Sourdough

Last week, I made a batch of sourdough, using some rye flour as a starter - although the recipe I used for the ratios of water and flour called for second, third and fourth starters to be mixed from the original starter, the 24 hour levain worked well and a small batch of bread was produced. I used organic flour, honey and kosher salt. After working my way through that batch, I put together another batch of cranberry wheat bread, and used almond meal in the recipe. Came out pretty well. Here are some pictures of the sourdough levain, dough and finished product, as well as the cranberry loaves.

24 hour Rye Starter, Photo by Michael McKinney

Sourdough, 1st rise, Photo by Michael McKinney

Sourdough, final rise, Photo by Michael McKinney

Honey Wheat Sourdough, Photo by Michael McKinney

Cranberry Almond Wheat Bread, Photo by Michael McKinney

Another thing - I got royally stumped on a sudoku puzzle in the newspaper - the five star Friday puzzle had me riding out at 11:00 PM to find the last copy of the paper and gently setting it aside until I felt ready to attempt it again.  The next day, it took me an hour in the morning, followed by the exact same thing happening on the Saturday five star puzzle, leading to three hours of puzzling and at least ten wrong answers before getting the right numbers in the right places, here's a photo of the finished result -

10-6-2012 Five Star Sudoku, Photo by Michael McKinney