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There'll be a better write-up on my blog,
mentalexperimental.org, but I wanted to thank Floyd for a good starter recipe. I'm still working on modifying this one. I think that I have the general consistency of the bread down that I want, but I want a bit more tang. I think that there may have to be a sourdough component to really get it where I want it to be. But that's a completely new bread.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33569048@N05/sets/72157617583348645/ 

Another sleepless night. I almost thought something was wrong with my dough since I did not expect the fermentation would take this looooooooooong.  Next time I'd go to bed while it rises and not check on it every 15 minutes. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33569048@N05/sets/72157617581735613/

My seed culture was made with raisins.

Would anyone know if there's a difference in tastes when seed cultures are made with different ingredients?

Once the seed cultures are turned into a barm, will the tang be indistinguishable?

I was exhilarated.  Finally, I made my first baguettes.  It's Reinhart's poolish/pate fermentee baguette with a 55.9% hydration.  The crust was crispy, even though I'd prefer a more golden brown color, and the crumbs were very springy and soft.  By tasting these baguettes, we could feel the recipe originator's passion for good flavors.  

Being a certified organic farmer means MUCH more than just not using chemicals. It means a different way of farming altogether than conventional farming. Certified organic farming means you have to leave buffer strips to make sure that adjoining fields can't contaminate your fields with chemical sprays and GMO crops. This is done by tilling under a large section of your fields that are near neighboring fields. We can't use chemicals in organic farming so we have to remove weeds with the tractor and methods called multiweeding and harrowing.

This is one of the recipes that I sought to make because of available ingredients. My in-laws just made another batch of maple syrup for this year (they do around March) and gave us some. I still had some from last year's, so I thought I'd look for a recipe to use up the opened jar sitting int he fridge. I found one at KAF, but I modified the recipe. Reading their blog about the recipe, I learned that they originally made use of 1/2 cup maple syrup.

Full post here.

Ever seen something like this in a Hong Kong style bakery?

For the last few weeks, I have moved away from sourdough levain to straightforward yeast recipes. However, this weekend, I decided to revive my starter and try out something new: Eric's Favorite Rye (ici: http://tinyurl.com/d4v344).

I had to restart my sourdough starter due to neglecting it recently and, this time, I've made some interesting observations.

Why Boosted Brown Rice Starter?