First of all... what is with this Montreal weather?? Yesterday it was drizzly and quite comfortable temperature wise. The day before it snowed and rained (and I think there might have been a bit of hail knocking against my window in the morning). Then we get to today and it's BLIZZARDING! Okay... so maybe it's not a blizzard outside as that would require gale force winds in addition to all this snow (when I think blizzard I think Jon Krakauer's 'Into Thin Ar' and the intense conditions on Mt. Everest... this weather is most definitely nowhere near that). There is a lot of snow coming down though which has me wondering if I dare venture outside for fear of turning into a snowman as I walk down St. Catherine. It's pretty cool to watch out my big windows, though. There actually seems to be little to no wind at all sometimes, which means I get to view these large tufts of snow drifting straight down in front of me. Other times it looks as if the snow isn't falling at all, but rather suspended in air, dancing around each other. It's actually quite mesmerizing.
***Shakes self back to reality***
Right... onto to our fermenting buddies...
The morning of Day 3 has arrived and I'm a little worried for the health of my starter. Is this the first sign of disaster? I sure do hope not. There's clearly fermenting going on... but there's also a bit of discoloration and this peculiar line of separation at the bottom. :/ Still going off the idea from 'What the #$*! Do We Know?', I'm trying to send it all my good vibes and lovin' (maybe a sticky note of love would do it some good?). I really do believe in the power of words and good thoughts to change the outcome of an event. On that note... I also talk to my little yeasty friends. :) Telling them to grow, feed, and be good... just do their thing and live. That might sound silly, but all the great gardeners talk to their crops, don't they? Encouraging them to grow, maybe even playing them music. (The show 'Mythbusters' on one of the greatest networks, The Discovery Channel, did an experiment with the power of music on plants... but, alas, I forget what the outcome was. For my purposes, I'm going to assume that some pleasant music did them well.) After all, the yeast emerging from the flour is a living creature and all living creatures need love and nurturing.
That's better... no more examining that unsightly segregation going on in the previous picture. Look at those bubbles, baby. Today, the starter is even more thinned out than it was yesterday and you can kind of see it's a bit darker. Not quite as many voluptuous bubbles today... it looks more foamy that bubbly. The scent (dare I say perfume?) seems to have intensified over night as well.
I still have about four hours left until the next feeding and at that time I'll stir it all up (of course) and incorporate the separated bits. I'm afraid to do so now as I know for packaged yeast, mixing too much damages the product. So I'll just wait... and hope for the best.
Dear Abigail; What a joy to read your blogs about food, bread, life. Last summer I was enjoying myself by baking sourdough bread. As you know, there are many ways to skin a cat. My s.d. was started with water, grated apple and flour.
ReplyDeleteInstead of having a pizza stone, the recommendation was to put the sheet in the oven 10 minutes in advance of baking, and let the bread rise on something else. That was when I missed having a basket where the dough could ride to appropriate proportions, before carefully dumping it on the hot sheet.
Anyhow, reading your recipes and your comments, makes me hungry and inspired. I am not quite clear about what your major is?
Is it food related? Is it about writing?
If you were a food journalist, I would make a point to read your daily message. Also to try a lot of it.
I am experiencing you as so alive and joyful in your food blog, that it is hard for me to anticipating you doing anything else.
At the same time I know that smart creative people can thrive in many other professions. Like my grandson Philip says: "But grandma, I have to do what my heart is burning for" . He is also so smart.
Hugs to you, Abigail, and all power to you,
Birgitta