Another list of thoughts

Sorry, I don’t have a proper post in me right now, but I do have some thoughts.  Here they are:

1.  I’m working on sauerkraut for the first time.  It’s on day five of fermentation right now.  Theoretically it’ll be ready on the 18th, but I’ll probably let it go longer for maximum tastiness.  This is my first experiment in fermentation.

2.  Speaking of fermentation, I think I want to try making kombucha.  I need to get my hands on a SCOBY, though.  Maybe I’ll ask Amanda at Phickle for one, since she’s local to me.

3.  I opened that last jar of herbed pickled asparagus tonight, and it’s soooo goooood!  I forgot how much I loved these.  I’m totally making multiple batches of this as soon as the asparagus starts popping up.

4.  My mother ordered me a new canner as a super early birthday present!  Yay!  I’ll have to give it a test run in the coming weeks.

5.  I baked some bread today and it was lovely.

6.  I’m obsessed with the idea of making tea jelly, but I’m out of half pint jars right now.  I officially gave away too many of them at Christmas.  =P  I’ll have to go buy some so I can do this.

That’s all for now!

Adventures in Sourdough

Well, it’s finished, and I have to say, it came out pretty darn well for a first attempt! Okay, my slashes were a little… limp, and the dough was pretty tough at first, but it came out really well nonetheless. The crust is lovely (I put a pan of cold water in the oven to help it along), and the flavor is just a little bit sour. I actually could make it a little more sour next time, but the result was really good. Ze photos:

Icky weather

Well, if you’re reading from the Philadelphia area, you’ll already know that the weather today is of the ickiest variety: a freezing mix of snow expected to accumulate up to eight inches with rain, woo hoooo!  So naturally today is a kitchen kind of day.  Any time the weather gets cold and disgusting I just want to spend the whole day making yummy things in my kitchen that will warm everything up and make everything a little more cozy.  I’d really love to be making some jam today, perhaps this one from Food In Jars’ Marisa McClellan which looks absolutely incredible, but I’m running pretty low on the fresh fruits and veggies, and there haven’t been any pears in this house all season (a travesty!).  So, instead, I’m tackling sourdough bread today for the first time.

I’ll admit, I’m a little nervous.  I’m basically harvesting wild yeast and hoping that they create a beautiful loaf of bread, instead of, I dunno, poisoning us all?  Okay, it’s probably not that serious.  My starter smelled pretty much right… at first.  Er.  When I scooped out my one cup of starter for the recipe, there was a bit of a… puke-esque aroma from the bottom of the jar.    So I’m not 100% confident about this.  Anyway, the dough is currently rising and needs at least another hour, so I’ll update you with the results when it’s all done.  Here’s to hoping?