The Saga of the Sourdough & Trisha's Lasagna

Well I made the black bean lasagna. I forgot I used one of my cans of black beans in the taco salad the night before so used one can and one can of pinto beans. That recipe didn't have any meat in it but it sure had a $#@- load of cheese! I didn't realize just how much until I started making it. It is not exactly good for the diet but it sure tasted good. It made a 9x13 pan full and there is only two of us.So guess if I make it again it will be for more people or I will cut it in half. I have 3 large containers of it taking up room in the freezer. Then the sour dough. I did not figure out the "time" issue before I started. The first waiting time was 10 to 12 hours which brought us to 10 p.m. Too late to turn back and I didn't want to wreck my precious starter that cost me $6. The next time it needed attention was at 2 a.m. so I set the alarm and got up. Then it said to let it ferment for another two to four hours, but I overslept until 8 a.m. Didn't seem to be much harm done to it but how would I know. Anyway each time I was supposed to divide the mixture in half and discard the other half and mix flour and water in the remaining half. I thought why should I discard half, after all it cost me $6..so ended up with six containers of starter this morning. I condensed it down to four. I made bread with half of one so I have a refrigerator full of sourdough starter and a freezer full of black bean lasagna. The loaves didn't look too bad before baking but they got a little odd shaped while baking. I will probably end up discarding some. Sunday I will use some to make waffles. We won't need bread for a few days. Oh,the bread tasted great! I don't know what I will do tomorrow when we are snowed in if I can't bake bread. We are supposed to get up to 11 inches and it is coming down hard now. We may put away the snow village. We don't have to go out tomorrow and we have plenty of food to eat.

 

 

 

Sour dough and German relatives

I got my sour dough starter. I have to read the directions on how to make it now. The little jar of sour dough looks a little strange. Its began its life over 250 years ago. Thats what it says. And we plan to eat it??!! It also says the sharp astringent odor is normal. To get it working I need All Purpose flour. I only have bread flour at the moment. Also need bottled chlorine free water. We have one of those PUR water things on our faucet but to be safe and not ruin it I better go buy some bottled water. I have to go buy AP flour anyway. I think it takes a couple days to get it ready to use so I will have time to find a recipe. I have lots of cookbooks so should be no problem. Oh, there is a recipe on back of the directions. This should be interesting. I am actually baking very good bread these days. The first loaf I made we used to throw at the squirrels to keep them out of the bird feeders. Way more deadly than the pellet gun. Then I had an email this morning from Nils my new found relative in Germany. We are exchanging information. I think I have more information on his branch of the family than he does, but he is in a better position to research than I am, being he is in Mecklenberg, Germany. Yesterday I cleaned cupboards and the fridge and threw out some old things. I bought a new thing of cinnamon and realized how much more flavorful it was than the old huge economy size I bought 8 years ago. From now on I will buy just small containers. Now isn't my new sourdough jar cute? Stay tuned to see how this project turns out. Will it be fit to eat???