A great editorial from the Wall Street Journal this past week:
I'm not sure that holding certain positions just to disagree with Richard Dawkins is the best tactic, but I've been much more secure in my faith since a few years ago I decided that it didn't (and couldn't) rest on the discovery of archeological "proof" or "scientific" studies on the efficacy of prayer.
And yet, I blanch at the idea that convincing our kids about the existence of a supernatural figure who "knows when you've been sleeping, knows when you're awake" and gives gifts to good little boys and girls while withholding them from the disobedient ones, only to pull the rug out from under them when they are old enough to catch mommy and daddy putting the gifts under the tree. Our tactic perhaps ought to be, rather than to manufacture the myth and tie gifts to behavior, to focus on the spirit of Christmas -- that Christ coming into the world has made potential saints of us all, spreading good cheer (common grace) and giving to those in need (anonymously, if possible). If that spirit is to be personified in a fat elf with red pajamas, so be it. He need not have all sorts of supernatural traits (omniscience, omnipresence) but perhaps the larger supernatural traits of forgiveness and generosity -- the image of the Divine by which God created us. These traits represent the breaking of the Curse, and the coming of Father Christmas to end our never-ending winter.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Best and worst sports moments
In college, the Bills were winning left and right, and we were a mere 60 miles from what was then Rich Stadium. With the Bills on tv every single Sunday and surrounded by Bills fans, it wasn't hard to start rooting for them. I've lost track of the Bills, and in many ways most of pro football in the last 15 years, but I did watch MNF last night. I was unfortunately reminded of one my worst sports memories when the would-be winning 47-yard field goal attempt sailed wide to the right. It brought back a crushing moment in 1991 when I was in DC with a bunch of rabid Giants fans watching Super Bowl XXV. It also caused me to think for a few moments about where Wide Right fits on my list of worst sports moments. Here goes:
5. 19-8, when I sat in the grandstand at Fenway Park for game 3 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees. It was downright depressing, but I was still at Fenway in October, so it couldn't be all bad. The Sox didn't lose another game the rest of the post-season.
4. Former Pirate Barry Bonds leading the San Fransisco Giants beating up on the Pirates in the first ever major league baseball game I went to with my father, in the pouring rain.
3. Wide Right 1991.
2. Aaron Boone hitting an 11th inning homer off Tim Wakefield to end the 2003 ALCS.
1. Former Pirate Sid Bream sliding under the tag in the 1992 NLCS game 7. I STILL can't stand the tomahawk chop. I still hate the Braves with a white hot passion and root for the Yankees when they play each other.
But not to be too negative, here are my top 6 best sports moments:
6. Going to Camden Yards with my dad and brother. Still not sure why we had to wait 30+ years before the three of us went to a game together (something about beer, I think), but it was special.
5. 51-3 1991 AFC Championship. I spent $50 on a single seat, carpooled with a bunch of others and ignored signs offering $500 for a single ticket. Never regretted being at such a landmark game for my first NFL experience. Will always remember the crowd's cheer when OJ Simpson walked onto the field for a pre-game report. Still wonder what the reaction would be if he came to Buffalo now???
4. My first baseball game at Three Rivers Stadium vs. Houston Astros. Field looked like a pinball game from way up in the rafters.
3. The look of amazement on Peter's face when he first saw the field and left-field wall at Fenway, and his insistent search for Wally the Green Monster, all through the ballpark.
2. Foulke to Mientkiewicz to win the 2004 World Series.
1. After my dad spent two weeks in the hospital for treatment of a gall bladder problem in October 1979, he surprised me the morning after he came home with the news that the Pirates had won the World Series.
5. 19-8, when I sat in the grandstand at Fenway Park for game 3 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees. It was downright depressing, but I was still at Fenway in October, so it couldn't be all bad. The Sox didn't lose another game the rest of the post-season.
4. Former Pirate Barry Bonds leading the San Fransisco Giants beating up on the Pirates in the first ever major league baseball game I went to with my father, in the pouring rain.
