Welcome to the middle of the week! You made it! I made it! We made it, hooray!
If you’re from the world of Instagram/TikTok, you might have heard of WIP Wednesday, in which Wednesday you show your work in progress. Below you will find my attempt to do the 50 states with their state flowers. So far we have North Carolina (represent!) and Oklahoma. So far Oklahoma has seen a couple of revisions and I’m still not quite happy with it so I won’t even bother putting it here. Talk about a true work in progress project!
North Carolina outline with blooming dogwoods – find it here
Now, are these my only WIPs? No, because why would I only have one thing going on? I have a book that I’m working on (nothing substantial yet, so don’t think you’re getting anything any time soon), I need to make some ghosts and pumpkins for the spooky season, and I guess my sourdough is a work in progress too. If we wanted to get really deep here, I would say that I am also a Work In Progress, but I don’t think we are ready yet for that conversation.
Anyhoooo, just a quick post regarding WIPs as I have another post I need to work on for today. TTFN, ta ta for now!
Quick reference drawing of a mature sourdough starter by me
Things I use for my sourdough starter. I got two of these jars because they work perfectly to store my starter. The reason I have two is for when I need to switch my starter over to a new jar if the new jar becomes crusty with old flour. They have a clasp lid that isn’t super finicky, a rubber ring that can be removed when placed in the dishwasher, and a wide mouth to make stirring things easier. Now I love these flour sack towels. They are good for EVERYTHING! Covering dough while it proofs, protecting Brad from direct sunlight, used for packing material when we moved. Literally everything! Plus the amount you get for the price is very reasonable. Now, the most important thing when it comes to baking, especially with sourdough, is using a kitchen scale. It works out great especially when converting non-GF recipes to GF when using my GF flour blend. Since different blends have different ratios, their texture and consistency are different resulting in bakes that either become very moist or super dense.
Now that you know what I use, you can use them too! I know after reading all about Brad III, you were super excited to make your own sourdough starter. Well let me tell you how to get started: 1. Wash your jars with warm, soapy water and make sure they are DRY! 2. You are going to place your jar on your scale and zero it out (the tare button). 3. You will measure out 40g of flour. Now you don’t have to be like me and use GF flour; just generic flour from the store will also work. 4. Next, take some warm water from the tap. We don’t want distilled, our wild yeast isn’t fancy. 5. You are going to take a butter knife and get a little dab of either honey or maple syrup. This gives the yeast some extra sugar to eat and be super excited to work for us. 6. Mix it all together. It should look like a lumpy paste. If it’s too soupy, add a bit more flour. If it’s very dry, you can add a smidge more water. 7. Now, at least for this first day you don’t need to close the lid all the way. Make sure you find a nice warm spot that is out of the way (your oven can work) and place a towel over the jar. Don’t tuck it too tight around the jar, just enough so dust and dirt don’t get into the jar. 8. Now we wait at least 24 hours before moving on to the next step. Some people say 48, but I’m just a tad impatient. 9. Time to check on the starter, maybe you’re seeing some bubbles, maybe not. It’s very shy at this point and won’t make much of a fuss. Now take a spoon, give it a quick stir, and you are going to discard about 1/3 of the starter. I know, it seems like a waist, but trust me you will thank me later when you don’t have to feed your starter 5 cups of flour because you forgot to trim it down. 10. You’re going to take your scale, and repeat steps 3 and 4. Again, it should look like a lumpy paste. 11. Close your jar up, cover it with your towel and stick it back where you put it before. 12. Now for the next week, you will repeatedly discard and add more flour and water. This is how you will get your yeast to mature. This is not the time to make anything with it. It’s baby starter, so it can’t form any good loaves or even crackers. This is where you will get to know each other and you should start seeing more bubbles as your yeast grows and gets more active.
Okay, it should be at least day 10 before you attempt to make anything. Unless you live in a warm climate and you are seeing lots of action, then you might be able to get away with making something.
If at any point your starter gets fuzzy, green, or has a gray liquid on top, you have to trash it. It is now contaminated and cannot be used (Remember how I said we don’t talk about Brad II? This is why. RIP Brad II).
Now, if you can’t make something every day with your starter, you can place it in the fridge. It will go dormant (very sleepy) and won’t be in the mood to eat. I don’t recommend doing this while it is maturing as it’s not good for a growing starter. Just make sure that before you bake, you bring out your starter and give it a good feeding and let it warm back up to room temp.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the basics of making a sourdough starter. There are plenty of resources and support groups out there when it comes to sourdough.
First of all, they don’t all live in trees (talk about a misnomer), but are instead identified by their feet! They have toe pads to help them climb and the last bone of their toe is actually shaped like a claw!
Tree frogs can be as little as an inch long and as big as 5.5 inches! They come in a variety of colors, but most of the species in the United States are green, gray, or brown.
There are over 800 species of tree frogs, mostly found in the tropical climates of the western hemisphere. They are considered insectivores and rely on a diet of flies, ants, crickets, beetles, and other small invertebrates.
Amphibians as a whole are on the decline worldwide, due to habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change.
If you like the style of my tree frog, check me out on Society6 and snag a sticker!
Okay, so we know when the pandemic started, everyone started making sourdough bread. I may have been late to the game and started my own sourdough starter a year later… what’s the opposite of a trendsetter? A trend snoozer?
Anyways, as a (mostly) gluten-free individual, I gave myself the extra challenge of making sourdough using gluten-free flour blends. Let me tell you, I did not follow all the rules that you are supposed to follow when it comes to creating a sourdough starter and it turned out awesome. I made some gorgeous loaves, and a ton of English muffins, and hoarded a bunch of discard; it was going great. Until it didn’t and the hooch went sour (bah-dum-tiss).
