Sourdough Breadcrumbs

My 1973 Cuisinart is still working perfectly and made wonderful sourdough breadcrumbs for casserole toppings.

I never throw away glass jars and here is my breadcrumb stash to prove it. Pay no attention to the sprouting onion in the background.

Baking Sourdough English Muffins

I baked sourdough English muffins yesterday and they were easy and good but way too small. They look pretty normal in the photo but the are more like sea biscuits in real life, but good. The recipe called for a 3 inch cutter and that's what I used. My mother used to use tuna cans with the bottoms cut out. They don't make the cans that way anymore and you cannot cut out the bottoms. I just transferred the muffins from the griddle to this pan for the photo. To see more photos, go to my Instagram where I posted three photos. Use the forward arrow on a computer or swipe on phone or iPad. The jonquils were planted by my mother and I love seeing them sway from my kitchen window in a new garden where I transplanted them. xo

Baking: My Sourdough Oat Bread

As promised, here is the loaf (minus a few slices) of Sourdough Oat Bread I baked yesterday. The cookbook is opened to the page for how to make the starter. Click on the link for the recipe I used. I am very pleased and this bread is very satisfying somehow and doesn't leave me wanting to snack after eating it. Maybe I'm on to something. Staying at home during this pandemic makes one try to go back to homesteading, doesn't it? I have dabbled with sourdough several times before but I think this time, I will stick with it. 

I put this photo on Instagram this morning and so many people are learning sourdough techniques right now. I am looking forward to learning more. I will probably have french toast made with my loaf tomorrow for breakfast. See you tomorrow. xo

UPDATE: HuffPost has a great article on the immense popularity of backing sourdough bread now that people are home all day. Everything old is new again!!!

Red Geranium Thru A Window

I took this geranium photo this afternoon after I worked in my front yard for hours tidying up the weeds and dead grass and leaves along my brick wall. The violets have just started and I wanted to give them room to spread. It was a good way to work off the sourdough pancakes I made this morning. I have gone back to the early 1970s with my cooking from scratch. I prepared my first batch of sourdough starter on Monday and prepared my overnight sponge for the pancakes last night They were delicious and I can heat up the extras in my toaster. 

This as the sky at 7am on Monday morning. My mother always called it a buttermilk sky. I posted it on Instagram and a couple of people said Cogey Carmichael had a song by that name that was popular in the late 1930s and 1940s. We always had buttermilk in my house when I was growing up and I always thought this sky got its name from the way buttermilk dries on the inside of the glass when you don't rinse it out right away.

I took this photo on Monday with the geranium inside my living room and me outside on the balcony with a reflection of the buttermilk sky in the background.

I hope you are all doing well with staying inside during this time of quarantine. So far, I know only one person who had Covid-19 and she has recovered, but it did linger for quite a long time. I am thankful we are going into warmer weather rather than winter. We are all learning new things. One neighbor who has mastered grocery delivery says she will never go grocery shopping again in person after this is over; she loves online ordering and having them delivered to her door. Another neighbor (across the street from me) has been doing it for 10 years and she's teaching all of us her techniques. Neighbors helping neighbors is a good thing. xo