3. Wide Right 1991.
2. Aaron Boone hitting an 11th inning homer off Tim Wakefield to end the 2003 ALCS.
1. Former Pirate Sid Bream sliding under the tag in the 1992 NLCS game 7. I STILL can't stand the tomahawk chop. I still hate the Braves with a white hot passion and root for the Yankees when they play each other.
But not to be too negative, here are my top 6 best sports moments:
6. Going to Camden Yards with my dad and brother. Still not sure why we had to wait 30+ years before the three of us went to a game together (something about beer, I think), but it was special.
5. 51-3 1991 AFC Championship. I spent $50 on a single seat, carpooled with a bunch of others and ignored signs offering $500 for a single ticket. Never regretted being at such a landmark game for my first NFL experience. Will always remember the crowd's cheer when OJ Simpson walked onto the field for a pre-game report. Still wonder what the reaction would be if he came to Buffalo now???
4. My first baseball game at Three Rivers Stadium vs. Houston Astros. Field looked like a pinball game from way up in the rafters.
3. The look of amazement on Peter's face when he first saw the field and left-field wall at Fenway, and his insistent search for Wally the Green Monster, all through the ballpark.
2. Foulke to Mientkiewicz to win the 2004 World Series.
1. After my dad spent two weeks in the hospital for treatment of a gall bladder problem in October 1979, he surprised me the morning after he came home with the news that the Pirates had won the World Series.
Monday, November 17, 2008
No-knead sourdough
I used my sourdough culture to re-create my fabulous attempt at no-knead bread. The results were encouraging. The only trick is finding the right consistency for the dough (since everyone keeps their culture at a different consistency, you can't exactly replicate someone else's no-knead recipe, and I haven't done enough standard no-kneads to recall exactly what the consistency should be). I think I left mine a little too watery, making the bread a little bit spongy and preventing a full rise. But it still crusted very nicely and has a better crumb structure than any previous sourdough. Christy noted that the loaves looked very artisan, and more like ciabatta than anything else.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sometimes maybe I try too hard
A couple years ago, I read an interesting article that taught me a lot about the chemical process that bread making involves. I was intrigued by the article but the accompanying recipe seemed just too easy compared to how I had taught myself to bake bread. I always thought I'd try the recipe, but kept putting it off because, after all, I liked the kneading process. Bread-making should be complex after all.
Then a college friend suggested the recipe again, and I thought maybe I'd get around to doing it when I could manage the 18+ hour process (that is, when I could fairly accurately predict that I'd be home at the appropriate times over the next 18 hours. So I fed my sourdough starter, split some off for another baker buddy, and put it back in the fridge without using it. Instead, I pulled the yeast out of the fridge that I'd sworn off for anything but waffles when I started the sourdough life and did this no-knead recipe.
The results were astounding -- by far the best bread I have ever baked. The crust crumbled like I've been trying in vain to achieve with pans of water and spray bottles and baking stones. The "crumb structure" was appropriately moist and not too dense and the loaf just looked beautiful. I'll be baking this one again. And I'm going to attempt a similar loaf using my sourdough starter, and maybe check out some of the Cooks' Illustrated modified recipes on this theme. I think I'm on to a new frontier in bread.
But it made me think about other areas in life where I try too hard and end up with something less than I could have. More specifically, when I try to help God along and end up taking the very long way to get to where he wants me to be. What about you?
Friday, November 7, 2008
More in common than not...
On my bike ride into work this morning, I was thinking about why I am not a liberal. I ought to be, given that I grew up in a low-middle (at times near poverty) class union home, am passionate about a reasonable approach to sustainable, organic living and stewardship and deliberately chose a mainline denomination church upon our move. I share Christy's passion for animal welfare and environmental sensitivity and when I do eat meat, I value knowing that the animal lived and died well. I oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and believe that corporate welfare and corporate tax breaks are evil. These are all liberal viewpoints.
This morning, I attended the PTO coffee hour at Peter's school, where the speaker made us aware of the Stable Foundation, which is seeking to eradicate homelessness in Athens. I share the values of this organization, and in fact have been a long time supporter of Habitat for Humanity whose mission is similar.
