white cotton (haiku)

Laughter and firm hugs,
the warm smell of white cotton
– finally at home.

~

First sourdough bread!

Monday I prepared my first sourdough starter with rye flour. It lived on our bathroom heater, so the wild yeast multiplied like crazy and the sourdough was ready for a test run after four days – it was full of millions of tiny bubbles and the smell had turned from vinegar to freshly cut sour apples.

As recommended I added some normal baking yeast to this first use of my sourdough culture. Apart from that it contains nothing but flour, water, and some salt. I’m looking forward to slicing it tomorrow and eating some of it with butter and homegrown cress :)

The bread weighs more than one kilogramme! I need to find someone to help me eat this, as I won’t be able to eat all of it before the next baking day and our freezer compartment is really tiny (and we don’t own a toaster – I don’t like untoasted defrosted bread).

Next week I’ll try to make a bread without extra yeast. I’d also love to add some spelt flour – I prefer mixed bread over pure rye. Do I have to add yeast when I add flour other than the type I used for the starter?

master’s thesis update: up and away

I handed in my thesis last Thursday! Finishing it was only made possible by a lack of sleep and lots of energy drinks, but I made it, though barely. The following days I felt very sick, tired, and cold.

A little over two weeks to the oral exam, then I’ll be free and should look for a job – I won’t be able to work in my current mini-job at university after they send me my certificate (which should happen in early summer) because I need to be enrolled for that position.

First home-made bread of the year

Because of a lot of stress (master’s thesis, family issues, and health problems) I haven’t had time and energy to bake my own bread this year so far. Today I felt motivated to get back to it – store-bought bread just doesn’t come with a nice crust, and I craved some ‘real’ food. This bread is a very simple one, made from spelt flour (1/2 whole grain, 1/2 white flour) with dry yeast, salt, and water. I added a little bit of baking powder for extra fluffiness and put a bowl of water with salt and herbs in the oven. Top and bottom are sprinkled with pestled flaxseed and amaranth (adding some crunch and nutrients).

One of these days I want to try my hands at sourdough.

The best thing about fresh bread (besides getting to choose the ingredients)? Eating the first, still warm slice with butter.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Over here we don’t actually celebrate St. Paddy’s, but I wanted to put some green into tonight’s doodle nevertheless. It will be the last full day I have to write and finish this annoying master’s thesis. Send me luck and blessings!

starfish is not amused (by language typology)

master’s thesis update: three more nights!

So I’ve only got three nights left and there is so much to write! At the moment I’m only able to function somewhat normally on a mix of caffeine and valerian, because otherwise I fall asleep (without anything) or either run around in a manic-creative mood or get really bad anxiety/panic attacks (both on caffeine, depending on current depression level). Overall I’m rather jumpy these days. Yuck.

I’m looking forward to going to capoeira class again without feeling guilty about not being at my desk again! And to sleeping at normal times.

nimechoka (‘I’m tired’)

Kitchen Greenhouse Update: 418 – I’m a Teapot!

5:30 a.m. on a Saturday – creative break from writing my master’s thesis. I decided it was time for this old teapot to be turned into something beautiful. Hopefully I’ll find some lavender to plant it among the ivy.

Gallery of recent additions to my upcycling project – turning juice-to-go plastic cups into art. I like the combination of the clear cups and ivy growing upwards along the drinking straw.

Kickstarter for Publishing Poetry?

I’ve been thinking about realising my dream of publishing some of my poetry (especially the haikus/rengas) in some form. What do you think about using kickstarter or some similar way of funding for this purpose?
Anybody interested in an illustrated book with my poems? (Or poems combined with photographs?)

Edit: Somehow I got the feeling that this post is attracting commercial bloggers because of certain keywords. If you are interested in MY stuff and supporting it (and not in getting views/likes on your business), please leave a short comment or send me a note via the contact form.