If this shows up twice, sorry. I thought I posted it once this morning, but
it seems lost in cyberspace.

I hope everyone is off to a decent start on having a good new year.

We enjoyed a good batch of sourdough biscuits that my wife made yesterday,
and I'm working to season the new starter which is barely a week old. I'll
wait another week or so before I make bread with it. Two reasons: 1. I'm
lazy, and 2. I like a starter with a little more flavor for bread.)

My wife is a serious and excellent bread baker, anyway. She makes several
kinds of bread with commercial yeast, and is now eager to start learning
sourdough. In the past, I'm the one who always made sourdough loaves, when
testing starters that I made for local bakeries. But now my wife is
catching the bug.

It's been five years since I worked with sourdough. And when I look at the
info I posted on the web (at the jimsdesk.com site which received "rave"
reviews here -- well, some raving anyway) I can see why some of you might be
impatient with me. I do apologize. I have to work very hard to take (and
keep) good notes. And memory alone often simplifies things.

I went looking for the notes I had stuffed into the bread books used five
years ago (Bread Alone and the book by Woods on sourdoughs from around the
world) all I had was the books. We've moved since those days, and whatever
I had is long gone. As for the books, I noticed some comments in the faqs
that I'd have to agree with.

So I'm starting over with a new starter, taking a few photos and a few more
notes along the way. I'm working on a new site that will include basic info
on several types of things -- sort of aback to basics kind of thing. It
will be up soon. And I want to be sure that the info I offer is sound and
useful.

I've shut down my old jimsdesk site and moved the contents to
www.goodwordusa.org, (the old jimsdesk stuff is sitting under a "short
stories" link, if anyone's curious). The new site is already online but not
ready for visitors.

I've found that my wife is willing to experiment with biscuits and pancakes
while she gets used to using sourdough. She's not fond of the sour smell at
this point, so I've told her to think of it as buttermilk or cheese that
adds flavor to things. And that seems to encourage her along. (You should
smell some of the cheeses she uses where she works!) She does like the
sourdough breads that can be made.

Just thought I'd say hello and let you guys know what's happening with us.
This is a great newsgroup that I sure could've used when I was on my own
years ago, trying to hammer out some decent starters. I looked around the
Net, but found no real sourdough info at that time. (If nothing else, my
searching skills have improved over the years.)

I was fortunate to figure out the basics. Lots of other folks will just
give up after a few flops. (Speaking of flops, I have a couple of inlaws
who keep flopping, for weeks, now, with very basic bread recipes -- and
they're just using commercial yeast. One must wonder...)

Jim

Jim wrote:

> ... Two reasons: 1. I'm lazy, and 2. I like a starter with a little
> more flavor for bread.)

Another one that apparently eats his starter. Where is all this coming
from?

B/

Brian Mailman wrote:
> Jim wrote:
>
>> ... Two reasons: 1. I'm lazy, and 2. I like a starter with a little
>> more flavor for bread.)
>
> Another one that apparently eats his starter. Where is all this coming
> from?

Come on, you should know. Fishing expedition.

S.

On 8 Jan 2006, at 16:48, Brian Mailman wrote:

> Jim wrote:

>> ... Two reasons: 1. I'm lazy, and 2. I like a starter with a little
>> more flavor for bread.)

On 8 Jan 2006, at 16:48, Brian Mailman wrote:
> Another one that apparently eats his starter. Where is all this
> coming from?
>
> B/

Your mind? The clue is in the "for bread" bit.

TG

Brian Mailman wrote:

> Jim wrote:
>
>> ... Two reasons: 1. I'm lazy, and 2. I like a starter with a little
>> more flavor for bread.)
>
> Another one that apparently eats his starter. Where is all this coming
> from?
>
> B/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++
I do not think this guy will have time to make bread after all the work he
is doing on his web-page.

HHG Driver, Joe Umstead

Joe Umstead wrote:
> Brian Mailman wrote:
>
> > Jim wrote:
> >
> >> ... Two reasons: 1. I'm lazy, and 2. I like a starter with a little
> >> more flavor for bread.)
> >
> > Another one that apparently eats his starter. Where is all this coming
> > from?
> >
> > B/
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++
> I do not think this guy will have time to make bread after all the work he
> is doing on his web-page.
>
> HHG Driver, Joe Umstead



Lol. Sounds to me like you're going to be very, very jealous if I do.

I doubt that I spend any more time building a web page -- or a whole
site, for that matter -- than some of you spend envying and fretting
over what someone else might be doing. But hey, maybe that's where
some of your sour's been coming from. Lol.

Honest work is nothing to ever be ashamed of. In fact, the Bible says
that "all labor is profitable." I don't think that's talking just
about money. Working and accomplishing things with one's life seems to
help sweeten the spirit and disposition -- gives our minds time to mull
over things while we are kept busy. Gives the heart a chance to heal
and mature. Like laughter, I believe work is good medicine for anyone.

Anyway, it's Monday morning here in Montana. And it looks like we
might have a sunny day. Hope all of you have a good week. Happy
baking.

Jim

Samartha Deva wrote:

> Brian Mailman wrote:
>> Jim wrote:
>>
>>> ... Two reasons: 1. I'm lazy, and 2. I like a starter with a little
>>> more flavor for bread.)
>>
>> Another one that apparently eats his starter. Where is all this coming
>> from?
>
> Come on, you should know. Fishing expedition.

Well, I sort of stopped reading when the ad copy started.

B/

Jim wrote:
>
>
> Lol. Sounds to me like you're going to be very, very jealous if I do.
>
> I doubt that I ... In fact, the Bible says
> that "all labor is profitable." ..>
> Jim

The Bible also says Leviticus 19:19 " do not sow a field of yours with
two different kinds of seed; and do not put on a garment woven with two
different kinds of thread."

I guess a wool cotton mix is out then.

TG

TG wrote:
> Jim wrote:
>>
>>
>> Lol. Sounds to me like you're going to be very, very jealous if I do.
>>
>> I doubt that I ... In fact, the Bible says
>> that "all labor is profitable." ..>
>> Jim
>
> The Bible also says Leviticus 19:19 " do not sow a field of yours with
> two different kinds of seed; and do not put on a garment woven with two
> different kinds of thread."
>
> I guess a wool cotton mix is out then.

No, man, that was about cotton and polyester! All you have to do is look at
that blend to know it's sinful.

lol, I did think of using the that 'p' word. : -)

TG

On 10 Jan 2006, at 12:07, Jim wrote:

>
> No, man, that was about cotton and polyester! All you have to do is
> look at
> that blend to know it's sinful.