Small Things 1-25-12
1. Henry (And I!) slept All. Night. Long.
2. I put him down for his nap while he was still awake and he only cried for about 30 seconds.
3. We went running around outside in the melty snow and there were no tears (kid’s developing quite a snow-phobia that I’m trying to ease by lots of mini “fun” expeditions into the slushy backyard. Since going outside mandates the wearing of The Hat, he’s a happy boy up to the moment he falls and his hands land in cold wet stuff. Now if I can only get him to understand that The Mittens are even more wonderful than The Hat, we’ll be all set.
4. My handmade proofing box for sourdough is working beautifully & I have a deliciously sour smelling batch of starter bubbling away in it. Another 24 hours or so and I’ll be ready to start trying bread recipes. Sourdough is really one of the coolest things ever, and I’d never realized how different breads made from different starters can taste. I went way out of my way to find & buy a San Francisco sourdough starter, because that is the sourdough from my childhood. My dad used to take business trips to SF when I was a kid, and he’d bring back baguettes of sourdough that rocked my bread-lovin’ world. And all sourdough since then? Not. The. Same. So, with the magical SF yeast burbling away in my dining room, I’m hoping to recreate that little bit of bready perfection here in New Hampshire. We’ll see how close I can get!
5. Planning a trip to see my folks, which is stressful because of all the shit that traveling entails (kennel, rental car, hotel, flights, etc.) but delightful because I’m so looking forward to seeing them & my brother’s family for a few days. So excited!
another sourdough enthusiast here…how did you make the proofing box? Sounds like something I need to do asap!
Hope your starter makes some great bread for you!
Susan Reply:
January 25th, 2012 at 7:56 pm
My proofing box is just a styrofoam cooler with a lamp inside and a thermometer. I adjust the temperature by opening the lid a little more or a little less. Very low tech but it works!
San Francisco sourdough gets its unique taste from the climate. It is impossible to duplicate anywhere else outside of the city.
Susan Reply:
January 26th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Actually, sourdough starters are available from all around the world. Every region’s sourdough is certainly affected by the local climate, the water, the local flour, etc., but SF’s strong sour flavor is very much a result of the yeast originally ‘captured’ in SF. Bread made from sourdough cultures from, say, Poland will produce a much different tasting bread than from cultures brought in from other places. The trick is not letting local yeasts colonize the starter, which is why the proofing box–different cultures do best at different temps, and this culture is stronger than most local ones at about 90* (which also assists in the slow sour taste.) And while my sourdough will be different than ‘true’ SF sourdough, it’ll likely be closer in taste than anything I buy locally, or with a local sourdough sponge. I’ll let you know how it turns out!