But, heck, I guess that nOObies with a lot of dumb luck can get away with
a lot of stuff that would not ever work for me.

Speaking of which, yesterday I had some potato water and potato pieces
after boiling 5 russets (skin on, if that matters). NOOb curiosity
plus a hunger for something sour prompted me to experiment. I hit the
potato water (plus pieces) with an immersion blender, added 200g of my
rye starter (I fed it the prior day with 50g ea water and rye, so I
guess that counts as 100g of starter), two teaspoons of sugar (I never
do this, but I wanted to give my boys every chance possible to
prosper), and set it by the oven light for 18 hours or so. It was
bubbly as heck this morning, so I made my dough with KA bread flour
and water, let the mixer dough hook have some fun, then let it rise. I
did the usual rise-punch-rise, though the second rise took place
during Easter dinner at my parents, so it was a little over-risen. I
used the cast iron pot method, but in my haste forgot to slash so I
had a little blow out.
The bread turned out better than I expected. Sour and chewy, the way I
like it. Here's a photo (sorry for the quality - I used my cell
phone):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattandvicki/2356840502/
Matt