Sourdough Bread

With all of the fermenting I've been doing, kombucha, kefir, water kefir, I decided to try sourdough. This one is really fun. It's always funny to tell people that I have to feed my sourdough. Gets a good laugh. In a week, I have over two quarts. I decided last night that I had better put it to some use. Thank God for the internet and being able to find bread machine recipes. Yes, I know how to bake bread in the oven. Yes, it is fun to punch it down, too. I just hate the time it takes. Mix up the dough. Let it rise. Punch it down. Let it rise again. Bake it. It's just to much trouble babysitting my dough. This way, my bread machine does all the work, while I play on Face Book. So, it came out pretty good. It has a nice, crispy crust and a yummy, chewy texture. My family likes it. Next on my list is Sourdough chocolate chip cookies. Maybe tonight, after dinner... Right now it's time to pick up crickets to feed the frogs, lol. Ta, ta.

I was at the Racquet Club today. Don't I sound rich? LOL. Yeah, right. Seriously, we have friends who have a membership. And quite honestly, our Racquet Club is more of a YMCA with a bar added. It is a fun place to have a kid's party. The nice thing is there are lifeguards to keep the kids under control, while the parents enjoy some adult time. Very relaxing. And so fun for the kids.

Doing the Mom Thing

Oh the high school years! Not mine. My children's. We have four down, only two more to go. The first four weren't really involved in much, so it wasn't a big deal for me. Now I have one in band and choir. The problem with being a band parent is that suddenly marching band becomes your life, not just your child's, yours too. So tonight I had the joy of manning the Eegees booth. Eegees are basically an Icee made with natural flavors and fruits. By the end of the night, I was a sticky mess, and my feet hurt. Thank God I only have two years of this left! Wait! No. It begins again is six years. God help me.

Why Pretty City Homestead

Why did I name my blog Pretty City Homestead? Don't laugh. You should have seen the names I tried, starting with "Simply Urban". It was taken. Seriously? Now try coming up with ANY title similar. All taken. Right down to "Urban Chic". Finally, Pretty City Homestead popped into my head. Not taken! Yay! The name is rather funny considering there is NOTHING pretty about my homestead. Laugh, laugh. Maybe it's the beginning. I can work on fixing this old, falling apart, POS house, and blog about it. Ok. That works. Next on my list of things to blog is my return to the "simple life". Such a funny phrase when there is nothing simple about it. It's not difficult, or overly time-consuming, but it's a little more work than modern Americans are used to. My foray into "simple" has begun with culturing probiotics. I am lucky enough to have friends who love to share. My first try is kombucha. This is a culture that looks like a mushroom. It's fed Sweet Tea, which it turns into a sweet/tart drink. Fabulous for doing a kidney and liver cleanse. I was also given some milk kefir grains. The kefir culture "eats" the lactose in the milk, separating it into "curds and whey". The curds can be eaten like cottage cheese, made into a cheese spread, eaten like yogurt, or drank like a smoothie. The final culture is water kefir. These "grains" look like clear, plastic chips. They live on sugar water and create a fizzy drink similar to soda pop. i can't wait to try these. Oops, I almost forgot! The final, FINAL culture is Sourdough. This one is really fun to work with. I love watching it "feed". It bubbles and foams and is just really cool. It is also a lot more work than the other cultures. Sourdough has to be fed more often than the others. Luckily it's as easy as stirring in a little flour and water once a day to once a week. I can not wait to make bread. This is going to be fun. So, welcome to the beginning of my homestead in the city. I can't wait to share as learn. I'm sure I'll make many mistakes along the way. Hey, that's part of the fun of the journey!