The Sourdough Project

I've recently become a mother.

Meet my two gorgeous children. Starters #1 (whole wheat flour) and #2 (AP flour).
The products of what is essentially the binary fission of a friend's sourdough starter
 sits on the upper deck of my kitchen's greenhouse window, right next to my
dehydrated kumquats and above my precious terrariums.

Believe it or not, they do, just like children, require some time everyday. I have to feed it twice a day, proportioning out an ounce of the respective flour and an ounce of water everyday, make sure they don't get too grumpy (after all, who wants to smell boozy?), and keep them covered at specific times to prevent them from "skinning" at the surface. Boy, that was a mouthful.

The white flour took a while to pick up but
 is actually more active than my WW one now...

Aren't they beautiful? 

Having to feed these voracious children everyday leaves me wondering what to do when they  grow bigger and won't fit their home anymore! I'm probably going to end up taking some out and replenishing them with fresh flour and water everyday. Hence, I am introducing the sourdough project (with which I'll try my best to follow through). At least twice a week, I'm going to be using about a cup of the starter to make recipes ranging from baguettes to naan and from tortilla chips to pita bread. My ultimate goal? This. The culmination of the most popular, time-tested, and traditional techniques to make baguettes with the most moist and delicious open crumb I have ever seen. But first, I'll actually need to get a loaf to actually get an oven spring. I definitely have a long way to go...

Sourdough Garlic naan + Indian curry, anyone? Or what about Carrot and
Tomato Soup with toasted sourdough baguette slices (my dinner!)?

Life-wise, I can't say how glad I am to have created this blog, a place where I can document and just pour out everything I'm feeling at the moment. Journaling does help you to evaluate your situation and yourself, even, from a different perspective. There's something about putting your feelings in words that really makes you question yourself sometimes...