A rare moment of morning sunlight… I am longing for Spring, aren't you? Or do you live somewhere where it's already been sunny and warm?
I have lots of links for you today! Be sure to click on them, because you won't want to miss all my recommendations for your reading!
So let's do a quick —
Bread Corner
If you implement my tips one at a time, you'll be able to see improvement in your bread and understand a bit more about why these things help. If you click on the “sourdough tips” tag, it will take you to the posts.
I'm going in order of making the dough. Don't be impatient! Little by little…
But I may circle back and go over previous steps…
But for now:
Try adding a bit of diastatic malt powder (I usually add 1 tablespoon for a batch of dough yielding 4 loaves as you see here) and barley malt syrup (1 tablespoon also).
(A bit the worse for wear at this point! You can buy them here)
Add a small portion of “scalded flour” or leftover porridge or cooked oats to your dough. Often I put 1/4 cup or so of semolina in a bowl and pour boiling water over it, whisking as I pour to avoid lumps.
Shortly thereafter, you can add some of your recipe's cold liquid to that bowl, whisk, and add to your dough. A lot of the recipes that use this method have you wait until it cools, but that's not necessary if you do it this way.
A small amount of dried milk powder whisked in at this point also makes the loaf's crumb light and fluffy, but of course, then you have gone beyond the “flour, water, salt” formula for sourdough. Which is fine.
Here I made two sourdough loaves of the usual boule shape, and also made two sandwich loaves, just to have tucked in my freezer.
I don't have a picture of the crumb of this bake, but it was among the best — I was so happy, because good bread is a delight and it gives great satisfaction to know how to make it!
Knitting Corner
I am attempting my first stranded work, a pair of Selbu Norwegian mittens.
The learning curve is steep!
But I erred in that I carefully made a swatch but forgot that when I am using two different yarns, intertwined this way, the fabric will have a smaller gauge.
So these mittens are… small. I contemplated ripping them back and starting again, but I couldn't bear it, so some little granddaughter is getting a fancy pair of mittens!
Okay, on to our links! Be sure to click them — they are so interesting this week!
bits & pieces
- Going to church with little children — there are some things that are harder, but not many…
- Anyone who knows Auntie Leila knows I hate LEDs in living spaces. This article tells why they are so bad (for one thing, who even knows how much light you are getting; for another, they suddenly work, but not at all well, and it's impossible to tell when that will happen or even necessarily notice, except that your life is getting really dreary and people are depressed as soon as they walk in your house, but it's fine, the government will take care of you) (I don't agree with one assumption in the article, that the fact that incandescents' energy in large part goes to heat is a terrible waste or pointless. It's just how they work, and for most of the year, their heat, little as it is, is offsetting the heat needed otherwise, so it's a wash, and on hot days we don't turn our lights on anyway. Your oven “wastes” a lot of heat too, but I don't think any of us are going to start making all our bread in the microwave or using the slow cooker exclusively! Our life would be so poor, bleak, and dreary!)
- I thought this essay was incredibly insightful. Sometimes an author just cuts to the heart of things….
from the archives
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My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available now from Sophia Press! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing!
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Julie Zilkie says
I would love to know where you buy your incandescent bulbs? I am having a hard time finding them locally. Also, at what stage do you add your malt powder and syrup? And does this help with the crumb? Thank you!!
Leila says
I find them here and there. Sometimes they are low down at Home Depot etc. We have a store here in NE called Ocean State Job Lot — I found a great sale on them there. I have found packages at rummage sales! I have also ordered online, but not recently, so you’d have to check. Try 1000bulbs.com
I add the malt powder and syrup as I’m mixing the dough. The former helps with gluten formation, which yields a better crumb, and the latter helps with browning — I think of it as letting the flavor of the flour “bloom” by assisting with the overall caramelization of the dough.
Claire says
Just thought you would like to know that every link I went to took me to other sites about dogs, cats, corn cob pipes, etc. I don’t know if this is a problem on your end or mine. I have not had trouble with other links at other websites today. Wish I could go to the sites your mention. Have a great day. Claire in Virginia
Leila says
Check the date of the post 😉
Leah says
Thank you for the laugh!
Mignon says
Great links! 🙂
I actually found the one real article about the lightbulbs and echo your sentiments. I hate the LED’s too, but the unelected tyrants have decreed the end of the incandescent. I may just have to shift to kerosene….
Cirelo says
I’m embarrassed that I enjoyed the cat memes as much as I did!
Leila says
Cat memes are simply the best!
Dixie says
I spent 15 minutes on that site after clicking…
Christine K. says
So funny! I loved all the links, especially the article about taking little kids to Mass. I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face. It also read a little too true to life after Palm Sunday…
Olivia says
The children in Mass article was hilarious! When he said that behaviour is graded on a curve, that was so accurate! I also find that my children behave when they have other antics to watch as entertainment. When they are the only children they feel they must carry the “show” themselves.
Sarah says
I agree! The kids in Mass article made my day. We’ve definitely been there. My favorite was the Sunday I sang a solo in the balcony with all four with me, when my three year old decided to start tipping music stands…. Now we get compliments on the boys behavior, and I can’t help laughing. We have plenty of gaffs, but I’m grateful for any encouragement!
I think the fact that I have them all suited up in church clothes makes them more appealing. We have “uniforms” for each event that requires more then scrubby play clothes. Khakis, blue button down, cream sweater all thrifted. They get marched into these right before church and then must take them off before eating or playing when we get home. I love having absolutely no discussion about what to wear for church:). But I don’t have any girls! Maybe it only works with boys who don’t care.
I read all the old April Fools posts again for fun. Thanks so much for the laugh!
Ashley says
I always love seeing how your sourdough baking is going (any baking or cooking, really). I got a mill for my birthday, so I’ve been experimenting with using home milled flour. It doesn’t behave quite the same as whole grain flour from the mill since it’s courser, but we like rustic. 🙂 I plan to try sifting it for our Holy Thursday pita bread, so we’ll see how that goes.
I’m excited to see how your starts do and I’ll be curious if you notice a difference versus last year. Last year was our first year doing starts and they were puny. This year we got new bulbs and a germination mat, and they are already bigger than last year’s! It’s amazing.
Like another commenter, I enjoyed the article on taking kids to Mass, especially after a three hour long Palm Sunday Mass. Our young, very enthusiastic assistant priest is encouraging people to go to both the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Mass. As much as I love the idea of it, I just can’t. Maybe one day. We’ll be sticking with taking them to the Vigil which is long but such a beautiful end to Lent.