Christmas Gifts

Christmas Gifts and Foggy Days

I love the foggy days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve … when so many of us do not have to report in to work … such bliss. I’ve been enjoying time with family and friends and my new kitchen tools!

Christmas Gifts

The first new “toy” I got was a completely unexpected purchase; a beautiful new Frigidaire range with a stainless steel front.

We had a power “brown-out” at our home – all the lights went dim, the fridge went off, and the brains of our electric stove got “scrambled”. No more oven.

Until the crew at Midnorthern Appliance came through for me just a couple of days before Christmas. And then I was back to baking bread and biscuits!

Christmas Gifts

First up, sourdough biscuits! Having a sourdough starter is like having a pet. It needs to be fed every day. If I do not throw out some of the starter each time I feed it, the bottle I keep the starter in gets too full. So instead of throwing it out, on the weekends I make sourdough biscuits.

Two cups of flour, a couple teaspoons of baking powder, a teaspoon of salt, five tablespoons of butter chopped into pea-sized chunks, and about a cup and a half of sourdough starter.

If it is to dry, pour in a couple tablespoons of milk – do this slowly. You do not want to get it too wet.

Bake in the oven for 12-16 minutes at 450 degrees. Lovely.

Christmas Gifts

But then, sourdough BREAD!! This is the most perfect loaf of bread I have EVER made. It was soft and chewy inside with a firm, crisp crust – but not so crisp it shattered my teeth – and a beautiful sourdough flavour that was strong enough to let you know it was from a sourdough starter but not enough to overwhelm the tastebuds. Umm, it was good!

A big part of why it was so great is the kitchen scale I got for Christmas.

Who knew that measuring flour and other bread ingredients by cups, teaspoons, and tablespoons was so inaccurate? Measuring the ingredients by weight is a much more accurate system. And, if my first loaf of bread is any indication, weighing the ingredients certainly does work!

Christmas Gifts

Yes, let the joys of the season continue!


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