For the coffee hour, I parked next to an active PTO mom whose car was plastered with liberal bumper stickers and who was wearing an Obama t-shirt (bringing to mind this Onion satire piece, lol) and from conversations and a follow-up e-mail on the PTO list about the impact of the new administration on education in general, and the likely effects on our own school. The entire group had a real crunchy sense, discussing how to help feed hungry by collecting day-old baked goods that would otherwise be discarded, how the local caterer often donates left-over chafing dishes and even the parent-coordinated gardens that had planted around our newly-rebuilt school showed the sensitivity to sustainable and natural living that also helps lift others up.
I realized how much I had in common with this group, yet I felt like I was almost certainly the only Bob Barr voter in the group and most definitely the only one who was very nervous about an Obama administration. Why am I not a liberal anyway?
As I pedaled hard up the hill, I realized that it was wonderful that no one made me get my bike out this morning and that I had been free to choose whether to use my car and save about 30 minutes of commuting time today. And I could also choose whether to buy a fuel-efficient smaller car or a large gas-guzzling SUV. And the reason I am not a liberal is that I value that choice. I believe that if we eliminated farm subsidies and allowed the market to work, we would have far less high fructose corn syrup in our diets and childhood obesity levels would fall. If we eliminated corporate taxes and shifted the tax burden to investors (the double-and sometimes triple-taxation of dividends and capital gains is an issue for another day), corporations would have fewer incentives to avoid taxes through accounting shell-games.
Representative democracy does a few things very well -- protects individual freedom and regulates "natural" monopolies. Whenever government attempts to force redistribution of wealth, the incentives get all screwed up. And though I share much in common with the other parents in my school, I guess where I disagree is that I don't think government is the answer. Indeed, there is so much we could do if government could just get out of the way.
This morning, I attended the PTO coffee hour at Peter's school, where the speaker made us aware of the Stable Foundation, which is seeking to eradicate homelessness in Athens. I share the values of this organization, and in fact have been a long time supporter of Habitat for Humanity whose mission is similar.
For the coffee hour, I parked next to an active PTO mom whose car was plastered with liberal bumper stickers and who was wearing an Obama t-shirt (bringing to mind this Onion satire piece, lol) and from conversations and a follow-up e-mail on the PTO list about the impact of the new administration on education in general, and the likely effects on our own school. The entire group had a real crunchy sense, discussing how to help feed hungry by collecting day-old baked goods that would otherwise be discarded, how the local caterer often donates left-over chafing dishes and even the parent-coordinated gardens that had planted around our newly-rebuilt school showed the sensitivity to sustainable and natural living that also helps lift others up.
I realized how much I had in common with this group, yet I felt like I was almost certainly the only Bob Barr voter in the group and most definitely the only one who was very nervous about an Obama administration. Why am I not a liberal anyway?
As I pedaled hard up the hill, I realized that it was wonderful that no one made me get my bike out this morning and that I had been free to choose whether to use my car and save about 30 minutes of commuting time today. And I could also choose whether to buy a fuel-efficient smaller car or a large gas-guzzling SUV. And the reason I am not a liberal is that I value that choice. I believe that if we eliminated farm subsidies and allowed the market to work, we would have far less high fructose corn syrup in our diets and childhood obesity levels would fall. If we eliminated corporate taxes and shifted the tax burden to investors (the double-and sometimes triple-taxation of dividends and capital gains is an issue for another day), corporations would have fewer incentives to avoid taxes through accounting shell-games.
