Guys. GUISE.

[stoney321]

I have been baking bread almost every single day. Every baking is two loaves. This should tell you how much my family eats. I can now make sourdough bread in my sleep. SPEAKING OF, HOW IS EVERYONE'S STARTER DOING? Mine is so delicious smelling, I can't even. Mm, bread. I'm pretty sure that I could give that whole "man cannot live by bread alone" a run for its money.

WAIT THAT MEANS I FORGOT ABOUT WINE. And roasted chicken. And poblano peppers. And chips. And Texas Sheet Cake. Shoot.

I made two pounds of garlicky hummus last weekend (literally two pounds) and it's almost all gone. I have a sad. Except that just means that I'll have to make some more and it's a delicious smelling process, so yay! (Toasted sourdough bread with a big, thick schmear of hummus is my go-to snack. Mm, COME KISS ME WITH MY GARLIC SOUR BREATH *SMOOOOOOCH* Protip: get all the chickpea skins off before making hummus for super creamy deliciousness. Otherwise, it's a bit pasty. It doesn't change the TASTE, just the look.

I'm writing today. I want to finish this damn Sterek fic, but I'm not done torturing Stiles just yet. (IT ENDS HAPPILY BECAUSE I DON'T DO ANGST ENDINGS ANYMORE. Not since AtS...) Writing and me have been frenemies lately, so we're trying to work through our issues and be BFF again.

Hey guys, it's the weekend!

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I"m about ready to start keeping my starter in the fridge. This weekend's big adventure is Cinnamon Rolls from 'scrap'. I live alone, after all, but my folks and brother all live at the same address and they get a lot of my stuff. My problem is the darn crust. I haven't baked a loaf of bread yet that didn't have a HUGE, THICK crust. Inside, it's to die for.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

MMMM!! I love cinnamon rolls, and great minds think alike, because I'm planning on making some, too!

(You know, they freeze beautifully! After you make the roll and cut the individual rolls, freeze those before letting them rise. Then, you can pull out one or two in the morning to thaw and rise, then bake them off and have a roll for breakfast!)

Have you tried tossing a few ice cubes in the oven when you pop the loaves in? That steam helps the bread rise even more, giving you a thinner, crisper crust?

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

mmm...

My Dad loves cinnamon rolls and has been lobbying for me to make some. He just turned 87, I guess I can accede to those wishes.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes! What a good daughter you are. :)

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

thanks. I do try.

[mcjulie.livejournal.com]

I have started to suspect that I am allergic to wheat (I see an allergist on Tuesday), and am filled with angst at the thought of delicious bread.

But I swear to you this isn't over! I will find some flour that I can eat, and by all that is holy, I WILL MAKE PIZZA AGAIN!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

OH NO!! Allergic to wheat?! That is the saddest thing I have heard today, I'm so sorry!

I HOPE YOU HAVE PIZZA SOON!

[flaming-muse.livejournal.com]

OM NOM NOM NOM GARLICKY HUMMUS I WILL EAT SOME AND THEN KISS YOU OR NOT KISS YOU IF YOU'D PREFER WE CAN JUST BREATHE ON EACH OTHER I KNOW YOU DON'T SWING THAT WAY GIVE ME YOUR HUMMUS IS WHAT I'M SAYING.

Ahem.

I LOVE YOU.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I IDENTIFY AS A FOODIE SEXUALLY. BY WHICH I MEAN THAT I AM OKAY WITH ANYTHING INVOLVING FOOD.

...well maybe not ANYTHING, because squishing things between toes is disgusting, even if it was my homemade banana pudding. Especially if it were my homemade banana pudding.

I AM VERY HUNGRY RIGHT NOW. Also: I LOVE YOU, TOO.

[chemm80]

Sterek fic, but I'm not done torturing Stiles just yet. (IT ENDS HAPPILY BECAUSE I DON'T DO ANGST ENDINGS ANYMORE.

All these things sound AWESOME. As does bread. *nods*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

UGH THIS FIC. It is going to be a giant thing, apparently, because I don't know how not to write NOVELS. *head desk*

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

I swear, I am going to put up a magical doorway between our homes, because ALL THE BREAD! I hope it was eaten with reverence, or at least Homer Simpson glarghargh-ing-doughnut-appreciation type noises.

I have been afear-ed of starting a starter. What if it DOESN'T START?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I WOULD LOVE THAT, TOO, AND NOT ONLY FOR THE DELICIOUS TREATS YOU MAKE!!

Don't be afeard! Don't be skeert! If it doesn't start, you just give it a few extra days! You are only going to have the best of grains, so it will work, promise! This is going to kick your bread making to the nth level, promise!!

[ladycyndra.livejournal.com]

Have you thought about publishing a cook book? Every post you make about the food you cook...I WANNA LEARN YOUR WAYS!!!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

HAVE I THOUGHT ABOUT IT?!

Yes. Ahahaha, yep. Thinking somehow hasn't made it happen. ;D IF ANYONE WANTS TO PUBLISH MY COOK THOUGHTS, I would be all for it.

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

Damn, that sounds good even for breakfast.

How do you get the skins off?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Well, you either used canned chickpeas or after you cook the dried beans, rinse and scrub the skins off.

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

Ah, I always use canned, so I never have had to deal with them.

