OK, well its finally day 10 in my bootstraping of some sourdough starter. I’m proceeding under the guidance of

“Nancy Silverton’s Breads from the La Brea Bakery: Recipes for the Connoisseur” (Nancy Silverton). I’ve started with some organic grapes, water, and a good bit of unbleached bread flour. I’ve made it through the early bubbly stages where it looked safe (shown below). And then have now moved past the alcohol mystery liquid on top phase.

Now I’m finally at the “oh my god this thing is so needy” last phase of feeding this little monster 3 times a day. I’m gonna have to spring for the 25 lb. bag of flour next time because this little guy is bleeding me dry with all this flour I’m about to start pouring into him. But if he can bring me some tasty loaves of bread then I’ll feed this little Audrey Jr. as much as I need to (look out neighbors and visitors).

My next mission is to score some fire-bricks to try and turn my lame ass suburban electric oven into something passable for baking bread. I’m also hoping to find something that I can pass as a proofing basket at either World Market or (heaven forbid) Ross/TJ Maxx. Now to go try and rid my hands of this alcoholic/yeasty smell.