Oh my friends, this has been a week. Not in a bad way, just busy and hectic and full of domestic tasks. I have had my most recent eye injections and Dennis has had his physical therapy and hopefully we will both live to see another week. My macular degeneration has improved significantly since my diagnosis, but I have some challenges ahead. My doctor has changed my medication for the third time in an effort to effect a better result.
This is my second loaf of sourdough, which I made last Sunday. It turned out just as good as my first attempt. I am so pleased with how my breadmaking journey is going. I was thinking of experimenting with my recipe, but this one is working so well, I am adopting the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. If any of you readers are sourdough bread makers, I would love to know the amount of sourdough starter you use in your bread. The recipe I am using calls for 150 grams, which seems to be quite a lot. Most recipes seem to call for 50 If you can, share in the comments what the amount of starter is you use per loaf.
I am having a blast making zippy bags again and will definitely have some more to share with you next Monday. I have found a source of zipper pulls, which I will share then as well. A cute charm or tassel as a zipper pull is a wonderful finishing touch to a zippy bag.
Also, I think I am due for a book share with you all. My reading has been affected negatively by my husband's illness, but I am still keeping my hand in, and will post on my best recent reads soon.
Dennis has had his second serious round of physical therapy today and is totally tuckered out, which is why I have a minute to write this post. I have put him to bed and have a moment to myself. His therapist is keen to strengthen his muscles in order for him to make better progress, which I think is the right direction to go. Dennis has improved his balance and can now stand for a moment at the kitchen counter to retrieve something out of the cupboard. He can do things like pull up his pants when dressing, but he still cannot walk any distance with his walker. His wonderful therapist, Travis, has several exercises we are going to apply ourselves to this coming week, in the hope of strengthening the muscles that will enable to him to walk better and for a longer distance.
I hope you all had a great week, and I look forward to sharing more frequent posts with you next week. Happy last week of January everyone!
11 Responses
Can’t comment on the sour dough recipe although I wish I could make bread. As a diabetic, I avoid the carbs that tempt me into the sin of gluttony! And bread is certainly one of them!
I’m glad your have a great eye Dr who seems to be working hard with medications. MD runs in my mother’s side of the family. She and all her siblings suffered from it. Back then injections weren’t a thing.
Caregiving is such a time consuming job, as well as physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting. I’m so glad you are finding ways to feed your soul. Take care of yourself too!! Easier said than done!
The bread looks fabulous although I am not a fan of sourdough bread at all. I will be looking forward to seeing your latest zip bags. I am going to be making a few more using iron on vinyl which I will iron on to empty Cheetos bags. I saw them on LuAnn Kessi’s blog a couple years ago and I have finally gotten around to gathering the materials I need to try and make some myself. I will post about my learning curve on this attempt!
Hope the latest meds work for you. I haven’t been following your blog for a long time and so I don’t know the details (and I don’t need to), but I am sorry that your husband is going thru a difficult time.
I think today’s Physical Therapists are wonderful! They know so much and the ones I’ve had recently are able to come up with the right exercises. (Even though they can be stressful to do.) Continuing good wishes for you both. The bread looks yummy!
So great to hear that both of your health journey’s are showing improvement!
My sourdough recipe uses 150g of starter. It is a Whole Wheat Walnut Sourdough bread (Uses 400g of white bread flour and 100g of whole wheat flour, with 70g of chopped walnuts added- really delicious).
I would be happy to send you the recipe if you like. It is one passed down from friend to friend.
Also, to use my sourdough discard, I love the King Arthur Baking recipe for Sourdough Crumpets (on their website).
I enjoy your cooking, quilting and reading adventures!
Hurray for improved macular degeneration! That’s why early treatment is so important! In my experience doing the home exercises is key to physical therapy. That’s when you make the most progress overall. I’m not a bread maker, so no insight from here…eater, yes; maker no! Your’s is certainly wonderful looking! Cheers to a productive weekend!
I would love to hear more about Dennis’ exercises for building strength. I am old (81 y. o.) and could use some help strength training.
Your husband’s improvements are encouraging. Very happy for you both.
Glad you both had a good week. How lucky to have your sister near the eye doctor!
Unusual for me and first time – I signed up for a very simple quilt along – Pinwheel Poppers – Snuggle Bug Stitching. Starts the first week in February. I am using up scraps and making a requested quilt for one of my youngest daughter’s friends. The girls are now 27 and have been close friends since kindergarten. The quilt is a clever one block design. The timing is perfect. Thank you for writing about your quilting, it has broadened my horizons to benefits of online possibilities.
Vickie
Your sourdough looks great. I have been making SD for about a year. I have 2 suggestions. Keep a journal of each bake. That way you will know what works and what doesn’t. I use a simple spiral notebook. My FAVORITE SD coach is Elaine Boddy. She has great You Tube tutorials and cookbooks. Very practical. Enjoy.
It sounds like your week was busy and flew by! Hope you can have a nice calm weekend. The sourdough bread looks picture perfect! With all that is going on in your world these days having something like bread baking is a great distraction. Take care!
I have been doing sourdough for about 2 years. I keep thinking I will branch out to some whole wheat or rye breads but I keep making the white bread because it comes out so nicely.
My recipe calls for 50 grams of starter. I think the main thing is making sure it is at a healthy stage – bubbly and stretchy. I also use a scale to measure the flour, water and starter correctly since most recipes seem to use grams. It made for more accuracy and confidence in my SD experiments.
The Sourdough Whisperer by Elaine Boddy is my go to book due to the picture breakdown of steps that now seem easy enough but so overwhelming when I started.
My two favorite recipes are Foccacia and Homemade Graham Crackers. The graham crackers were a big winner and store well. Amybakebread is a great source on Instagram. She is the source for both of my favorites. Hope that helps.
I have enjoyed your posts and how well you keep it up. That is a big job!