Saturday, May 13, 2006

Trying this again.....


Well, been inspired to try again, but I'm not promising anything. I'll try to make this blog less about rants, and maybe more about what I do with my life. LOL

So, this is what I did today. Two loaves of Sourdough bread that actually turned out bread-like, instead of brick-like. Unfortunately it seems that the sourdough is mostly for flavor, not so much for leavening, which kinda leaves me scratching my head and wondering how the origional "sourdoughs" did it. I mean, my sourdough makes a mean navajo fry bread, some yummy rolls, but bricks for loaves. To get actual edible loaves of bread I've still got to use regular old yeast. *sigh* But at least the bread tastes yummy. Scott's already sliced off a chunk an inch thick, and I'm realizing that this probably won't last the week. LOL

Besides that, just been washing laundry, trying to catch up, and wishing our back yard was something other than dirt hole, so I could hang laundry out to dry, instead of running the drier constantly. But, thanks to my up-coming surgery this summer, it looks like improving the back yard will probably have to wait till next summer (or the next one, or maybe the one after that). Heck, for all the work we did getting our front yard established, then it was torn out for the road & plumbing upgrades last summer, it's completely brown & dead so far this year. May 13th, and you'd think we'd have some green grass showing, but nope..... Not a blade to be found. It's all brown. If it doesn't come up, though, we get to have it hydroseeded by the city, due to their agreement last summer that all yards would be returned to at least their pre-existing condition. That means green & verdant!!!! Which we are not, right now. So, I don't know if I should keep my fingers crossed for the current lawn to come up, or for it to shrivel & die so we get it hydroseeded for free. Kinda leaning toward the current lawn coming up, though, because re-seeding it would mean keeping completely off of it for a couple of months. And that's just sucky, to have to stay off of our own yard.

So, next maybe I'll have to take some pics of the net bags I've made myself for grocery shopping. But, that's another post for another day. I'll sign off for now.

Have a blessed day!

2 comments:

Kati said...

Not sure why the bread says Oct of 2002 (or whatever the exact date is, that's shown). I really did make these loaves today. Wierd.

Kati said...

LOL The recipe said 40 minutes @ 400. Took 30 minutes to get them done, and a little darker on top than I'd like. Plus some melted butter over the top to REALLY darken it. Yummy, though. Doesn't taste BURNT, just a bit over done on top, but the inside is good. The first loaf is darn-near gone.

You have GOT to try making bread without a bread machine, sometime. Nothing like working out your tensions while kneading the dough, or punching it down (after that first rising) and picturing the fact of someone, or something, you're upset about. LOL

Start with some FRESH yeast (and if you buy it but don't use it right away, pop it into the fridge, but then, you probably know that since you DO use a bread machine). Proof it before you mix in the flour, so if it's not fresh & doesn't rise, you won't have wasted your flour & other ingredients, just some water & some yeast. Do be sure that it's as un-drafty as possible in the house (or, at least the room) where your bread is rising. Then again, your warm breezes may help, not hinder. And always make sure that when you cover the dough for rising, you use a damp (thoroughly soaked & wrung out) dish-cloth.

As for taking some of that dirt off your hands.... We'll pass. You know how dusty it can be living around here, like I need any more of yours. LOL Scott said there is grass coming up in the hydroseeded part, but I can't tell yet. We've been watering well, the last two evenings & I do finally see some grass peeking up at the lawn edges, along the driveway and such.

TTYL. --Kati