While I was vacationing at my summer home in Cleveland (I staid with my parents), my mom and I decided to try to grow a yeast culture. Â We were inspired by a book my friend Kristina sent me from Alaska: a little pamphlet about the history of sourdough bread. Â It carried these instructions on making your own starter:
2 cups Flour
Place ingredients in a glass bowl and blend well with a wooden or plastic spoon. Â Cover loosely with a clean towel (this allows air to enter the bowl so your starter can pick up wild yeasts from the environment) and place it in a warm spot. Â Once a day, remove half the starter and throw it away. Â To the remaining starter, add 1 cup flour and 1 cup warm water; stir in well until lumps are gone. Â After 3 or 4 days of replenishing the starter it should be bubbly and have a pleasant sour smell. Â It is then ready to be used immediately or it can be placed in a clean container with a loose cover and refrigerated for later use.
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We followed the recipe, and place the bowl of flour and water out on the driveway to warm up. Â If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that last time I tried growing yeast in New York, I ended up with something that smelled like cat puke and looked worse. Â I hid it in the back of my refrigerator and eventually threw it away, too scared to make anything from it. Â This time wasn’t much better. Â Although the starter looked like a starter should, it again smelled exactly like cat puke. Â The stink of it made a friend dry heave.
However, having now attempted this operation twice with the same results, I was willing to try to make some cat puke bread. Â Mom, after listening to my father going on about some kind of deadly yeast, decided to throw it out. Â The decision was made for us when, after forgetting to bring the bowl in at night, some creature came along and ate it. Â I imagine the creature looked like this:
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