Had a lovely lunch at my Mum's this Mother's Day. Grandma was also there, so there were 3 of us mums there at the one sitting. Mum has recently moved to Sydney, and is doing a lot more cooking these days, she is also going through her Grandmother's hand written recipe books to start a special family compilation for my and my brother's kids.
So I made her this oven mitt.
I also made a pear and cherry tart for dessert, which Feather was very keen to try out.
Oh dear, I lost Feather's little leather boots. They were getting a bit small and I really wanted to hold out until he was walking before buying new shoes. It's just getting so cold now, he really needs something to keep his socks on.
I found these little shoes that I made back when I had the market stall. They are too small though and don't fit with socks.
I'm not sure if I should try to make some more or just bite the bullet and buy some.
Anyone know of cheap, tasteful little baby shoes that actually stay on their feet?
I was dubious. Even to the point of not photographing the steps of putting the loaves into the cast iron pot to put in the oven. You see, after leaving the dough for the requisite proving time, they didn't rise. I really didn't think they were going to turn out.
But, they rose up well in the oven and I got some of the best bread I have made yet.
The crust could be a little more golden and blistered but I didn't have my spray bottle of water at the ready. You see it is steam that makes a nice golden crust, and by spraying the loaves as you put them in and cooking them in a covered cast iron pot you can get a really good, thin, crisp crust in a domestic oven.
But Tilly had dismantled my spray bottle and there wasn't time to reassemble it at the strategic moment of getting them into the oven.
Anyway, time to have a ham and cheese sandwich.
This sour dough making business really does take a lot of time and dedication. I really do understand why it has a hefty price tag. Good thing I can make my own.
Ok, so here we are after the second refresh.
You can see the network of little bubbles that are starting to form under the surface. This means that it is good and active.
Now just add flour (I used a mix of wholemeal and plain), water and salt. Nothing else.
Mix it all together briefly and leave it for 10 minutes.
After which time you give it 3 quick kneads and then leave it for another 10 minutes. And repeat twice.
Then come a series of 3 quick stretches. Basically pulling the dough and folding it once, leaving it to rest half an hour between each stretch.
Next comes the shaping....
So that wasn't the beginning of a loaf of sour dough. No, that was just me refreshing my starter. But at least I got a good comparison shot of what happens to it after 12 hours. See, it has pretty much doubled in size. I just left it on the bench top to do its stuff, but it was a bit cold last night so that looks a but sluggish to me, so I've got it sitting outside in a nice warm spot to go a bit longer. After that it will go into the fridge until I next need to make bread.

I got a bit confused because I have 3 thing going at once. There is the refreshed starter in the glass jar, the beginning of the bread which is actually in the yellow bowl and the start of some sourdough crumpets I am going to try. Confused yet?
This is what the bread dough looks like after it has been proving over night. Some nice little bubbles, but not as full on as I would like. But I did go on to the next step anyway which was to add the starter to 75gr of flour and 75 gr of water.
Here is what it looks like .
Told you it was like paint drying.