Representative democracy does a few things very well -- protects individual freedom and regulates "natural" monopolies. Whenever government attempts to force redistribution of wealth, the incentives get all screwed up. And though I share much in common with the other parents in my school, I guess where I disagree is that I don't think government is the answer. Indeed, there is so much we could do if government could just get out of the way.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Getting ready to bake again
Refreshed my starter over the weekend and getting ready to proof the sponge tonight. I'll try to update later.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Corn bread
Well, I have another round of sourdough. I have been misting the oven, as suggested by another faculty member in my department, and it has resulted in the nice crispy crust that good sourdough requires. I took a loaf over to the new pastor's house last night (what are the odds that in a 3,000 member church, the pastor is our neighbor???) and then had a ham and cheese sandwich with the other loaf. It continues to rise nicely and has a very hearty taste. Food critics might complain that it's not sour enough but it works for me. I bought some whole wheat flour today and will attempt a whole wheat variety this weekend. We are meeting Christy's aunt for dinner on Saturday and would love to take some for her.
But tonight, I wanted steak -- and for me, nothing goes better with steak than corn bread. I may be alone in this sentiment, but the balance of textures and sweetness is just perfect. Cooking for just myself while Christy is out of town, I saw no need to spend a lot of money on meat and bought the least expensive cut that Publix had in the Greenwise section (see, Hon, even though it's steak, I'm still thinking of the animal...) and then marinated it in a syrah wine and Chicago spice mixture for a couple hours before throwing it on the grill. While it marinated, I mixed up some corn bread using a very basic cornmeal, flour, shortening recipe. Poured it into an iron skillet and baked for 25 minutes. Perfectly crusty and VERY tasty. It will do nicely for breakfast tomorrow as well.
Meanwhile, as I was scouring the web looking for information about sourdough, I was curious about what a starter ought to look like. Here are some pictures in case you are looking for the same.
Here is a picture of my starter in a plastic tub after fermenting in the fridge for a week. The layer of yellow liquid is known as "hooch" or as I prefer to call it, yeast urine. I've seen lots of discussion about yeast urine. Some say pour it off. Others say it's a sign that the starter is not being fed well enough. Still others say to stir it into the starter before baking the bread. As I understand it, hooch is basically hop-less wheat beer, so I do the only responsible thing a beer lover would do. Well, the really responsible thing to do would be to drink it but since it has no hops, I stir it in.
But tonight, I wanted steak -- and for me, nothing goes better with steak than corn bread. I may be alone in this sentiment, but the balance of textures and sweetness is just perfect. Cooking for just myself while Christy is out of town, I saw no need to spend a lot of money on meat and bought the least expensive cut that Publix had in the Greenwise section (see, Hon, even though it's steak, I'm still thinking of the animal...) and then marinated it in a syrah wine and Chicago spice mixture for a couple hours before throwing it on the grill. While it marinated, I mixed up some corn bread using a very basic cornmeal, flour, shortening recipe. Poured it into an iron skillet and baked for 25 minutes. Perfectly crusty and VERY tasty. It will do nicely for breakfast tomorrow as well.
Meanwhile, as I was scouring the web looking for information about sourdough, I was curious about what a starter ought to look like. Here are some pictures in case you are looking for the same.
Here is a picture of my starter in a plastic tub after fermenting in the fridge for a week. The layer of yellow liquid is known as "hooch" or as I prefer to call it, yeast urine. I've seen lots of discussion about yeast urine. Some say pour it off. Others say it's a sign that the starter is not being fed well enough. Still others say to stir it into the starter before baking the bread. As I understand it, hooch is basically hop-less wheat beer, so I do the only responsible thing a beer lover would do. Well, the really responsible thing to do would be to drink it but since it has no hops, I stir it in.
And then it looks like this.
So the last batch, I started with a lump of dough that looked like this. I let it sit overnight and when I woke up, the dough had risen above the lip of the bowl. Sorry I didn't get a picture of it, but it was quite remarkable.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
"I've got the wonderful love of my blessed redeemer way down in the depths of my heart! (Where?)"
Last week I was playing with Peter in the family room and we had put on a CD of Sunday School songs. It's been a while since I spent time with SS songs, but listening to these at times silly, at times profound songs brought me back in my mind to my childhood.
