Sunday, September 21, 2008

Meet Brett

I have a new friend. His name is Brett. He was born on Friday, but only really perked up today. He will move into my fridge tonight. Every week I plan to cut him in half and feed him a cup of flour. The half I remove will be turned into bread. Mwahahah!!! I feel like an evil giant from a fairy-tale.

But the truth is more prosaic. I'm trying to make sourdough bread.

Here's a picture of Brett.

He's my "starter". He's made of a cup of flour and a cup of water, left sitting in a jar on the bench until he gets frothy from the bacteria and yeasts growing inside him. I didn't add any yeast, he's just growing on the yeasts that somehow found their way into that jar, either floating on the air or else already dried up in the flour. Ditto for the bacteria.

I like the idea that, in theory, this blob of frothy batter that I call Brett could live in my fridge for the rest of my life, providing me with sourdough bread every week or so.

Good night Brett! It's going to be a bog day for you tomorrow!

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