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Goodbye Cruel World :-)

Nancie has been making the discreet suggestion for a while that I should do something with the sourdough starter or else get rid of it. I eventually decided that I had to agree with her; I really am not using the starter often enough that I can justify taking up the space and the mixing bowl. So tonight I took a couple of final (unfortunately very blurry) pictures:

First blurry picture of starter.

Second blurry picture of starter.

and then washed the bowl out.

I haven't given up on sourdough; but I have to be practical: it's not my favorite bread, or Nancie's.

On another note, I've been meaning to tell you about the next recipe I'm looking at from the Eliza Acton cookbook I told you about Thursday. I found another recipe for "Good Family Bread". Unfortunately, this one I would have to more than halve before I could bake it manageably. The subheading reads "Sufficient for a week's consumption for ten persons." Presumably that includes the family and the servants. The recipe begins "With three pecks of the best flour, mix ..." According to my conversion utility, three pecks of flour is approximately 112 cups, maybe about 33 to 35 pounds of flour. That's a lot of flour.

If I look at the proportions, it appears the recipe has roughly the same proportions as the Amish White that I make often (except for the sugar), but it's enough to make 35 loaves or more. Which leads to the observation: If this was sufficient for ten persons for a week, then each person was averaging half a loaf of bread every day. That's a lot of bread-eating, yes?

I'll see if I can't get a more manageable recipe (excuse me, "receipt") for you shortly. Meantime, God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread.
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Comments

  1. MaryAugust 22, 2011 at 7:54 AM

    I don't think that was a lot of bread considering the amount of physical activity done; and the lack of heat in winter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Matt GAugust 22, 2011 at 11:05 AM

    Well that's true. I admit I don't have a good picture of British eating habits in the mid-19th century :-)

    ReplyDelete

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