u/TaskGrouchy5799

Any leads would be appreciated! Thank you!

I used Brian Lagerstrom's starter (started on the 24th of April so still very young) and his method for easy sourdough. I didn't have much hope but decided to give it a go anyway as my starter, while sluggish showed consistent signs of life.

My ingredients were:

* Leaven (25g 12 hour sourdough starter, 100g 32c water and 100g bread flour)

*275g 32c water

*400g bread flour

*50g whole-wheat flour

*12g salt

I mixed my leaven which passed the float test with the warm water before mixing in the flours and salt. There was no major autolyse. 30 minutes of rest before my first set of stretch and folds, another 30 minutes and then letting bulk ferment in my oven with the light on for 2 hours.

I then shaped it using a bowl and floured tea towel and this is where I deviated from the recipe and opted to do a cold ferment overnight. I noticed I didn't have much rise so I let it do an hour stint in the oven before bagging it and refrigerating for about 12 hours.

This morning I preheated my oven with my Dutch oven for 30 minutes at 245c (no fan). I took the dough out the fridge and noticed it was quite flat but decided to press on thinking the worst that could happen was binning the end result. I snipped it, put it on parchment with semolina and baked for 15 minutes before removing the lid. I noticed the lack of oven spring but baked it lidless for another 25 minutes.

At this point my husband and I bought had thoughts that it was going to be dense and gummy. It didn't get much rise and felt heavy but it did look beautiful and I could see a crumb through one of the gashes and it was hollow sounding. We left it to cool for 2 hours.

We sliced into it and expected a major fail but we were so surprised! It was crusty and chewy but no gumminess with quite a few air pockets. It also tasted pretty good! Not a touch on our local sourdough bakery but it was certainly reminiscent. We devoured most of it with butter, cheese and pineapple jam.

I'm so glad with this success even though it wasn't perfect (I think it would have benefitted with a longer proofing time and I'm sure there are lots of things I can be doing better), I hope I'm on the right track!

I used Brian Lagerstrom's starter (started on the 24th of April so still very young) and his method for easy sourdough. I didn't have much hope but decided to give it a go anyway as my starter, while sluggish showed consistent signs of life.

My ingredients were:

* Leaven (25g 12 hour sourdough starter, 100g 32c water and 100g bread flour)

*275g 32c water

*400g bread flour

*50g whole-wheat flour

*12g salt

I mixed my leaven which passed the float test with the warm water before mixing in the flours and salt. There was no major autolyse. 30 minutes of rest before my first set of stretch and folds, another 30 minutes and then letting bulk ferment in my oven with the light on for 2 hours.

I then shaped it using a bowl and floured tea towel and this is where I deviated from the recipe and opted to do a cold ferment overnight. I noticed I didn't have much rise so I let it do an hour stint in the oven before bagging it and refrigerating for about 12 hours.

This morning I preheated my oven with my Dutch oven for 30 minutes at 245c (no fan). I took the dough out the fridge and noticed it was quite flat but decided to press on thinking the worst that could happen was binning the end result. I snipped it, put it on parchment with semolina and baked for 15 minutes before removing the lid. I noticed the lack of oven spring but baked it lidless for another 25 minutes.

At this point my husband and I bought had thoughts that it was going to be dense and gummy. It didn't get much rise and felt heavy but it did look beautiful and I could see a crumb through one of the gashes and it was hollow sounding. We left it to cool for 2 hours.

We sliced into it and expected a major fail but we were so surprised! It was crusty and chewy but no gumminess with quite a few air pockets. It also tasted pretty good! Not a touch on our local sourdough bakery but it was certainly reminiscent. We devoured most of it with butter, cheese and pineapple jam.

I'm so glad with this success even though it wasn't perfect (I think it would have benefitted with a longer proofing time), I hope I'm on the right track!

So I am my husband's number 1 fan! He spoils me to the moon and back and we love each other to bits.

And since he is a man, he is notoriously difficult to buy for. He earns great money in software and he buys whatever he wants and has hobbies that are hard to contribute towards like 3D printing, robotics and sim racing.

We were watching YouTube when a video came on about the Rise and Fall of Micro Machines which were a toy popular around our generation. He was telling me about the ones he had as a boy but he lost them when his parents got divorced and had to live with his grandparents. The one that stuck out in his mind as his favourite was the X-Wing.

So I hopped on Vinted to see what I could find and got this vintage set for under €60. As you can see, the gang's all here, including the X-Wing!

Based on my husband's reaction, it was the best €60 I've ever spent!

I'm in the Netherlands so it arrived later. Everything smells gorgeous and I definitely smell the peach in the shower cream, like fresh peach skins. Softy wasn't really what I was expecting though but maybe it smells better in the shower. I also don't think the soap is properly cured. It is very soft.

I have gone ahead and ordered June's box for the fruity scents but paused July's as it didn't seem like very good value and I don't need two shampoo bars in a row.

I'm so happy it arrived in one piece!

We watched a video on YouTube about the rise and fall of Micro Machines and he was telling me about some of the ones he had as a kid, including a Star Wars X-Wing.

I looked on Vinted and found this set from 1995, still unopened for under €50.

Best money I've ever spent!

I did buy it on special in January but over a €20 jump seems wild. I'm in the Netherlands and it now all costs around €70 across websites. I recall it being around €60.

I'm not going to change my aging cats diets but it seems absurd.

Cats' reactions for tax.

"Gis" is the Afrikaans word for yeast and "brood" is bread. Named after Yolandi Visser from Die Antwoord.

It's bad when the slop looks better than the real thing.

Spur is the best!

I enjoy paper type crafting and recently got a Cricut so have been making bookmarks for my school leavers (I'm a teacher) and have gotten into cardmaking. I also love cooking! I currently have a sourdough starter on the go, make cupcakes to share with my colleagues and host elaborate dinner parties for my friends. I also have a severe Lego addiction.

We recently moved to the countryside so I'm also looking into cheesemaking!

Not perfect but a work in progress! Still a few more to go! Combination printable vinyl, holographic laminate and Cricut value vinyl (the smart vinyl gave me such a headache!) Using the washi sheet setting with light pressure on a standard grip mat has helped considerably!

I got the bookmark blanks off AliExpress and they included the tassles.

It's originally an Oxo salad dressing mixer but the mixer part broke. It's plastic but I like that it has the measurements and it can be vented due to the spout design. I'm mainly concerned about the size and material.

This is day 1 of my first ever attempt! Wish me luck!