Quickie: NEW MICROWAVE! Sour Dough

I'm way more excited than I should be about my new (well, new to me) microwave. It's yellow! And it has a timer on it! Which is more than I can say about the last one... also, it works.

Other new, exciting ventures: Sour Dough Starter!

Thank you, Mark Bittman. Sour dough is pretty amazing. You make the "starter" out of flour, water and yeast and let it sit for a while. After that, you have it. FOREVER! As long as you keep in in the fridge and 'feed' it some more flour and water every week or so, you're good. I remember my great aunt had sour dough starter that her neighbor in Tennessee gave her that the neighboors mother had started and so on....I like thinking about things like that. The same goes for yogurt (assuming you're brave enough to make it.. vom). My great-aunt's husband is Lebanese, and she has yogurt culture that his mother brought over from Lebanon.

"At least two days before you plan to bake, mix together 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/8 tsp. yeast, and 1 cup warm water. Stir, cover loosely, and place on top of our refrigerator or another out-of-the-way place. Stir every 8 to 12 hours; the mixture will become bubbly, and eventually develop a sour smell... To maintain the starter, add about 3/4 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water to the remainder and stir well. Cover well and refrigerate. Use within a week, or add a little more flour and water to the starter to keep it going. If you always take half the starter and rejuvenate it this way, it will last forever."

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble!