Hi friends,

I don't normally post on a weekend, but Monday will be a hard day for me. I have the last of my dental surgeries on Monday morning (say a prayer for me, please). I dropped off my consent papers yesterday. I'll be sedated, but awake enough to answer questions or respond to the doctor as needed. I hate sedation of any kind, it makes me feel out of my head, and I really, really don't like that feeling. I'm also scared of the after pain. I think I'm just worn out by pain in general. The anxiety this week has been eating me alive. It will be good to have this behind me.

I won't be posting Monday afternoon, as would be my normal routine. But I hope to get back to posting sometime in the week, at the very least to let you all know I'm doing fine. I also want to respond to your comments from this past week. I haven't forgotten, just been sidetracked.

One of my daughters got suddenly very sick this week. She'd been substitute teaching for 3 weeks, then just woke up so very sick the other morning. It's not Covid, but she was quite sick. She's improving now, thankfully. But it's been a rough few days. On top of caring for her, I've had to be extra careful myself not to catch anything, as that would have postponed my surgery by another month. Too much anxiety right now. Things will improve later in the week, I am confident of that.

Anyway, I hope your weekend has been beautiful and wish you a wonderful start to the week!

Be back very soon,

Lili

Finding a Work-Around For My "Lazy" Sourdough Starter

I've been working on my sourdough starter for the past month. It had been sitting in the fridge for a couple of years untouched. When I pulled it out of the fridge, it took several attempts to get a good rise on a loaf of bread. 

Our house is so chilly in winter that the starter just could not get itself revved up. Perhaps a little mid-winter laziness is affecting the starter.  

Finally, about a little over a week ago, I stumbled upon something that helped boost my dough's rising ability. I doubled the amount of starter I used in each batch of bread. To do so, I also had to reduce the water called for in the recipe. The bonus is by using so much starter in each loaf, I didn't have discard starter to try and use up.

My starter is still not what I'd call robust. It doesn't overflow the jar after feedings. It just bubbles.  That could be due to room temperature this time of year in our house. But I did find a way to make it work.

I had to get the starter back in good shape so I could store it in the fridge again for a couple of weeks. This coming Monday I have the last of my dental procedures. I may or may not remember to feed a starter for a couple of days. 

This is the same starter I made in 2020 when I ran out of yeast. It takes some work to get a starter going from scratch (just flour and water). I wanted to keep this one alive for future batches. So I wanted it back in the fridge where it can remain dormant and not need feeding.

It never ceases to amaze me how sourdough bread can rise without added yeast. They are simply a combination of starter, water, flour, salt, and sugar -- nothing else.

For the next couple of weeks, we'll eat yeasted bread. I can make 3 loaves at a time, and it's softer and easier for me to chew while my mouth heals.