help you out and to have to resort to sleeping on the streets at night through all seasons and weather. 

2. What is the worst job (at home or work) you have had to do?

I think when your kids are sick and vomit in the middle of the night over the bed and themselves and double if it's during winter when it's cold.

3. What strange food combination do you love?

I don't really have one not even when I was pregnant.

4. What is the one skill you don't have but would love to master?

Making cheese...I've made mozzarella once but need to do it again.

5. If you could create a new law what would it be?

I don't really know about this one.

6. If you could change the perspective for every person on the planet about one issue what would it be?

Mothers are not on holidays because they are at home...they work 24/7 for love, and not money.  Little kids do not raise themselves and nor should they have too.  The family unit is important more so now than ever before in this day and age of technology.

7.  If the shops closed tomorrow how long could you feed your family for?

A week to a week and a half I think.

8. What do you think the 3 biggest environmental issues are?

Climate change, waste and GMO crops.

9. Which famous people would you have over for dinner and why?

Obama and his wife Michelle, Matt & Lentil from Grown & Gathered blog in Victoria and Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban.  I think they all would be very interesting to get to know.

10.  What is your guilty food pleasure?

Chocolate

Flat Breads

I recently wrote about Rhonda's new book from Down to Earth Blog and couldn't wait to make the flat breads.  I ended up making them last week and they we so soft and fully and really nice that I will be making them again. They didn't take long to make and these will be a regular thing in our household.

I was nominated by Fiona at Life at Arbordale Farm for a Leibster Award this week and I am thinking about the answers and also new questions for other bloggers.  Stay tuned as I will be posting this in the next few days.  I have enjoyed reading Fiona's blog and whilst they have now moved from their farm they are working on their life plan to move to their farm in NZ later on in the year and also welcoming a much wished for baby into their lives...so excited for them.

Some Interesting Internet Reads

Here's a few things on the internet that might interest you.

I loved reading this story about how this family spends their money and sets their goals.  This series on how we spend money is other people sharing their budgets/expenses and living on Notes from the Frugal Trenches blog.

A new to me blog called Frugalwoods has an amazing story of a young couple who are dedicated to their goals and plans and save an amazing 70% of their income.  I read a lot of their stories and I love that they plan for themselves and live their own life.  They have now bought their dream property in Vermont and rented out their original home.  I'm sure you'll pick up a few tips reading their blog.

Wendy from My Abundant Life was on A Current Affair back in June 2014 when I wrote about it here.  She was on A Current Affair again tonight talking about home brand foods.  I do agree with home brand foods my only thoughts about it is it's the major supermarkets that are the winners in the profits but I know home brands are necessary as aside from people's mortgage payments food appears to be high on the list of monthly expenses.  Wendy writes about "bulk cooking" here.

I bought Lisa's book 100 Days of Real Food a while back and read it from cover to cover....this week I have picked it up again to read it from cover to cover again.  Her website is here.  I can't stress how much information is in this book about food labels about the misconception of grains etc. her website has a video tours of her pantry, fridge and freezer....you might think that sounds boring but I learnt a lot from watching all three particularly her freezer.  Her husbands family grew up with a cow, organic veggies and op shops so knew about real food.  She knew about (like most of us) healthy food, low fat etc. but when she looked into it she learnt a lot and wanted to share her information with people so they didn't have to start from scratch.  I highly recommend you buy this book or get if from the library.  The book has recipes and how to start in all areas of making changes.  They originally took a pledge to eat real food for 100 days but felt so much better, had more tasty food that they kept going. 

If you are looking for a financial year diary which is task based and to do list based Elise designed and created the "Get to Work Book".  I've been reading her blog for many years and her energy in achieving goals and getting things done is very inspiring.  She does do a calendar year diary as well but right now the financial year one is for sale.

Last week I participated in a photographic project called "Week in the Life" by US Memory Keeper Ali Edwards where you photograph your life for a 7 day period so sort of like a time capsule of your life at this moment.  That means the messy lounge room, the piles of washing, going grocery shopping, cooking dinner, putting the washing on the line, driving the kids to school.  Just imagine if you could look through a photo book of a 7 day period in your life when you were 10.  The car your family drove, the type of TV, breakfast cereals you etc. etc.  We have done this project for the past 7 years and I'm a little behind in getting these photos into photo books however I fully participate in the same week Ali does and lots of people around the world do as well.  This is my cover from my 2014 book which I just finished last month and got printed.

This weekend I'm making some homemade yoghurt for the kids using this recipe.

Baked Herb Potatoes from Andrea Decker look very tasty.  Andrea is an organized Mum to 3 little ones and I've been following her blog since before she had her first baby.

Reading this post from Jodi at Practising Simplicity it made me feel warm and fuzzy about quilts.  I was a quilter many years ago and having a hand made heirloom sounds really nice.  I did make the kids a quilt each a couple of years ago (oh how time flies).  This is Sienna receiving her quilt for her 8th Birthday. James loved it so much he wanted one too, so I made him one here.  Here's a post on making Sienna's.  One thing I did on the first quilt was just join the fabric together but on James I pinned the top and bottom strips and in between so they were all the same length and not stretched.

The kids requested Chicken and Leek pies for dinner when they each had a friend for a sleepover. The recipe is here and it's so delicious.  As we had left over mixture the next day I decided to make crepes for lunch and the kids loved them so much so that they requested the same for dinner so I had to make a new batch that night...totally worth it.  I bought this crepe maker from Kmart for $12 last year as an affordable holiday activity. 

With winter coming up warm breakfasts are great and this home made baked beans recipe is my family's favourite.

I'm so envious of Emma's beautiful crochet projects, she whips them up in a matter of no time.  I need to get my crochet blanket on the go....it's still sitting on the couch in the family room.  With the cooler weather it's a good time.

If you think that making from scratch is not worth it, take a look at the price per kgs of these pita chips in the supermaket which Cath wrote on her blog Debt Free Cashed up and Laughing.

I made the "Flat Bread" recipe which are delicious out of Rhonda's new book which I wrote about here.  Next I need to make the Harvest Turnovers as they look fantastic.

Around Here

Around here there has been football, home made food, crafts and cubby houses.

Home made pizza using this pizza base recipe.

Watching you tube videos in Sienna's cubby house made of sheets in her room.

AFL in full swing for the season.

These are the best home made fluffy soft bread rolls ever recipe here.

James at footy.

Polishing James school shoes....I remember as a kid we used to do this every Sunday night.

James and Sienna playing in the backyard.

Watching her brother at Tuesday night footy training.

Sienna's crafting activities currently making these little crochet bears.

Kids being silly in the backyard....love this pic.

James relaxing with his guitar.

Jumping on the trampoline having fun.

Doing some history homework with a clay pot.