Homemade Sourdough

After 8 and a bit months of being probably the most relaxed, calm (and healthy) I have ever been in my life, I am slowly getting rather stressed out. It has nothing to do with the impending birth or the fact that the NCT girls are dropping like flies, but the whole 'moving' situation. I suppose its always good to have something to worry about to keep the brain ticking, over but I usually prefer to be worrying about something thats within my control. Moving house is not.

If I was a millionaire things would be a lot easier, but I'm not. Although I'm sure I could drum up some money if I put the baby on eBay but I don't think The Wig would be too happy about that. Of course I won't put the baby on eBay, you get a much quicker sale on Gumtree.

Anyway, I think this moving home episode is going to be a long and bumpy roller coaster ride of a ride that I'm not particularly looking forward to. I'd forgotten how irritating it can be and we've only been looking for 4 days . . .

The first house I bought with my Ex-boyfriend was lovely. If I could have picked it up and moved it to a different location, I would have done, but unfortunately my special powers don't stretch to lifting houses. The house was in Clapton, which had terrible transport links, zero things to do and awful neighbours. We also got beaten up here one Sunday which was pretty much the icing on the doughnut. I know these things have given me a tainted opinion of the place and I'm sure lots of people like living there, it just wasn't for me. If things between the Ex and I weren't strained enough after buying the place then realising that after 5 years we were complete opposites, the strain of living here definitely tipped us over the edge. I did think it was a lovely little house though . . .

Entrance

Front room.

Hallway.

Hallway again.

Study.

Kitchen.

Kitchen to little dining room.

Kitchen to garden.

Garden. This was lovely. It had been a wedding present to the couple who lived there before us. While they were away on honeymoon, their parents had sorted it out for them with bay trees, clematis, fig trees and passion flowers. It was beautiful by the time we moved in.

Spare room.

Bathroom.

I ended up living here for about 18 months before we split up, sold it and moved. It's funny looking back at these old photos now, it seems like a whole other lifetime. I don't look back at this time with any regrets though since it enabled me to buy the place where I live now and got my juices going regarding decorating, furniture and plants. There is always a silver lining to every cloud, you just might have to have a real root around for it.

And luckily,  yesterday I found a new pastime that is going to enable me to release my 'moving' frustrations legally until the baby appears, then I'm sure I will be too knackered to even think about moving. Homemade Sourdough. 

Saying it's 'homemade' is stretching the truth somewhat as the dry ingredients came out of a packet but I did make it in my home. My recent discovery is that fancy bread is very expensive to buy, for example, round these parts, a loaf of sourdough costs between £3-£4 per loaf. However, Lakeland, my new favorite place, sell 5 x packs of sourdough mix for £6. Or the equivalent of £1.20 per loaf.

To make 1 x Loaf of Wright's Simple Sourdough

1 x pack of Wright's Simple Sourdough Mix

310ml of luke warm water

4 Tablespoons of Sunflower or Vegetable Oil

* Open the packet . . . 

* Tip the packet into a bowl and add the water and oil.

* With your hands, mix everything together for a few minutes, then put on a floured surface and leave for 5 minutes.

* After 5 minutes, punch it, stretch it and slap it around for 5 minutes.

* When your arms hurt, leave it again for 5 minutes.

* When your arms have recovered, repeat abusive process.

* After a good pummeling, place the mixture in a loaf tin, cover with cling film or a damp cloth and put in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or until the mixture has doubled in size.

* Meanwhile preheat the oven to 210C (Fan).

* Once the mixture has risen, remove the cling film / cloth, score the surface of the bread and put in the oven.

* Check loaf after 30 minutes to see if its cooked. The top should be hard and the underside should sound hollow when you tap it.

* Overall this was a very therapeutic thing to do but I did find the loaf had a slightly peculiar taste. Not totally offensive (and actually the Wig said he thought it tasted fine), but considering what good value it is (and the fact that I have 4 packs left) I will definitely be making this again.