starter death

When I was making my last sponge, I was so absorbed in its creation that I forgot to feed my starter.  By the next afternoon, it was moldy on the top and smelled unpleasant.  I was tempted to just scoop the green off, but that was too gross even for someone who would consider eating questionable foods.  I tossed out all my starter and was saddened.  Good thing I also maintain a starter at my boyfriend's house.

duty sponge

I love making bread, but sometimes when I'm busy, I don't feel as inspired.  When I feed my starter everyday, I tell myself that I should make bread soon before my crock overflows.  Great.  I've given myself a chore.

I start the sponge out of duty to my future self:  I will want that bread.  As for feel uninspired, the simplest breads are often the best.  AND lazy plus, the sponge can sit and ferment for awhile.  NO RUSH!

Today my sponge contains:  flour, sugar, starter, water and steel cut oats.

Bread with beer

Some for the sponge, some for me.

this is not throw-up

I put a bunch of food in this bread: quinoa, zucchini, tomato juice, beer, scallions, garlic. The tomato juice made the sponge look pretty gross (like a bowl of barf).

I was a little nervous because this was the most active sponge I've ever had. It was extremely bubbly. I could hear bubbles popping when I walked into the kitchen.

The photo is the engorged sponge awaiting its first kneading. Will the bread turn out??? We will see.

Sweet onion!

My mom sent me a box of Walla Walla sweet onions. Determined to use them all before they went bad, I have been making a lot of onion bread. I caramelize 1 or 2 onions and add them to the sponge*. I used the last onion for this bread batch. I added beer and pasta water as well. This dough is about to get punched!

See those little brown flavor crystals? Those are onion. This is going to be tasty.

*Sponge. It seems that can mean so many things in bread making. When I say "sponge," I am referring to a process to really get the yeast going. I mix flour, liquid, starter, sugar, and maybe goodies together and let it get all bubbly. This is the time to control the sourness. The longer it sponges, the more sour the dough.