Sourdough September

Since 2013 September has been known as Sourdough September to encourage people to have a go at making their own Sourdough Bread. It's just the sort of thing I like to have a go at so I'm attempting to make my own Sourdough Starter.

It looks like a complicated affair. Feeding a little jar of gloop every day for a week in the hope that it will grow and make delicious bread. Keep everything crossed for me.

It was a great excuse to use a kilner jar (of which I have several waiting for a use!) I carefully weighed out the flour and water (100g of each). Wholemeal flour to start with and bottled water. Gave them a mix and lightly covered it with clingfilm as instructed.

I set an alarm on my phone for the next day so I'd remember to check it for bubbles or any activity if I'm honest.

There were bubbles! I'm so excited, this might actually work. I threw half away and fed it on the 3rd day by adding 60g each of water and flour (white flour for feeding). And same again on the 4th day. It was very frothy looking on the 4th day and had almost doubled in size. What have I created? 

I got used to the routine of feeding the starter and seeing it grow then shrink back when it was hungry ready for feeding the next day. It kind of reminded me of the 90s and having a Tamagotchi pet! On day 7 it was ready to use.

I used the recipe on BBC Food to make my bread.

We all enjoyed the result. Tasty bread biologically leavened by my own homegrown sourdough starter. I'm so proud of it!

Making Face Masks

I finally got around to making some face masks this month. Erin is starting an apprenticeship soon and I wanted her to have a few to choose from so they can be washed in between using. I bought some black elastic from eBay and used some material I already had.

I found this great instructional video on YouTube (credit to 5 Minute Rhythmic Ideas):

I didn't use a sewing machine for mine, I just hand stitched them since it's not a massive amount of sewing. They look like a straight rectangle but the pleats in them fold out to make them big enough to properly cover your nose and mouth easily. I had to adjust the elastic length a little as it was a bit short.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out. It's such a great pattern which makes a very comfy mask. I was pleased to use up some cute material I had too. I love this Russian doll one!

I made purple spotty ones, red heart ones and little sheep ones. We've got around 7 or 8 now so Erin has plenty to choose from.

Have a try yourself. It's a simple make and very satisfying to be able to make your own masks. I need some cute owl or skull material now for me!

How we Organise our Cleaning

 

Cleaning is a thing I struggle with. I never feel like doing it and I put it off as much as I can. I don't mind tidying, the house is always tidy and looks nice but I know I should clean more often.

JD came up with a solution to my troubles by downloading the Chores App. It lets you add all the jobs that need doing and spreads them out over time so you're only doing a few minutes a day.

I find it much easier to manage this way. Instead of feeling every day like I should do more I just look what is scheduled to be done and do it.

The jobs are broken up into smaller jobs (like sweep the kitchen and mop the kitchen) so that each job only takes roughly 5 minutes to do.

I don't end up doing more than 15 minutes a day but it feels like I'm keeping on top of things.

Of course there are daily jobs to be done that can't be added here such as setting the table, making tea, washing up and laundry. But those jobs are already done between us. Erin sets the table and sometimes makes tea. JD takes care of the laundry plus sometimes washes up. I usually make tea and sometimes wash up.

The app includes a scoreboard so we can see who's doing what. This is a funny example of it because it looks like I do the most but it's usually a lot more split between JD and I with a few bits from Val and Erin. Having a scoreboard weirdly pleases me. It also shows who won the week (we should have prizes for the winner tbh, since it's often me! :D)

You can have the app on your phone or on a desktop like this and it's so helpful that we can all see what needs doing anytime. It's so simple for the kids to look and see how they can help out any given day. Sometimes I let the jobs build up and have a catch up day but it never gets really out of hand any more.

This app makes us feel organised with the cleaning. JD can look on his days off and see what I've done and what needs doing. I try to encourage the kids to do one job a week and they can pick a favourable job from the list and do it. With smaller kids you could allocate them jobs using the app too.

Give it a try if you want to feel more organised.

Oh Burger 39: Steak Frites Burger

For my 39th and penultimate burger I've made a Steak Frites burger.

Steak frites (or steak and fries) is a popular dish in France and this burger attempts to bring it into burger form. I'm not sure I think having the fries inside the burger is the best idea but it could add crunch and be great Let's see!

Ingredients:

burgers

buns

cheese

spinach

fries

relish or your favourite steak sauce

Make the burgers and cook the fries. Layer up the burger with spinach first then the burger and cheese. Top with sauce and finally the fries on top. Sandwich it with the bun top and you're all set.

Ratings: JD - 2, Emma - 2.5 

As you can tell by the ratings we weren't a fan of fries in a burger. It did add crunch but it was just too much and added a frankly unnecessary element to the burger. Burgers need to be easily held and eaten so too much filling always puts us off a bit. The rest of the burger was great and we enjoyed them but adding fries is a no-no for us!