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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Baking day (part 1)

Well, baking day was a success! We are some tired gals I tell ya. We took lots of pictures, but they will have to wait till tomorrow because we are going to put our feet up and have a big glass of sweet tea.

Here are the promised pictures of what we did in the morning before lunch. We made 2 loaves of honey wheat bread, one loaf of sourdough bread, a double batch of waffles and a triple batch of pancakes.

I first started making by making 2 loaves of honey wheat bread.



I do it all by hand. For a long time i've wanted a Bosch mixer, but God showed me something. Every time I knead my bread I am either praying or singing worship songs. It is just one of the ways I take moments to spend with the Lord in my day. So now I love kneading my bread by hand. It is very calming and satisfying to me.



My daughter loves this picture that she took of me adding more flour while kneading.



The final product, after kneading and ready to rise.



After the first rise.



Here is me kneading my sourdough bread. It is a quick rise white sourdough. I don't usually do a white sourdough, but we wanted something like a hearty french bread to eat with our stew. It was delicious!



As you can see, it's not a true white since my starter is made with wheat and spelt flour.



Isn't it pretty when it's risen?



Second rise done and ready to be put into the oven. We didn't get pictures of the final breads until the shot of all that we did.



Here are two of my lovely helpers that are making the whole wheat buttermilk pancakes. That is my own cultured buttermilk that I make.



Starting the whole wheat buttermilk waffles.


Part two will come this afternoon. It's time for our school day to begin. Hope you enjoy a glimpse into our kitchen.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

tuesday is my baking day too! however yesterday went awry and i didn't get to it and today is bible study day so i won't get to it again :(
waiting for the pics!

Teresa said...

Hi, Tami! Actually, Monday is my usual kitchen day. Around here the kids are out of school for Mardi Gras so I decided to take the day off too. We don't celebrate the holiday, but it was an excuse to spend the day stocking up the freezer again. :-)
Pictures should be up this evening!

Kari said...

A couple questions: How do you culture buttermilk?
Also, I have a jar of sourdough starter in my fridge that I haven't fed (ever--since it was given to me). How do I know if it's still good? Should I just start over? Is there an "expiration date" on starter?

Yummy yummy baking!
Kari

Teresa said...

Hey, Kari. It's really simple to make cultured buttermilk. To start out, you just get a small container of cultured buttermilk at the store. Pour enough to cover the bottom of a quart sized jar. Fill the rest of the jar with whole milk. Cover, shake and put into a cabinet or pantry overnight. It should only take 24 hours to culture. You'll know it's done when it thickens slightly. We use it in waffles, pancakes, biscuits, and my sourdough bread.
As for the starter, if it's been longer than a month i'd say maybe you ought to start over. Open the jar and see if there is any mold growing in it. There may be a dark liquid floating on top, that's ok. It's called the hooch. Generally, it's good to feed it every week but i've skipped a few weeks and it's been ok. You'll know if the starter has died if your bread never rises. There is no expiration date per say. It just depends on how healthy the starter was to begin with.

Kari said...

Teresa,
Thanks so much for the instructions! I'm guessing once the first batch of buttermilk is cultured you can use that as the culture for the next batch? Oh, how exciting! I love buttermilk!
My sourdough starter has definitely been longer than a month...no mold, but separated into dark liquid on top and lighter "batter" on bottom. I suppose I'll just start over...I don't want to waste all that flour lol. :)
Thanks again for replying!
Kari

Teresa said...

Yes, just use the one you cultured to make more. It lasts for quite some time in the frig too.

Kari said...

I finally made some cultured buttermilk...is it normal for it to separate in the fridge? I had 2 distinct layers last night (a watery one on the bottom and a milky-fatty one on top) and this morning I have 3 layers (milky, watery, fatty). Did I do something wrong?

Thanks,
Kari

ashei said...

looks really delicious. next time add some chia seeds from Hidalgo Foods.

Teresa said...

Hey Kari, I have had some seperation before I refrigerate but not after. I know that milk contains whey, so that is the watery layer. Before you use it, smell it. Does it smell like buttermilk or does it smell sour? The warmer it is in the house, the less time it takes to make the buttermilk. Try culturing it for less than 24 hours. I've had mine done in 18 before.