American ??? day 25

Sunny and dry today, with wind chasing away the bugs. I love being able to keep my windows open day and night. 

Today was a "get things done" day for me. I purchased new bolts, nuts, and washers for our old play set that we finally put back together. Ivy helped ratchet the bolts tight. The tower was still a bit wobbly even after tightening, so I reinforced two of the sides with diagonal cross-braces. We also put new washers on the garden hoses and set up the sprinkler in the back yard where we had reseeded. 

With Zari's help, I climbed up a ladder and trimmed some of the lower branches on the maple tree in the back yard. Then I got out our extension ladder and cleaned out the dryer vent. When I lifted up the ladder, I got an unexpected dirt shower. I'm still scratching dirt out of my scalp. 

And I made 4 big sourdough loaves that turned out perfectly! I tweaked my recipe (yet again) and I think I've hit the perfect one. 

I was inspired by this way of doing sourdough but 800 g water per 1000g flour turned into a soupy disaster. Even with all of the proper techniques, I couldn't get the dough to hold together. It was more liquid that solid. 

I brought the water down to 725g and...success! I like the long overnight rise with relatively little starter, then the daytime "nap" in the fridge and baking right around dinnertime. 

My sourdough (I always double this recipe and it makes enough for a week):
50 g starter (pulled straight from the fridge, no need to wake it up)
1 Tbsp salt (around 22 g)
725 g water
100 g whole wheat flour
900 g all-purpose flour

Start in the evening. The first 2 hours fold every 15-20 mins, then cover and let rise overnight. Shape into boules the next morning as per the directions (2 large or 3 small). Cover and let rest in the fridge until late afternoon.

Take the boules out of the fridge at the same time that you turn the oven on to pre-heat. Bake 440 F (convection) for 40-45 min. I don't have a Dutch oven so I bake 2 loaves at once on parchment paper, on top of a pizza stone. I have an old metal pan on the bottom rack, into which I throw a cup of water when I put the loaves in.

I have one banneton basket and use random mixing bowls for my other loaves. I line the mixing bowls with a cloth napkin and use rice flour, not wheat flour, to keep the boule from sticking to the cloth. (I make my own rice flour in a coffee grinder).

(There are lots of sourdough techniques that I haven't elaborated here. The Perfect Loaf is a great place to start for folding and boule shaping techniques.)

Eric sunbathed while I was working. Well deserved and probably the best medicine for an illness that's going around the family. Whatever it is, Vitamin D will probably help. We can't get tested for covid-19 this weekend--all local testing places are closed--so patience, rest, and sunlight are our protocols. Inga, Dio, and Eric all have something involving a stuffy/runny nose; sore throat; fever (Dio and maybe Eric), coughing (Eric), and general malaise and body aches. I've felt "off" the past few days but no specific symptoms. 

Speaking of Vitamin D; I just read about a new double-blind RCT out of Spain with covid-19 patients. Even with the relatively small numbers, the study showed significant results with the group treated with Vitamin D, versus the control group. I'll be following larger RCTs with interest. 

I found several things for Zari and me at a thrift store, plus more old picture frames to repurpose. I altered a pair of pants this evening and need to shorten a pair of shorts for Zari tomorrow. I just finished framing two stitching projects that Inga and Ivy made several years ago. Pictures tomorrow as it's getting late and I want to lie in bed and do NOTHING for a little while.