About done

That's where I am with my explorations in sourdough. I have some dough rising (sort of) on the stove, and I am trying a bread machine recipe at the same time. Both look less than promising so far. And I've had it.

Lucy after night-long adventures

I am being held captive at home because of the 'fluffing of the dough' that needs to happen at 30 minute intervals, and the waiting for the machine to be done because you can't leave the bread in it after it beeps. I am doing other chores in between, sure. And if it would yield a fantastic-better-than-ever bread, it would be worth it. But it's not.

cat-blanket in progress

Just thought I should share my frustrations. I could be having lunch with a friend. I could be shopping for shoes (neh, okay, I really don't like shopping anymore). I could be taking a long walk. Instead I am wasting time and money (in the form of quality flour) on bread that may be tasty but is too dense and too not what I had hoped for. So this is the last day of attempting. I am going back to my tried-and-true breads.

Gus on the clean laundry

sharing

Before I had my awesome threesome (Thijs, Vera, and Emma) and was dreaming of having them, I felt that it would be really sad if they would not develop a love of reading. I worried about other stuff as well but now that I am older (and a tad more experienced) I must admit that I was blissfully oblivious.

So we started them early. I have pictures (which I should have scanned in, I know) of Thijs at three months sitting on my love's lap looking interested in a magazine; of the girls at 1 year old sitting in the middle of the living room floor surrounded by books, concentrating on reading. Books were always on the lower shelves, easily accessible for little ones. Some of the books did not survive their love or show the signs of their multi-sensory explorations.

when live gives you mealy apples....bake applecake

One of our fun outings together was spending a morning or afternoon at the library, picking books until my two largest totes were filled to the brim, then go home and continue the session with reading them all huddled on the couch.

going to the library is still a favorite outing for me

I remember Thijs reading while walking down the stairs. I remember Emma's wishlists containing nothing but books. I enjoy discussions with Vera about whether or not Alaska meant to ...do what she did at the end of the book (no spoiler alerts here). I will give some credit to selected teachers along the way for promoting inspiring and challenging books to keep them interested.

Perhaps it is no surprise that my girls have now decided to embark on a journey this coming summer to promote literacy. Which is what I wanted to share with you all, whomever you are. They applied for a grant but did not get it, and decided to go ahead anyway and try to fund it themselves.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1865607874/the-road-to-literacy

http://theroadtoliteracy.tumblr.com/

Emma writes:

The Road to Literacy

Hi everyone! My friends and I are doing a kickstarter project called The Road to Literacy where we are going to drive across the country and visit some of the least literate cities in the United States to read to kids and give out books. It would mean so much if you guys could help us make this dream a reality. I want to give these kids who might not otherwise have access to books a chance to foster a love of reading. I have always loved reading and now I finally have the chance to help other people, too. 

So if you can, please check out our page and share it. We only have 30 days to fund this guys! Help out!

One of their friends on the project, Lissy Elle, wrote:

Those that follow my work may know that I discovered photography as an art-form when I was 13 and It quickly became an escape from the trials of adolescence, and an excuse to let it soldier on. The allure of fantasy to me in regards to my photographs came with the realization that childhood is a thing wasted on trying to be an adult, and from that my favourite concept became the sheer whimsy and fantasy and curiosity that you felt before everything was a popularity contest.

 I owe my imagination and therefore my career to vigorously reading every book I could get my hands on as a child, and scribbling down every original thought in my head in order to find a way to make it come to life. It saddens me to know not all children have the childlike imagination that a lot of us have held dear far into adulthood. With thisKickstarter I hope to make a small step forward in fixing this problem.

For 1 month, myself and 3 of my friends are going to drive around America dressed up as Fairy Tale Creatures and promote literacy by reading to children in the least literate cities in America, as well as handing out free books and helping children sign up for library cards. I want to wake up every morning in a different city, dressed up like Alice in Wonderland and instill the same excitement and wonder in these children as the very first time my mother read Harry Potter to me.

