Tuesday, June 02, 2020


All well, I guess. We won’t know, until the sourdough loaf comes out of the oven tomorrow. There have been moments of anxiety – my “levain” floated nicely, when tested. Then I went back to doing something else, and when I returned, it had sunk.

And, much more interesting, at one point I found my hands uncomfortable. All instructions encourage you to work the dough with your hands. It contains nothing except flour, water, salt and fermentation. I think the point at which I had this sensation was after the initial kneading, when everything had been amalgamated and left to rest for a while. The reason this is interesting (at least, to me) is that Brad Leone – with whom I am in love – says at one point in his (not otherwise very useful)  sourdough program that his hands are “burning”.

I’ve watched a lot of sourdough on YouTube. No one else mentions this.

There are still a couple of hours to go, before I can put it in the refrigerator overnight and go to bed. The dough looks not unlike what I have seen on YouTube, and feels not unlike what I would expect – but will it rise?

We’ll know tomorrow.

A new New Yorker today. I enjoyed the article about Lionel Shriver. Should I subscribe to the Spectator in order to read her column? A book was mentioned which sounded interesting and I rushed over to Amazon and was crushingly told that I  already had it. I’ve done a bit of speed-reading and am not much enjoying it and glad I didn’t pay for it again. I’ve read “Kevin” (terrific) and the one about obesity and the one about brittle bones.

Whatever the fate of my sourdough, I would hope to have some knitting to report on tomorrow.

3 comments:

  1. I tried to read the Mandibles and gave up after a few chapters. I have no desire to make sourdough bread, but am still watching with interest. Some day I may!

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  2. Anonymous1:28 AM

    Really looking forward to the bread report. Hope it is successful and tasty! Hot bread is really special.
    I have had some issues with commenting (only my laptop and Chrome seem to work).
    I really like the colours of your current sweater project. It will be so cheerful next grey winter.
    Thanks to Helen for the instagram posts. They are also excellent.
    Please keep very well
    Lisa RR in Toronto

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  3. =Tamar3:43 PM

    Years ago, my sourdough usually didn't rise much because I would get into a book and forget it, but it was always tasty. (I used to call it my "oops I forgot the bread" recipe.) I don't recall my hands burning, but maybe I just didn't think anything of it.

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