kimmykimmykokonut

So today I sold my car.
I am sad but liberated at the same time.
I learned how to drive on that car, pumped gas that was 97 cents a gallon, went 5 times across the country with it and somehow even off-roaded on forest service roads. I used to be so dependent on my car, especially living the American culture of have about a 30 minute drive commute to work (which is horrible and I don’t recommend a commute of over 15 minutes).
Anyways, a haiku to my car:

Teal escort, my friend
We’ve been down many great roads
Here’s to your new path

I’m out of poetry practice. Hopefully my car performs well for it’s new owner and I can move forward gracefully, remembering how loyal a car she has been. I have outgrown her living in a major city, especially since we moved so close to school and downtown. I’m in a car maybe twice a week for circus class and occasionally work. It wasn’t practical to pay insurance and struggle to find a parking spot and move the car every few days to avoid a ticket. Now she’s got somewhere more exciting to go than just sitting in a parking spot collecting pollen. Can you tell I’m trying to rationalize selling my car? My only car? For 46% of my life I have relied on her to get me out and about.

Let’s all have a moment of silence as I release my attachment to Baby.
We are one step closer to Peru now.

I’ve always loved sourdough but my appreciation for it has grown so much since I have captured the yeast that lives in the air and my new pets make me very happy. I had a hard time at first, then once I relaxed about the sourdough I’ve realized it’s not very hard to mess up. As long as they get fed, they are happy. I’ve been experimenting with different recipes and haven’t found a bread recipe I am very excited about yet, but my blueberry pancakes this morning were divine. Not too thick, not too thin and just a hint of sour. I’m going to try a new recipe for pancakes tomorrow and I’ll post the winning recipe here.

There’s a lot of online info about making and maintaining sourdough, so I won’t try to be wordy and redundant. Basically, I throw away (or make something like pancakes) with about half of my starter, then replace the missing volume with equal amounts of flour and warm water, stir, and let it sit at room temp for 5 hours or overnight. It can be kept in the fridge indefinitely but it will go dormant if not fed (dump half, add flour/h20 mix, sit at room temp, refridge) once a week. It’s a nice excuse to make pancakes on the weekend because I hate to throw out the yeast babies that work so hard for me.

To make the starter, I recommend looking at a few online resources and then just getting a feel for it. I basically just made a 1 cup batch of flour and water and left it at room temp with a linen or cotton cloth over the top and fed and stirred it every day for a few days. The more this is done the sourer it will become. I want mine really sour; I think I am used to the store bought “sourdough” where they add the vinegar and it has a kick to it. Hopefully I can get my sourdough to that point naturally.

Here’s to using the environment around us to support and nourish our bodies!
I think the most beautiful thing about sourdough is that it is muy “terroir”; yeast is slightly different in every location, so homemade sourdough tastes unique to it’s location.

Yum!
Blueberries from last seasons picking adventure…we have just enough to last until until the blueberries are in bloom again!

I am not in love with either recipe–I will develop one and post it soon. I’m lucky to have a taste tester living with me.