[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks Joan. Once I start using it I think my starter will prove way to valuable to dump any out. Which raises the question how much starter do you all make? The recipes I'm looking at call for 4-8 ounces. I am making my starter in a quart Mason jar because we have a bunch lying around. But I could see using a couple cups a week so would I need something bigger?

Thanks

[aaronatthedoublef]

I spent five minutes talking to a friend before I realized who it was. Of course this sometimes happens to me without masks...

I miss giving food to friends but I still have plenty of family to eat my stuff. Thank goodness for that.

While it's not as good as being together lots of people here are having virtual happy hours. I know BA suggested a virtual pizza party.

And people here are also starting to have small gatherings where everyone is outside and everyone stays six to 10 feet apart. I suspect there will be more of that as the weather warms.

[aaronatthedoublef]

BA, I had to laugh at your comment about the crisp breads being too big to scarf. We call my middle "Snake Jaws" because he appears to be able to unhinge his mouth and fit massive quantities of food into his mouth. Snakejawing something is now a verb in our house as he continually violates the "never eat anything bigger than your head" rule.

I have lots to make and bake this week. Just need to set aside time to do it.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Oh... Well, I just stirred it in. Then I fed it about an hour later.

Next time I'll pour it off. But after reading here and on the BBGA forums that I want my pH to be acidic, I can see why alcohol should be poured off. Maybe if it happens again I'll save it (there wasn't very much) and see if someone will measure it for me.

Thanks

[aaronatthedoublef]

If I've told you all this before, my apologies. When we lived outside of Los Angeles we were less than half an hour from huge fruit and vegetable farms. But all the produce in the store was crap. The stuff in stores was trucked to warehouses in Texas where it was packaged and distributed all over the country. Labor and space were way less expensive. We found farmers' markets and the produce there was from the same farms but was so much better and sometimes, less expensive. When they were in season we would buy huge flats of beautiful strawberries for less than we pay for a quart here. And they wouldn't sell us less than a flat despite the fact that there were only two of us.

A chef friend started going to the docks to pick up seafood because even though he was buying local fish it was being sent offshore to be processed and then shipped back to the US.

So your maple sugar may have come from the VT (who knows) and shipped south because there is a lot of sugar processing that happens there... I've seen imported pineapples and coconuts in Hawaii because it was way less expensive to grow them some place else where land and water are not at a premium.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks BA. The recipe would be great!

This morning it sort of looked as if my starter had separated and had a small pool of liquid on top so I stirred it and it began to bubble again (our kitchen is around 63 most nights). I then fed it and I think I'll try and use it tomorrow.

There are a bunch of recipes I want to try. I am not sure how my family will react.

[aaronatthedoublef]

In January I started working for a supply chain company. It is amazing how fragile they are and how little slack there is. I remember when Just In Time started and inventory was seen as wasteful bloat. I am not smart enough to know how this will affect things in the future.

[aaronatthedoublef]

COOL! Now I need to test my mixer.

[aaronatthedoublef]

IC, as long as you're having fun that's all that matters. I remember one of the first pizzas I made for someone outside of the family as for a chef friend. I was having a rough dough night and the pizzas looked really wonky. But they tasted good - bread, sauce, and cheese - unless it's burned how can that taste bad?

I apologized for the shape and he smiled and said "they're artisan" and asked for more.

The more you do the more you'll figure out what you like and how to achieve it. Have fun - and it sounds like you are. There is enough stress in life, especially now.

And show us some pictures!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Sounds good! You are inspiring me to experiment with pizza. If my family doesn't like it I'll just blame you folks!

[aaronatthedoublef]

When I used to discuss this with friends who brewed beer they used to talk about using different yeasts for different beers. I haven't ever studied it and my brewer friends have stopped brewing. So much too learn.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Interesting about brewers yeast. I was at a bakery outside of Tuscany for a class and the baker there said he used "beer yeast" - he used the word "birra". I took that to mean brewers yeast but that was 20 years ago and my attempted translation. My memory of his bread is that it was great but that may just be because I loved that experience.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made chocolate chip cookie... I should have chilled them a bit and/or made them smaller as they all ran together on the pan. But they taste good and bend until they snap! Perfect except for the fusion.

Also while on a family walk some friends offered to help me with garden work in exchange for pizza so once this social distancing stuff is done I'll take them up on that!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Be careful with the grow lights. I used to have a buddy in Seattle who monitored for increased power usage caused by grow lights. He then turned those houses over to the police... 🙂

[aaronatthedoublef]

My friend is now selling fresh yeast telling people to use approximately twice as much as dry yeast. Also at least one of the local beer making supply stores I checked has dry and fresh yeasts. It might be interesting to go there as they have different strains. ANOTHER experiment to try!

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