Postage PSA

Just a friendly reminder that first class postage will increase from 42 cents to 44 cents (one ounce) here in the good old US of A effective May 11, 2009. Here are the specifics.

In the meantime? Go buy some Forever Stamps at the current rate and save yourself a little green. A little here and a little there . . . it all adds up!




Photo courtesy of www.usps.com

Wordless Wednesday - Not So Early Bird

For more wordlessness, go here and here.

Follow Your Instincts

Yes, I'm writing two posts at the same time. But I was afraid the other one was getting much too long and for those who don't really care to know how I botched up the sourdough bread, I spared them the trouble of clicking away before the story was done.

If you missed the first part of this story, go here and catch up. Then come back. Or if you only care about the botching portion, stay right here in the first place.

I mentioned in my previous post that as you become accustomed to baking bread, you'll know how your dough should feel; whether you should add a little more flour, or not. So I was making my bread dough and it sure was sticky. I kept looking at my recipe, which says, "w/b a bit sticky." Mine seemed more than a bit sticky. But I've also baked my share of uber-dry and crumbly bread. So I erred on the stickier side.

Should not look like this when you've added the appropriate amount of flour


I went ahead and attempted to form it into a round-ish shape. It was rather bumpy because it was . . . too sticky. So be it. It won't be a beautiful loaf of bread, but I'm sure it'll taste good. I assumed it was turning out funky, bumpy, and un-roundish since I was photographing it for my blog. I am clearly not Barb or Pioneer Woman or even Carrie. But that's okay. I was happy to share my less-than-stellar looking loaf of sourdough with the breadophiles of the blogosphere.

I checked on it around 30 minutes. Definitely not done. No worries, stuck it back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so. The top appeared done, but I just had this bad feeling. The one that said, "You should've listened to your instincts about that too sticky dough and put in more flour." So I carefully cut into the loaf to check the center. Sure enough, it wasn't done. Popped it back into the Pyrex bowl and covered it with foil so the top wouldn't brown any further. Sourdough is NOT supposed to be brown, btw.

Cut in on the bottom to check how undone it might be


Baked it another eight minutes or so. Cut a little further in and it was a bit too doughy. Sigh. Baked it another eight minutes. At this point, it's pretty much do or die. Either it's done and we'll enjoy the entire loaf. Or the perimeter is done and some portion in the center is too doughy to eat and will end up (sadly) in the trash.

Look closely towards the top portion. It's doughy. Not as much as I thought might happen. But still. On a happy note, we'll be able to toast it and still eat almost all of the loaf.


Of course, as I typed up the previous post, I discovered something. There was a second cup of flour that was added after the sponge was bubbly and happy. I missed that during the actual preparing of the dough. I never used to miss that. Because I made this bread quite often. However, not having made it for so long, that little tidbit slipped my mind, and apparently remained unseen from my eyes on the piece of purple paper containing the recipe.

Oh, and that uber-sharp, double-edged razor blade? I didn't pull mine out. I used a Pampered Chef Santoku knife. Big mistake. It didn't slide the dough (which was too soft anyway, from a lack of flour), it just drug lines in it without actually slicing it. So guess where the gases escaped? Right out that big old burst in the side. Bah.

Looks like an angry clam monster or something


The moral of this story? We'll enjoy some portion of the perimeter of this loaf. I will be obsessed with making another loaf. A better loaf. A thoroughly done loaf. And I may even have to blog about it. Or at the very least, show photos so that you know that I really can make a nice loaf of sourdough. In the meantime, may this encourage you. In some way. Some form. Something. Or maybe you'll just laugh. And that's okay, too. Because you know what the Carrie says about laughter . . . it's the social glue."

Sweet Sourdough

I just love bread. Many different types of bread. But one that is near and dear to my heart (and sometimes my mouth) is sourdough. It's in my blood, you know. My mom being a sourdough baker and her father before her. One day I shall pass it along to my own offspring.

That's why the idea of Bread Week appealed so much to me. So I created it, thanks to Susan, who planted the idea in my head.

Side Note: I will offer my photos here, however, it's a faulty loaf of bread. I didn't follow my own advice, and had some issues. I'll share those later. Just know that yours will probably look much more smooth and lovely than mine.

My sponge took off quite well yesterday, once I obtained some fresh starter. Sorry, Susan, I don't know how to start a starter from nothing. I just get it from someone else - typically my mom. If you really don't know anyone at all from whom you can get starter, you can order it from King Arthur Flour. My sister has some from them and she really likes it.

My starter is a milk-based starter. There are also those that use water. It's just a personal choice.

To make sponge:
1 cup starter
1 1/2 cups warm, not hot, water
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
4 cups flour

Mix it up in a glass, plastic, or stoneware bowl (no metal), cover it with plastic wrap and let it set 18-24 hours. If it's warm where you leave it, it'll happen quicker. If it's cold, the opposite. You should get a very active, bubbly sponge. When first mixed, it will be fairly thick, but that's fine. Also if your bowl is not real big, and there's a chance the sponge could run into the plastic wrap, spray it with oil first.

Happy, bubbly sponge


The next day, after it's become all bubbly and happy, add 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp baking soda. I use my awesome dough hook for this part. Then knead in anywhere up to another cup of flour. Use your hands. They will feel silky soft afterward. Really. The dough will still be a bit sticky, which is fine. That's what you want.

