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Doodles from Thursday night


Rye: i used the discard from the sour starter on Saturday and Sunday to make a flatbread, inspired by the "tortilla" recipe (Icelandic Flatbrauð) in The Rye Baker. On Saturday i folded a butter-like spread into the dough and it was tender, but nothing special. This morning i think the starter is finally going, and the big feed of flour to the discard and then baking it later seemed to work in a wonderful way.

I'm a little mystified about the "maintenance" of the culture. Getting the culture going per the cook book one uses equal ratios of the previous culture, water, and rye flour. The maintenance recipe is one part flour, one part water, and 1/10th part previous culture. Is the idea that you have a culture sitting in the fridge and then you only need a little bit to get a nice bit going for whatever you plan to bake?

Corn: i tried popping some of last year's corn and - ppft. I suspect it is too dry, so i'll try moistening it. The barely popped kernels taunted me, so i have ground them up. It smells interesting -- a little smokey from the popping attempt. I will toss it in a discard waffle.

Dog: we started talking to a couple about adopting their 100 pound German Shepherd mix. I've gotten cold feet. I just remember how long i worried about Carrie and the cats, watching her savage a toy and visualizing a cat. Apparently, a dog my parents had when i was very young killed a neighbor's cat -- that could explain my deep worry -- and my brother had a cat who was killed by some savage Turkish shepherds (they menaced a bicyclist, too, and became a problem in the neighborhood). There's no evidence this dog would threaten our cats, but i just don't think i can deal with an additional worry. Christine has heard me and is disappointed, but supportive. I wish she could hide her disappointment more and celebrate taking care of my need to not do something scary and worrisome right now. At least she's managing her disappointment. I'm disappointed too, but it solidified to me that i don't need to take on one more situation where i need to worry.

Dad: It was after spending a couple hours with Dad and my sister where i realize my bandwidth is so limited. I think we have a way forward: Dad seems pretty clear about moving/selling the house, but doesn't want to rush. We identified a thing to do that will make things easier for caring for Mom -- ripping out old carpet that is hard to wheel the chair over -- and it's something that would have to be done for a sale. We've got him thinking about what to do when his cousin "retires" from taking care of his mother. My sister can feel that we aren't stalling and that something will be better.

Figs & spiders: i dehydrated some more figs after picking some with Christine watching my back. Two larger orb weavers have webs in the tree, and they give me the heebie jeebies. I am proud that i am coping with coexistence and haven't had to ask Christine to move them, but --- eeeeee.