I gave myself a makeover...

You may have noticed the new look to this blog. I had decided already to do more than just cake here but I decided it needed a new look to go along with the new direction. This blog will reflect whatever I happen to be doing in the area of food.

It could change a lot since I seem to have a two second attention span!

Some of the things I'm dabbling in right now:

Sprouting grains: I've been reading about the nutritional impact sprouted grains can make in your diet. One of the biggest reasons to sprout grain is that it nuetralizes Phytic Acid. Phytic Acid apparently greatly reduces the amount of nutritional value we absorb when we eat grain based foods. Sprouting the grain also converts the grain from a starch to a vegetable and our bodies apparently like that better. (Can I count this toward my veggie servings for the day?) I'm still very new to this whole idea and I'm looking forward to trying some new foods. I have a big bowl of hard white wheat sprouting in my kitchen right now!

Sourdough: I must confess, I am a sourdough killer. I have been given sourdough starts that are already bubbly and active. You would think I'd be able to maintain them and keep them going wouldn't you? Nope. I kill 'em! Apparently you have to feed them regularly or they die. It's along the same lines as houseplants I think. Did you know you are supposed to water your plants or they die too? Who knew! :D

Kids are loud when they haven't been fed. They clamor for something to eat and won't stop until they're chewing. Usually at this time they are shuffling the food around their mouths so they can ask you for a drink of water. Once they've been excused from the table the process starts again.

Immediately and with no break.

Ever!

Well, sourdough doesn't do that so I've decided to utilize my fancy cell phone/pda thingamajiggy and I've set alarms reminding me to feed it. Now I'm really getting into this and I've started the starter myself, from scratch. I was a little unsure about doing this since I've killed so many poor, unsuspecting starters already but I found a great website with lots of beginner info on it.

My starter is about a week old now and it's bubbling happily and will double in size after it's been fed. From what I've read this means it's a happy, thriving starter and ready to use.

Deep breath! Now it's time to actually bake something! Hopefully this afternoon I'll give it a go and see if I can't make a successful sourdough loaf. Oh, the website for the sourdough info is Sourdough Home.

Artisan Breads: My mom gave me a beautiful book on breads from around the world. Not only does it have recipes but it also has a history of bread, lists various flour types, leavening agents, and has gorgeous pictures of bread from all over the world. (I read cookbooks like they're novels.)

I have made a few recipes from the book already but unfortunately did think to take a picture before we devoured them.

The first one I made was Portuguese Cornbread. This was far different than any cornbread I've ever had but it was sooooo good! The whole family loved it. It's a yeasted bread that begins with a sponge then is given a couple of slow rises. The result is a nice outer crust with a melt in your mouth crumb inside. The flavor is very complex and tasty. It probably helps that I mill all my own flour, including things like cornmeal. This bread can easily stand alone for flavor but we also enjoyed it with Ham and Bean soup. (Actually, it was pretty darn good with scrambled eggs too!)

Next I did an Onion Cheesebread that was out of this world good! Mmmmm, you saute the onions first so they are nice and soft. Then you blend them into the dough along with some cheese. After all of the rising and shaping everything is nicely blended together for a very soft, tender bread that is full of flavor. It was perfect with a nice bowl of soup.

Tomorrow I will post the recipe and pictures of Pain Aux Noir, a french walnut bread that I just made. This one was fabulous!

I'm starting to think there are very few breads I don't like! :P