My beautiful dough hook


Side note: bread making is not an exact science. There are too many individual influences, such as temperature, humidity, and altitude. The more you bake bread, the more you'll get to the place of knowing how your dough should feel. Sometimes, when it's very dry (like in Colorado), you'll need a little less flour. And vice versa.

At this point, you'll need to put your dough into some sort of pan, bowl, etc. I bake mine in a 2-quart round Pyrex bowl. Greased first, of course. You could just make it a big blob and bake it on a stone. You can also get those nifty little couches, bagette pans, etc. Yes, King Arthur carries those as well. No, they're not paying me. They don't even know I'm writing about them. But my mom, sister, friends, and I all get things from them. We love them. A lot.

Anyway, back to your bread recipe in progress.

You can pretty much make this in whatever shape floats your boat. I happen to like the round Pyrex bowl shape. Once placed in its container of choice, cover with greased/sprayed plastic wrap and let it rise for a couple of hours. Or so. This stuff is so flexible. As long as it's not too warm and doesn't rise right up over the sides of the container and fall down the edges. Then you left it for much too long. And that's not good.

Yes, mine is all lumpy and less-than-lovely. There's a valid explanation for this. In another post. You can read about it here.


Now, before you pop that baby in the oven, take a very fine and sharp item, such as a razor blade. No, not the Mach 3 or 4 or 20 that your husband has in the shower. A good old-fashioned, super ultra sharp, double-edged razor blade. I keep mine in a special index card all folded into an envelope and taped closed in my cupboard. Out of reach of children and teenage boys. Take the blade and ever so gently make 3-4 thin cuts along the top of your loaf. If you skip this step, your loaf will likely burst on the side, and no longer be a lovely round (or whatever) shape any more. There are some sort of gases that just need to be released in the baking process. And they'll get out one way or the other.

Preheat your oven to 375. You could obviously do this a little sooner than here and now. Or you could be like me and wait until now. That's okay, too. Bake for about 40-45 minutes, depending upon size and shape. Like if you made two small loaves, you may want to check them at 30-35 minutes. And so on.



In order to determine doneness, I typically look at the bottom of the loaf. It's a pretty good determiner of how done (or not) my bread is (or isn't). Then if I think it's done, I slip it out of the Pyrex bowl (using mitts) and turn it over to take a closer look. You should be able to tap on it and get kind of a drum-type sound.

Now you can let it cool. Only enough to be able to cut it without burning yourself. Because hot, fresh sourdough bread with melted butter on it? There's nothing like it. So go forth, bake bread, and eateth it with delicious melty butter. Or maybe honey.



I know, I know, this is getting terribly long. If you're satisfied you know enough about sourdough now, feel free to go leave me a comment or click away to some other part of the blogosphere. If you want to find out what I did to botch my bread, click here as I've put that part of the story in another post.

Oh, a little linky love here. While I'm far below the radar of Pioneer Woman, I did find that she's been playing along with Bread Week, unbeknownst to her. And me. So check out her awesome bread-type posts. They're fab, of course.

PW's pretzels
PW's bagels

Bread Week - Update

My personal Bread Week didn't pan out quite so well (nice pun, don't you think?). That lovely starter that I shared in my post earlier this week was pretty much deceased. I tried for days to resuscitate it, dumping some out, adding milk and flour, but it never really came to. Midway through the week, my mom was kind enough to share some of hers. Now I have some happy, active starter, so today I finally got a nice bowl of sponge happening. Tomorrow it will be a beautiful loaf of homemade sourdough bread. I'll be sure to take some photos to post.

In the meantime, please click on the links in the original post for some fabulous bread recipes, photos, and tutorials (okay, I said click the original links and now I provided them here):

Beth at From the Stovetop shares a delicious-looking Basic Bread recipe. If you live at a high altitude, you'll definitely want to check this out - she's baking at 8,000+ feet. But she clearly indicates what adjustments are made for high altitude, so you can still use her recipe anywhere else. Also, if you have a bread machine you'd like to put to good use, she makes good use of it for the first part of the process.

Susan at Scraps of Life (who kindly got me heading down this path in the first place), provides not just one post, but two. Go here for her Super Yummy Cinnamon Rolls (I can almost taste that cinnamon-sugar goodness) and here for her beautiful herbed focaccia bread. Looks like the perfect accompaniment to some homemade spaghetti.

Donna at Way More Homemade offers up her sourdough recipe which looks incredibly good. Hers appears to be a much crisper, crustier bread than mine. I love the variety in sourdough. Her bread is stunning. It looks like what you would buy in a bakery. But don't let that intimidate you. Just like the rest, she has clear instructions.

Kristin at We are That Family shares not only the successful side of break baking, but also the pitfalls that sometimes happen. But you know what I love about her post? They found good in an even a less-than-perfect loaf of bread. Not only that, but her husband jumped on board the challenge of baking good bread. And he succeeded. But not without a little, um, damage. The final product, though? Beautiful!! And now, according to Kristen, they're bread making machines at their house.

Connie at Six in the Northwest shares a famous no-knead crusty bread. This one looks as tasty as any artisan bread you'll find at your local bakery. It also has its own special oven within an oven which promotes that lovely crust.

It's not too late to join in. Feel free to share your bread baking experiences with us. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Or at least come back later Sunday for my sourdough bread. In the meantime, go leave some comment love for the above ladies.