bread- from the starter

"Isn't this blog supposed to be about quilts?" you ask. Well, yes, yes it is. The trouble though is that cooking and baking only take a small portion of my day where quilts take up quite a bit. And since I've had Mason I hardly have a bunch of time to quilt. I am currently working on 2 quits for the shop but they tend to only see about 1/2 hour of time devoted to them each day- which isn't much. I'll be previewing the tops as soon as they're done.

O.k.- back to the bread. Using the starter I have growing on my counter, I made these loaves last night. They were a little too late for dinner so we cut into them this morning. YUM! I am certainly making spaghetti tonight so that I can turn one of these into garlic bread! No more store bought sourdough for us; this is not only cheaper but healthier! No preservatives or yucky ingredients!

If you're making the starter from here and you'd like to make a couple of these, here's the recipe:

4 3/4 c bread flour

3 T white sugar

2 1/2 t sea salt

2 1/4 t dry yeast

1 c warm milk

2 T butter, softened

1 1/2 c sourdough starter

1egg

In a large bowl, combine 1c flour, sugar, salt and dry yeast. Add milk and butter. Stir in starter. Mix in up to 3 3/4c flour gradually. (I used about 3 1/4c flour)

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 8-10 mins (Now that's a good arm work out!)Place in a greased bowl and cover. (I cover mine with a warm, damp dish cloth.) Allow to rise for 1 hour in a warm spot. It should double in size.

Punch down and let rest 15 mins. Shape into loaves. Place on greased baking sheet. Allow to rise 1 hour, or until doubled. A good trick for rising bread, if your house isn't super warm, is to turn your oven on for a couple minutes, then turn it off an allow your bread to rise in the oven. If you can comfortably place your hand on the inside of the oven then it's not too warm.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg, beaten) and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. I don't have one of those brush things to use for "brushing" so I just use my fingers.

Maybe I should rename my blog, "Mountain Home; Quilting and Baking at the Homestead" ;)