It would mean the absolute world to us if you would consider donating to our cause or taking the time to look at our Kickstarter and read more about what we’re trying to accomplish, and maybe pass it on to a friend or a friend of a friend or your grandmother or your boyfriends really cool uncle.

Thank you so much for reading! Check out our project The Road to Literacy,

Check it out!

Looks

...can be deceiving, as I found out once again and this time with a beautiful looking bread.

Not that it didn't taste good, it did. But the interior was just not at all what you would expect from such an 'artisan' look. It was plain old sandwich bread, nothing holey or holy about it. Thus the baking journey continues.

Trying some new technique in knitting, this will be a simple cat-blanket which my love says is way too nice for use by the hairy creatures.

Mila pretending to languish

The quilt top is almost done and I am putting together the back- a too small flat sheet that needs expanding with left-over blocks and strips. See, I am doing something with my 'free' time (still struggling with the balance between chores and hobbies and wishes for more paid work and enjoying less stress).

I am also using the treadmill more consistently now that my hip/back are not bothering me so much anymore. I feel almost like a whole new me, without those constant waves of pain! We will see how long this lasts. I hope longer than the point when I will run out of episodes of London Hospital which I am enjoying now to keep my mind of the fact that I am indeed exercising (with thanks to the kindle).

It keeps wintering. I am lucky enough to have a cozy home however the cats only reluctantly agree with staying warm inside. My love and I have planned our first trip for just the two of us, we will visit our family before spending some time together in one of Europe's amazing cities.

I will meet my youngest niece for the first time! Just the prospect simply brings tears of joy. My other sweety I have seen while face-timing the other day- she is already a pro in using electronic wonders and showed me the dresses in her new closet and the all-important swimming gear.

I am very much looking forward to roaming a gorgeous and romantic city with my love. The only downside is, that I generally rejuvenate enjoying  nature, not culture. An adventure to look forward to nonetheless.

adventures in baking

Apparently I am a bit late to the whole baking-with-a-sourdough-starter game. When I share my tales of woe and (as of yet small) triumph people are nodding their heads yes, they know, and could they please have a bit of starter when I get it right?

At first, I did precisely what the book told me. Cover your mixture of water and flour with a cloth. That resulted in a crusted mess (see top-right corner) and thus I deducted that in San Francisco, the air must be more humid than it is at present in my kitchen. Back to the tried and true plastic-wrap method (too bad, sigh). Then I felt that it was too much waste to throw away most of what I had so carefully cultivated and all the bowls I own crowded the table with starter in various stages (now I am back to just one).

Meanwhile, I did bake bread, with varying success. I used the starter in familiar recipes and in new. I have yet to achieve the 'holey-ness' that I am pursuing. After some party conversation about the topic, I went in search of more insight and other methods/opinions/recipes. On the internet, where else? (sadly, yes, I used to run to the library for such queries). I purchased a kindle version of a book called 'the art of baking with natural yeast' which contains more information than I could want on the topic and luckily some recipes.

I was ready to throw in the towel, I'll admit. I do have a job, and other things to do besides setting the timer every 30 minutes to 'flip the dough gently to preserve the billowy gassy goodness' (not quite a direct quote). But the authors of this other book (Caleb Warnock and Melissa Richardson) convinced me that baking with a natural yeast starter is healthier, and negates the bad rep that bread has gotten recently. I'm all for that because I agree that nourishing your family with homemade bread is an ancient tradition I would love to continue.

I was not allowed to work today because the campus is closed due to yet another snow dump and I am not deemed essential enough to pay time-and-a-half. I decided to treat myself to oatmeal waffles made with the starter. Not bad at all. Last night I saw the snowflakes dancing like mosquitoes around the outside light. Now they are just pinpricks in the grey sky. I'll enjoy the day and get back to work tomorrow. Time to feed my starter, and shovel some snow.

taken with my phone during the drive home last night