i corporated the concept of bananas and crumb for half of the sourdough batch this week, and chocolate chips (with the bananas, of course) for the other half. they worked lovely. i think the slightly salty flavor comes from the sourdough starter. perhaps sticking to whole wheat flor might work better. perhaps updated pictures will come...o...meebe tuesday? :)
cwc

IMBB #13: My Little Cupcake (or muffin)

i give you...sourdough muffins.



ok, they were supposed to be sourdough blueberry muffins, but once again, student budget kicks in...i have no blueberries, neither fresh nor frozen. i thought of substitutes...like chocolate chips, bananas, even raisins, nuts, but i just left them plain.

they're not super sweet, which is as advertised, but when i used all purpose flour (king arthur, how can i use anything else when i'm in Vermont?) they seems saltier to me...don't know why. but they taste very wholesome, and i'm quite pleased with them and unwilling to bring them to a potluck...



do they LOOK like they want to go anywhere?

at any rate, this is a SUPER way to use up a cup of sourdough starter...which is quite proliferative...probably cuz i feed it madly a couple of weeks ago...and now my bread corner looks like this...


(here, you can see the muffins w/o the whole wheat flour. and my attempt at a whole wheat loaf in the basket...meebe i can be parted with that, but i'd really rather not. ;)

march madness...

last week, after gettin' through ALL the bread...i actually got around to baking cookies. OTT-style from here



they were super simple to whip up, too. couple of notable points. I used margarine instead of butter...sticking to my student budget. One day, when i'm rich...i'll use REAL butter...hand churned! not by me, of course. and i didn't have any maple syrup on hand, so i substituted honey. and when they say, press it down, do follow instructions. It does contribute towards the chewiness. and i like chewy.

this weekend's grand totals:

5 loaves
20 cups of flour
and i don't wanna count anymore...that's not my forte anyways.



a visual hint: :O |

just to give a little history on what a loaf goes through...

Stage 1: active starter, I used a 1/2 cup, and stored the rest for next weekend.


Stage 2: the starter got here by being fed w/ 1 cup of water and 1 cup of flour. see how foamy the top is. it's happy. a happy starter is a good starter.


happy starter makes happy bread, which also leads to happy people! (it also helps that skers makes happy food...therefore, happy wob. see the brownies...and the fifth loaf to come, rising on the radiator...)


in places beyond my kitchen...we finally tried one of the few and far between japanese restaurants around...


this is why saturday brunch got canceled and replaced w/ a teacup of granola, yogurt and berries...
it's not comparable to home, but this is not the time to complain. it was a lovely meal, with lovely company...cheers.

breakfast at home...

1 frozen berries
2 plain yogurt
3 granola

Yes, they must go in that order. or... no, whatever. i've also learned to love government-issued raisins...



this time, my trusty plastic bowl was in the dishwasher...so i upgraded to a teacup. i've learned that you can eat a lot of things in a teacup. in fact, the only thing i find the teacup inadequate for is a cup of tea. I suppose I'm not urbane enough to sip my tea; I am gulped it down in MUGS. which are clearly TOO big for a cup of breakfast

And...the MIXED version. This is dedicated to Steph who is in Israel where there are no berries, not even frozen ones. Fortunately, avocadoes abound there and they have a long season. (see, Steph, i even brought the raspberry to the surface...in honor of Mummu and Grampie's bush.)



and finally, because you outrank everyone as the person who is the FARTHEST away...



today's weather. the view from my window. a March day in Vermont.

ok, it's officially my NEWEST distraction...



so much easier to regulate in comparison to the desem. much lower maintenance and still so beautiful. though i have to start doing something with those loaves and loaves of desem...



with all the production of bread from this weekend, my muscles are seriously sore from kneading with all my strength. for the nerdilicious...my triceps are being WORKED. and isn't it worth it. I'm seriously thinking of toast, forever. for my children, and my children's children. ;)

bread adventures...

in the spirit of the "guvenator"...

it has a tUUU-mah...



(and see the marvelous bread knife that Mary bestowed upon me...)
dude, slicing bread is as strenous as kneading bread. this is why bread slicers are an ingenious invention. only i don't own such a contraption...though with two more loaves of equally "tumorous" quality...perhaps i should...



and included in the documentation of bread adventures is my lovely roommate, skers, back from alaska. :) as she is my BIGGEST supporter in the consumption of carbs, both simple and complex, her return is heralded with much joy...and bread. :)

see the loaf pan w/ the pink saran wrap...that is gonna get baked at the buttcrack of dawn manana. actually, BEFORE the buttcrack. sunrise is scheduled for 0619. hope this bakes well...don't want to start off the day with less than successful baking. especially when it's an exam day, too. here's to Nutrition, Metabolism and GI. kinda applicable, i suppose.

breakfast at sneaker's...

mine is NOT the pancakes... though i did get a taste and they are totally on my list for the next time around. and i cut the bacon outta the picture. they were FATTY. and not a part of MY meal. ;) this was the smallest thing i've ever ordered at sneaker's...it might be time to try...belgian waffles?



and see my eatin' buddy's upraised hand...waiting to dig into her food. she had the "special omelet" which is obscured by the toast. I *heart* toast.

weekend bread adventures to ensue...

EoMEoTE #4: End of the Month Eggs on Toast Eggstravaganza...



once again a tribute to the broke diaries...

eating cheap and as healthy as i can figure...

feeling particular, i decided that i wanted my egg to fit on my piece of bread. I used a slice of my desem that I baked over the weekend. (see below)
so i decided that i'd microwave my egg in a square container. we have several pieces of tupperware without lids. and strangely enough, we also have several lids without tupperware pieces. this almost works out. i think anything that allows the egg to spread out doesn't do so well for the edges. So i got the square shape and it didn't come out of the tupperware so well, but it sure fit nicely on my piece of toast. and there's no way i'd skimp on the toast...

so a creamy piece of leftover havarti softens easily when it's on the warm egg, and then some dotting of sriracha sauce. meebe it's not real purty, but it's real tasty. I think was inspired b/c my buddy mark pulled some hot sauce outta his locker to eat with bagels and cream cheese today...

i think i'll go back to microwaving with smaller, rounder containers. they sure fit on bagels nicely...

breakfast...



Berries, yogurt, and Trader Joe's granola (God bless my mother!)

Frozen berries...ingenious. usually, i nuke them for 15 seconds, because things that are too cold have no flavor. Did you know that your taste buds have an optimal temp range at which they taste things?
Yogurt, it's plain, but when it's so cold, you don't taste it as much, and the berries and the granola are mixed in anyways.
And i *heart* TJ's Fruit and Nut granola. except for the raisins because they are so hard. at any rate, i would eat this straight up.

Next time, you might even get to see the MIXED in version. ooOOOooo...
Also, replicable with milk instead of yogurt.

other notable details...
see the gash! see the gash!
I forgot to nuke the berries, therefore, i sat the bowl on top of the AC adaptor...