I decided to take some time off and here we are a year and some change later and Braddeaus “Brad” III is maturing quite nicely. (We won’t talk about Brad II).
Brad III, age 8 days
So what makes sourdough fun and exciting, even though it’s like a third pet that you have to feed and take care of? You are literally taking wild yeast that hangs out in the air and making delicious bread (and other baked yummies) out of it! I mean it brings the whole science and biology thing to a whole other level. Not only do you get tasty and tangy bread, but it’s even healthier for you than normal bread.
Okay, let’s break it down – or at least let’s break down the WebMD page on the benefits of sourdough. Sourdough is full of nutrients that are needed to live a healthy life. This includes folate, potassium, and magnesium. Folate (or folic acid, vitamin B9) is important for red blood cell formation and healthy cell growth and function. Potassium, an essential mineral, is needed by everything in your body and works as an electrolyte. Magnesium is also super important in helping enzymes that are needed for regulating biochemical reactions (muscle and nerve functions, blood sugar control, energy production, and so on.) Some studies on sourdough say it acts like a prebiotic – meaning it helps feed the good bacteria in your gut. These bacteria live in your gut and they are what help you digest your food and make you feel good (look up “Gut as a Second Brain” if you don’t believe me). While I could go on and on about the many more benefits of sourdough bread, I will end it there.
So now the question is, did I convince you to make your own sourdough starter yet? Or will you just sit and wait while I’ll feed you the crumbs of my labor (I know I gave a chuckle at that.) While Brad III isn’t quite mature enough yet for an elaborate bread loaf, I have started gathering my recipes for using up my discard. I’m thinking English muffins first – I know of a great breakfast sandwich that uses them – followed by some crispy crackers for snack (anyone a dip fan out there?) Then for dessert, I can’t decide if I want cookies or brownies; I guess there’s always tomorrow’s discard to use.
We get it, you love your pet. All those photos of them sleeping and making derpy faces, videos of zoomies, and the crazy sounds they make, just make you feel all warm and fuzzy. You can scroll through them for hours, force your friends and loved ones to look at them over and over again, and you constantly take more and more making sure that it is a never-ending cycle. I too am guilty of doing this, heck I even made a slideshow of derpy Bean faces just last night!
Now imagine if you could get your cute little buddy as a sticker and place it on your laptop (or water bottle!) for the whole world to see. Then you could just take that face wherever you go and it would be immortalized forever (until you get a new laptop or water bottle that is).
You know, I did exactly that. You might have seen a picture of a cartoony-looking cat in my first blog post. Yep, that’s a picture of Bean that I drew; and while I don’t have a way to make stickers myself yet, my lovely step-sister made me a whole sticker pack of that face. So not only is it on my water bottle, but it’s on my iPad case and on my fiancé’s water bottle. There’s even a couple floating around my parents house. And let me tell you, it is the funniest thing I have ever seen.
So here I am, drawing faces of Bean, even a couple of Draco (dark beard and all) when my fiancé gets the idea that I should draw pictures of our friend’s animals and send them to them. Now, I don’t know if you have ever thought about this, but drawing black dogs is a lot harder than you think.
While I still have a long ways to go in the world of pet portraits, I like to think some of them have turned out pretty well. Scroll down for some fun art and cute animals.
Let me know what you think and remember – only you can prevent wildfires.
The one and only Draco – to see what he gets up to, follow him on Instagram @dracothemagnificentbeardieMy stepsister’s cat, Daisy – also on Instagram @duchessdaisythecat1My future sister-in-law’s cat, Katniss – is sadly not on InstagramMy friends’ best boy, Boomer, may he rest in peace up in doggy heaven ❤
This is my first blog post and I already feel like I am back in high school writing an essay. Please bear with me as I figure out what it is I want to get out of this and what I think you (my lovely audience) want to see.
Ever since the pandemic started, more and more individuals have found their creative voice – we now have a wide range of bakers, artists, writers, singers, and dancers – individuals who used to work as corporate drones and decided to say no more!
So how do you fit in as an aspiring creator when it feels like there isn’t anything new you can contribute? To tell you the truth, I actually don’t know, so we’re going to figure that out together.
I’m hoping to use this blog for a variety of fun things – I don’t know about you, but I hate being stuck in a box where I only focus on one thing – so this blog will show you fun foods you can make, some interesting facts, an occasional look into my artistic endeavors, and maybe some occasional bad jokes. I’ll probably talk about my cat, Bean, and my bearded dragon, Draco, as they keep me company during the day, whether it be something funny that they did (Bean is quite the spaz sometimes) or how cute they look. I might mention my significant other, usually, he is quick with the dad jokes, but I won’t go on and on about how lucky I am to have him in my life (too much that is).
Anyways, back to the main goal of this first post, being creative in a world full of creatives. The best way to be creative is to just let all of your thoughts and ideas flow out – whether it be writing your quick inspirations down on a scrap piece of paper (talking to the queen of notepads here), whipping out your phone to record a thought or an inspiring piece of song, having a gazillion tabs open on your computer and phone (mine include recipes I want to try, jobs I should apply to, a makeshift todo list, exercises and fitness regimes I need motivation for… you get the picture), use whatever you have available to just create something. Don’t worry about making it a pretty first try, just get it out there! From brain to physical, you will be more likely to act upon it (and less likely to forget about it).
Okay, I’ve said what I wanted to say for this first post (and probably then some). Hopefully, you’re still with me and I didn’t bore you too much. And with that I’ll end with some catchphrase that will sure to change in time:
Just a Little Bit of Everything 