Happy Monday, lady. Hope your writing is going well. I'm having a blast with mine. <3

[firesprite1105.livejournal.com]

Your cooking entries make me SO HUNGRY, dammit! I am a horrible cook. Every now and then, I make one thing that turns out miraculously and then I can never replicate it, no matter how hard I try. The rest of the time my cooking just sucks and isn't worth all the extra dishes. It's too bad I enjoy eating so much. :P

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you need a live in cook! (If you figure out how to make that work, let me know so I can get one, too.)

:D

[statelessa.livejournal.com]

Bread... pretty much the one french thing I was missing when I was living in Northern America. I mean, you can email and skype with friends & family, but you can't skype a fresh out-of-the-oven crusty baguette, can you? So, yeah, right there with you on the bread wagon!

I'm writing today. I want to finish this damn Sterek fic,

*undignified sound of glee and impatience*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

BREAD. And yes, there is nothing like having your friends and family bake you their recipes right there for chomping. Mmmm, bread. With a knuckle of cheese and a glass of wine? THAT SOUNDS LIKE PERFECTION TO ME.

Oh, hooray for you wanting this fic! I've probably got another month of writing, honestly, because I can't write short fic anymore it seems. =/ WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

***waves white flag***

I had wonderful sourdough starter. I let it ferment for two weeks before I even attempted to make anything. I used the scrap for bread, but of course you add yeast to that. I made sourdough bread. I kneaded it, I stretched it, I threw ice cubes in the oven...I got two hockey pucks. Okay, thought I, the starter is maybe not old enough. Two more weeks. One week I made biscuits with the scrap - they were okay! Made with baking soda they rise. Then another experiment with bread. Two more hockey pucks. My sourdough doesn't rise except in the oven when it's baking. And then, well, rise is a rather generous term for what happens. So, last week. I decided to make cinnamon buns with the starter. Massive fail.

I've fed my starter and put it in the fridge, hoping that there will be a miracle and I will figure out what the heck I'm doing wrong.

And I don't expect you to solve my problems. I just was so excited by YOUR posts about sourdough and starter and all. Sigh.

My cousin and I share a grandmother who was the most wonderful pastry cook. Her pie crust was so light it nearly floated. She never made a bad pie/cake/whatever. She also made bread and she also made 'THE' potato salad for every town gathering ever. My cousin and I joke that we didn't get the potato salad gene. I got the bread gene, I made GREAT bread. But apparently I didn't get the sourdough gene.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

*hugs you*

When you add flour and water to your starter, does it bubble up? If it's not bubbling up, then it's not any good. :( TRY THIS: Divide whatever starter you have in half - put one half in a new, clean mason jar and toss/utilize the rest. Add 1/4 tsp of apple cider vinegar to your starter in the new, clean jar. Let that sit for 12 hours. Then mix in 1 TBSP of AP flour. Check back after a few hours. Do you see little bubbles? Is it doubling in size?

If it isn't, then the starter just didn't catch enough yeast in the beginning. THAT HAPPENS. IT IS NOT INDICATIVE OF YOUR BREAD GENE/SOURDOUGH GENE.

*hugs you* I'm sorry. I can imagine how frustrated you are. Nothing frustrates me quite like food not working out. :(

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

it bubbled. It doubled. Every time I fed it. And it smelled sour, too.

But I will try this. I HATE to admit defeat when it comes to matters of cooking.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Are you giving it enough time to rise after making the sponge? It was taking almost 24 hours to double in size for me until recently.

IF YOU WANT (and feel free to ignore if this is going to make you upset) HERE IS MY CURRENT DAILY SOURDOUGH BREAD RECIPE:

Scoop out 1/4 C starter, toss. Add 1 C AP flour and 3/4 C filtered water. Stir, let sit on the counter until I'm ready to make the sponge after it's begun to bubble.

SPONGE: 1 C starter, 4 C bread flour, 1/2 C milk, 1 1/2 C warm water. (You could omit the milk and make it all water if you prefer.) Mix - adjust water if it's not goopy. <-- actual technical term. ;) Put in a marked container - typically it's 1qt when mixed, so I wait for it to rise to 2qts. Slow rise in fridge takes me 6 - 24 hrs.

Add to this 3 TBSP sugar, 2 tsp salt and 1 C flour. (I just mix it in the rising bowl.) Turn out onto floured counter and begin to knead, adding more flour as needed to get it springy and tacky to the touch instead of sticky. Let rest for 10 min. Cut in half, roll out with pin and form two loaves, put in greased pans to rise. This is anywhere from 4 - 8 hours. Bake at 425F with 2 ice cubes tossed in for 20 - 23 minutes.

Make sure you're not adding salt until the last step - salt will kill the yeast, I do know that.

UGH, GOOD LUCK. *shoulder squeeze*

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

I will try this. Of course the problem is I ONLY have Saturdays to bake. I"m beginning to rethink this - maybe I really don't have time for a 24 hour rise....

I appreciate your help, very much. I just want it to work ONE TIME.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Friday afternoon, do the starter. Before you go to bed, mix the sponge. You'll wake up Saturday ready to form your loaves!

<3 <3 I really, really hope it works out for you. FOREHEAD SMOOCH.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Egad, life bit me on the butt. Kitty has to have a tooth pulled, etc etc so I'll try to do this on the coming weekend. Thanks for being there for me.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor kitty!! Good luck with everything!!