Back in the day after I divorced my first wife, I bought a bread machine. They were pretty popular and fairly new back then and being newly single, I figured I could use some enjoyment in my life. I found the smell of fresh-baked bread therapeutic and gorged myself on the stuff until work found overtook my life. Like so many people, I put it in the closet to collect dust.
When I got remarried, my new wife brought a bread machine to the marriage. I don't even remember if we used them much all the years we had them, but we finally gave them to Goodwill because they took up much-needed space.
About a year and a half ago, I got the bug to get a bread machine again. Despite the fact both my wife and I eschewed unnecessary carbs, we still bought bread at the store, so I figured I might as well make it for us.
I loved the thing from the very first use and have consistently made bread every time I was close to running out, only taking a break when we went out of town for two months last year. I have my own recipe--a mix of wheat, all-purpose, and bread flours and a couple of scoops of fiber powder for the added roughage, as it were.
Even though I'm not a baker (despite my love of cooking), I used the bread machine to bakes cakes a few times, too, but bread is my jam (no pun intended).
As it turns out, though, my wife doesn't like any other bread than sourdough, even if it's homemade. For a while, I considered buying a starter, but I didn't want to commit to the weekly feedings because if we went out of town, it would go dormant (perhaps for good) while I was gone.
Since we're in a stay-at-home mode right now, I decided it would be a good time to begin my own starter. My handy-dandy recipe book had a simple starter recipe, so I used that. Today was day 2 of the project. I have to feed it for a total of 5 days and then once a week.
I'll use this space to report on my first loaf with my starter.
Yours in yeast,
Michael
When I got remarried, my new wife brought a bread machine to the marriage. I don't even remember if we used them much all the years we had them, but we finally gave them to Goodwill because they took up much-needed space.
About a year and a half ago, I got the bug to get a bread machine again. Despite the fact both my wife and I eschewed unnecessary carbs, we still bought bread at the store, so I figured I might as well make it for us.
I loved the thing from the very first use and have consistently made bread every time I was close to running out, only taking a break when we went out of town for two months last year. I have my own recipe--a mix of wheat, all-purpose, and bread flours and a couple of scoops of fiber powder for the added roughage, as it were.
Even though I'm not a baker (despite my love of cooking), I used the bread machine to bakes cakes a few times, too, but bread is my jam (no pun intended).
As it turns out, though, my wife doesn't like any other bread than sourdough, even if it's homemade. For a while, I considered buying a starter, but I didn't want to commit to the weekly feedings because if we went out of town, it would go dormant (perhaps for good) while I was gone.
Since we're in a stay-at-home mode right now, I decided it would be a good time to begin my own starter. My handy-dandy recipe book had a simple starter recipe, so I used that. Today was day 2 of the project. I have to feed it for a total of 5 days and then once a week.
I'll use this space to report on my first loaf with my starter.
Yours in yeast,
Michael
