Friday Flotsam

FRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRalay!

I feel like I need to ask this again – what IS a sourdough starter???(?)

YES, I googled it. Well, photos of it because I was on my phone and didn’t want to take too much time away from my book. (which one of its main characters is pretty much a sourdough starter.) I don’t understand sourdough starter. I do not get it.

In my head it’s like Audrey II meets sea monkeys. Remember sea monkeys?! Did you have sea monkeys growing up? I was always so fascinated by the bizarreness of them. Little weird shrimp people just bouncing around in that tiny blue container. Amazing. I need to get the kids some.

I digress.

SOURDOUGH STARTER. First off, you feed it every day. Come again? The starter is on a diet? And secondly, you pass the starter down through G E N E R A T I O N S. Gross, how does this even work?

I have multiple (annoying) questions. Pony up.

1. It’s not like making regular bread? Flour + yeast + water? Why can’t one just whip up a starter when they’re in the mood for sourdough? Why does it need to be decades old?
2. What if you don’t want to make sourdough bread for a while, but you have a gurgling yeast monster in a jar begging for attention and food? Do you toss it and start(er) over? I guess not since you’re saving it for your great grandchild.
3. You can cut into the starter and share it? How are you cutting into it? Butter knife? Won’t it ooze? Sincerely and embarrassingly, I do not get this whole thing.
4. Do you have a sourdough starter? Was it your grandpa’s? How do you save it when you’re not doing carbs? (“not doing carbs” – what even is that nonsense)
5. Back when I taste tested that peanut butter (not frozen) + mayo + pickles sandwich on sourdough for you, my neighbor baked the sourdough and brought it over. And she was all, “I have the starter if you ever want to try making your own!” And I was like, “Cool cool I have no idea what that means.”
6. Someone give me a sourdough starter for Christmas. Hey, I’m good with plants, maybe I can feed the little monster and keep it alive, too!
7. Scratch that, I’m freaked out.

Important poll:

Did you watch the first couple episode of Just Like That last night and what did you think?

(I told you it was important.)

So far the reviews are pretty mixed, and a bit harsh, geez.

I’ll watch it this weekend, but I’m so curious to know if it’s cozy, sad, forced, inspiring, exciting, awkward, off, or dead on. Or all of it. Or none of it. (and how they handled Samantha’s absence!)

Did you watch and did you cry? Or cringe?

Oh there’s the poll!

Cry or cringe?

Never mind.

I was at the salon yesterday and my girl and I were talking about books. (of course) She was like, “Do you buy all your books? Do you keep them or sell them? Or do you check them out from a library?” And I was like, “That is one of the top questions I get in Instagram! Go a little shorter right in the center, we want it French fringe.” (sorry that last part was about bangs, not books.)

I buy! I buy them and keep them. I store them down stairs on multiple shelves and it’s cute. My GOAL though, is next year when we push out our bedroom and vault the ceilings, is to have a little cozy book nook in a windowed corner with antique shelves lined with books and plants and a beautiful lounge chair of some sort. It’s all in my head, right there next to Audrey II sea monkeys sourdough starter.

But this is my question – what’s your style? Do you check the books out and get them back as quickly as possible or do you DESPERATELY NEED A HOME LIBRARY?

Another thing about buying my books is that I’ve sort of become the (sexy, just kidding) neighborhood librarian. I’m (constantly and obnoxiously) monitoring what the elementary school moms are reading and swapping out their books every other week. It’s glorious. I feel like I’m in The Giver of Stars. Minus the horse.

So tell me what you do. Buy, rent, keep, sell, give away, or Kindle? Or nindle?

Never mind.

Okay, last question for you.

Does anyone have a good hair balm recommendation? Something that silks but also gives tone and texture. Dimension. Grit. Attitude. Tames the fluff but sharpens the personality. Gives it stylish charisma.

Anybody?

And if it does the dishes, that would be great, too.

Weekend plans?

My parents are visiting today! We’ll eat smoked pork tonight, do a little shopping, open some gifts, go to the opera tomorrow (seeing my favorite opera of all time, Amahl and The Night Visitors), go check out the Union Station trains, and kick it by the fire.

From this week, in case you missed it! A couple of ultra comforting recipes – Chicken and Mushroom Enchilada Rice Casserole! So cozy. And also, Cheeseburger Calzones! Happy little pockets of deliciousness. Get in both.

So right, to starter to not to starter? That is the question.