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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Meet Bertha

She's my spanking new sourdough starter. Here is her 2 day old picture.

You must excuse her because, um, she's a little gassy. Tomorrow, she'll be mature enough to raise her very own loaf of bread. Sniff, they grow up so fast!

I've been kick started into making my own bread again, partially because I am unwilling to pay over $5 a loaf for the breads I love, and although I do adore Italian rustic loaves that I can whip up in less than a day, my heart belongs to French levains. Levains have so much more flavor, so I decided to get back into sourdough mode. Please, don't ask what happened to my previous starter, Martha. We don't speak of her anymore.

Last night, I was craving bread but Bertha was not ready. Pitas to the rescue! What else to eat with babaganoush? (Sorry, guys!) It was my first time making pita bread, and it was relatively quick and easy compared to most yeasted breads. As you can see, though, I need practice on rolling things into round shapes.

I also need to pay attention more and not go running for the camera when one of my pitas successfully puffs. Doing so results in boob shaped pitas. I presented this one to the boy.


They were so, so good. I'll be making them again! I also want to try making Indian flatbreads because the instant gratification is bliss.

9 comments:

  1. Woo-hoo! Welcome to the wonderful world of bread making--I don't care what anyone says--homemade breads are vastly superior to even, well, yes, even Acme (and I love Acme breads! I do, I do!) but homemade's better.

    Good luck with Bertha!

    Sigh. I had a sourdough starter once, but we had to change his name to "Nasty." It didn't go well. We're still recovering. It was a difficult relationship. But Bertha looks like a swell starter! (Get it? "Swell?!")

    Let us know how she does!

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  2. HI, BERTHA!!!

    I looooove homemade bread. Or, at least I did....in another life!

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  3. hungry, oh so hungry

    is it lunch time yet?

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  4. I was making sourdough starter last week, left it out on the counter overnight according to the directions. Woke up the next morning- sticky, yeasty, smelly mess was all over my counters.

    I had put it in a ziplock bag. I guess it got a little too gassy and exploded.

    Countless clean-ups later and my counter is still sticky. Maybe once I finally get my kitchen clean I'll try again, this time in a jar.

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  5. The pitas look so tasty! I love pita bread but have never made my own. Can I ask what recipe you use?

    Tina

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  6. Mmm.. fresh bread! I love the smell!

    Hey - is the "guys" link broken? It keeps going to a blogger login page for me.

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  7. all i can say is, our pitas are already gone...they were gone by the 2 am feeding. yum.

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  8. Having read through all of the Chronicles of Chuck I was asking myself "WHY"? It's past my bedtime; I have to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow; I'm not particularly a big dog fan; etc. etc.
    But then I clicked on spindles and spices - and discovered the real reason for all the reading about dog poop.

    Pleased, please, please could you pass on your sourdough starter recipe - and your bread recipe that follows the starter?

    I am allergic to yeast. But I can eat sourdough bread - if no yeast has been added after the starter.
    Most commercial sourdough breads now have yeast added afterwards - to make the bread look more appealing I guess. So I am on the look-out for sourdough recipes.

    Many thanks,
    Janey
    janeyknitting AT yahoo DOT ca

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  9. Have you tried making roti? It has no yeast - just flour and water as I recall, and a greased frying pan.

    Happy cooking,
    Janey
    janeyknitting @ yahoo . ca

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