After 15 years of faithful service, my favorite sourdough starter was infiltrated by dark terrorist spores from my dirty dish pile. That's what I get for not washing the dishes faster than my kids could find a project for themselves. It just took one dirty spoon and a few days...and it was gone. "Taps" playing softly in the background, it was given an ocean burial. Guess which ocean? At any rate, I was almost resigned to starting a new batch. The flavor takes a long time to develop into amazing sourdough and I was pretty discouraged. Low and behold, my life long friend Gena offered up some of her starter. She got it from Jon and Mer who got it from...get this...someone who claims it was started in Europe in the 1700's. My joy is full. Mind you, I have to think that it is pretty freaky old, because it is better than any sourdough starter I have ever used or seen...ever.So...I started telling Ace about this starter and he says..."wait, are you telling me that that goo has been around since the 1700's? How do you know it's not poison or full of funky germ warfare?" Really. Yes, the Nazi terrorists are trying to infiltrate the American people via sourdough starter. In a chaotic system, intellectual bakers are the first to go. Or worse, what if it was the aliens who left the evil spawn in the sourdough starter right before they went back to the mother ship? Don't worry, I made it very clear that the aliens couldn't use mind control on me because I wore a tin foil cone around my head whenever I cooked. After I stopped laughing, I took a deep breath. I started laughing again. Honestly? Where does this guy get his information.
Wait...should I be worried? If my hands fall off, I'll know it was all a lie. I'm a drone zealot from the planet Artisan... Take me to your leader.
HA! I love it! I needed a laugh today...thank you :)
ReplyDeleteLove ya to pieces,
em
Your husband is a nerd.......
ReplyDelete-- Love you! ACE.
Thanks for sharing. It made me laugh. What would I do without you?
ReplyDelete--Granny Nieve.
I have no idea what you're talking about. Really. You make bread from something that is that old? I think I must be a nerd too, because I don't think I'll look at sourdough the same. Ever again.
ReplyDeleteMost sourdough isn't made from such an old sourdough starter. But the older it is, the better, usually. Love you Kathy! You're not a nerd for not knowing!
ReplyDeletelol, this has to be one of your best posts. I started a new starter a couple of weeks back, but forgot to give instructions for when I left town for a few days. When I got back it had turned death-code-pink. So sad.--Lisa
ReplyDeleteLisa, you want to join the spawn of the undead and have some of this immortal stuff? I baked Ciabatta and some chocolate sourdough tonight. Both are insane! Oh my heart. You may seriously never recover...flutter-flutter. It's like Edward Cullen...but bread. If I can make that comparison. It doesn't sparkle...but I'm pretty sure I could fly from tree to tree if I drank it.
ReplyDeleteMy Sourdough starter was made from scratch in 1991, the only reason I remember that, is because I was pregnant with my son then. I always keep a cup in the freezer in case of disaster. I'll have to share Ace's idea with my family, they'll love it!
ReplyDeletewe can fix that sparkling flaw with a bit o beatiful salt ;)
ReplyDeleteand Yes I would love a bit o' your immortal soul...er uh starter that is.
Oh how I would love a bit of your evil alien spawn :) We bake bread all the time (especially from your recipes). But have yet to try sourdough (our fav). Can you do a tutorial O wise one?
ReplyDeleteP.S. we also LOVE the watermellon popsicles here, tastes just like those pricey whole fruit bars.
Kira, thank you! Oh, oh how I love great comments. I actually have the instructions for how to make sourdough starter here already. If you look under the headings to the left "sourdough starter" will walk you through the whole process.
ReplyDeletefun comments about sourdough. I have a start from the king Aurthur Flour company. It's 250 years old. It's the second one I've gotten from them because I killed the first one.
ReplyDeleteMarylois the last time I talked with my friend Gena, she said the start was from the KA bread company and that it was just that--250 yrs old! Oh my gosh! You have an alien clone in your kitchen...Aaaaarrr. Um. I mean...hooray! We can bake the same bread toghether, though many many miles apart. That makes my day. Lots of love.
ReplyDeleteMy husband just about flipped out when I told him the alcohol content of the liquid that collects on the top of the starter when it sits in the fridge for a week.
ReplyDeleteLove Ace!!! Sometime can I try the Nazi/Alien sourdough satrter? I like taking big risks and living on the edge.
ReplyDeleteMarylois--Yea, Ace really laughed when I said I could fly from tree to tree if I drink it...because of that dang alcohol content. Yes Jana! You can have some of this crazy stuff too. Don't drink it though.
ReplyDeleteTess-
ReplyDeleteI KNEW I needed to go back to the begining. I will look up the sourdough today. Just THINK in 250 years what people will be saying about MY starter.
Indeed Kira...they will either be talking about the day peace and harmony entered the world...um...or "The Day The Earth Stood Still". Either way, I want to hear about it! Go for it!
ReplyDeleteMary Lois provided me with some of the KA start a few years back as a thank you gift along with my baguette pans. It was SO wonderful. But when we moved I didn't know how to successfully move it across country without ending up with sourdough all over the moving van. It was a sad day when that went down the sink.
ReplyDeleteYou know what this means? I will have to definitely get you some of this starter. Let's talk.
ReplyDelete