Glad to be reading some of the latest posts; they grab my interest and I don't get worked over things beyond my control. The link about the singing finches was a hoot. Competitive warbling, who knew there was such a thing? Uncle Ken's tale of the Catfish has some familiarity to me, like the character made an earlier appearance in these postings. Good stuff, though, and I look forward to reading the tale as it unfolds.
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Earlier, as Mr. Beagles talked about the Great Yeast Shortage of 2020, I suggested sourdough bread, using the yeast that is floating in the air. Mr. Beagles suggested that it's not as easy as the YouTubers make it look, and further research proves him correct (not for the first time). Jeez, what a production! I started a culture in early February and it's doing very well but I'm still not sure how much starter, flour, and water are required; there's a lot going on and there are many successful methods, or so it seems. I don't understand the overnight proofing in the refrigerator so in the meantime I've been baking some regular bread, using normal yeast, in normal loaf pans. Stuff tastes great (to me) and it would have looked better if my yeast wasn't nearly a year out of date and I hadn't misread the recipe, using teaspoons instead of tablespoons. So it didn't rise as much as it should have, I'll call it a rookie mistake. I'm in no hurry to bake any sourdough as long as the starter is healthy and happy; it could last forever. Cinnamon/Raisin seems like a nice bread to bake next.
The sourdough folk are quite an interesting group, almost religious in their fervor. You can go online and buy sourdough starters going back more than a hundred years, from all over the world. It would be interesting to compare the variants from different locations and compare their taste. An unofficial tradition of the sourdough nuts is to give your starter a name, a sense of humor is always appreciated. In that vein, I present to you Sour Dog, proof that the Beaglesonian Institute has culture.
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