Too many distractions

On TV quiz shows one frequently see old people explaining that now they are retired there is so much to do they wonder how they ever found time to go to work. Despite my best intentions to spend my retirement catching up with all the stuff I have never really got to grips with – half understood software, half learnt programming languages, books that were purchased but never read etc. – the torrent of new stuff continues to overwhelm. I should draw a line and say no more… but

The update to Logic looks exciting and Arturia’s extended free licence for Pigments and Analog Lab shouldn’t be wasted. And I am already way behind on the Tidal training sessions. Not to mention the endless opportunities to explore the musical backwaters available to stream.

And then I am about to throw out the sourdough starter I started a few days ago when the weather was warm but abandoned when the weather turned colder – my home is not warm enough ordinarily to sustain the beast, but, I think, ‘it does smell like a good starter’, so I gave it a feed and a drink and it has been bubbling away all day; so the weekend will be spent cultivating some bread.

Not to mention being on fox cub watch…

There is no time for this 100 day nonsense…

Yadit #100DaysToOffload

Sourdough back on the menu

The demise of the last sourdough starter and moving house has meant that yeast has been used for baking for the last month or so. With the kitchen now full of yeasty bready goodness it was time to start a fresh starter. I chucked some flour and water in to a bowl and left it to do its thing. After a couple of days it was bubbling away nicely.

Sourdough starter
Sourdough starter

After four days I chucked (nothing was weighed or measured) half the starter, some flour, warm water and a bit of salt into a bowl at eight in the morning leaving it to do its thing with an occasional knead or stretch and fold. It was baked at six in the evening after an hour or so proving. It probably could have done with a couple more hours and the oven was probably too hot for too long but it is perfectly edible and very tasty.