I have known many Christians, men and women, who have faith crises and struggle to comprehend God's love in a fallen world. Is it any wonder? As I listened to these songs I heard the repeated theme: I have Jesus. I am happy. End of story. If this is the way Christians are programmed, it's little wonder that when bad things happen, when life doesn't turn out as we had hoped, when our children get rushed to the hospital at a week old, when our parents die before they get to meet all their grandchildren, when our friends disappoint us, that we feel guilty for feeling sad and anxious. Because deep down in our souls, where we can't even make out the sounds any more, we feel the beat of the Sunday School songs, "and I'm so happy, so very happy, I have the love of Jesus in my heart!" The subtext is that if I'm not happy, I must not have Jesus in my heart.
Now, I understand that the primary goal of young Christian education is to provide a place where children can experience the unconditional love of God, find that church is fun and hopefully a place where they can experience God's love through the Scriptures and the teachers and their friends at a young age. The songs may facilitate this fun aspect. But they sell our children a cheap gospel. A gospel that doesn't allow us to mourn death, disease and suffering. That simplifies the message of Christ as a religion of happiness, rather than a religion of Kingdom living and changing and redeeming the world.
This is a place where the Psalms would help us. Our children might be warped for life if we focus exclusively on Psalm 137, to be sure. But are we warping them for life by focusing only on the good things about the Christian life? We need to teach our children from a young age that the Christian life is the way of the cross, the way of suffering, the way of service. A grounded exposure to the Psalter doesn't leave us hanging in misery, though. It reminds us that though we suffer, our salvation is made sure. We don't enjoy the full benefits of it yet, but in this miserable life that sin has brought about, we can hope.
Here's the beginning of my campaign to change the words of the Sunday School songs: And I'm so hopeful, so very hopeful, for I have been baptized and belong to Christ. What does it mean to have the love of Jesus in my heart anyway??? Can a child really understand this?
I have known many Christians, men and women, who have faith crises and struggle to comprehend God's love in a fallen world. Is it any wonder? As I listened to these songs I heard the repeated theme: I have Jesus. I am happy. End of story. If this is the way Christians are programmed, it's little wonder that when bad things happen, when life doesn't turn out as we had hoped, when our children get rushed to the hospital at a week old, when our parents die before they get to meet all their grandchildren, when our friends disappoint us, that we feel guilty for feeling sad and anxious. Because deep down in our souls, where we can't even make out the sounds any more, we feel the beat of the Sunday School songs, "and I'm so happy, so very happy, I have the love of Jesus in my heart!" The subtext is that if I'm not happy, I must not have Jesus in my heart.
Now, I understand that the primary goal of young Christian education is to provide a place where children can experience the unconditional love of God, find that church is fun and hopefully a place where they can experience God's love through the Scriptures and the teachers and their friends at a young age. The songs may facilitate this fun aspect. But they sell our children a cheap gospel. A gospel that doesn't allow us to mourn death, disease and suffering. That simplifies the message of Christ as a religion of happiness, rather than a religion of Kingdom living and changing and redeeming the world.
This is a place where the Psalms would help us. Our children might be warped for life if we focus exclusively on Psalm 137, to be sure. But are we warping them for life by focusing only on the good things about the Christian life? We need to teach our children from a young age that the Christian life is the way of the cross, the way of suffering, the way of service. A grounded exposure to the Psalter doesn't leave us hanging in misery, though. It reminds us that though we suffer, our salvation is made sure. We don't enjoy the full benefits of it yet, but in this miserable life that sin has brought about, we can hope.
Here's the beginning of my campaign to change the words of the Sunday School songs: And I'm so hopeful, so very hopeful, for I have been baptized and belong to Christ. What does it mean to have the love of Jesus in my heart anyway??? Can a child really understand this?
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Quick update
I'm trying to meet deadlines for two papers for which I am lead author and one paper where I'm advising a grad student, which is the explanation for my sparse postings this week. That, and, Christy got a job! I'm thrilled to no end for her new opportunity but it adds a constraint to all available time in the family until Peter starts school in August. I guess it eases up a little since Peter determined that he's not that into t-ball and would rather not stay on the team. We pretty much agree that he's not ready for that yet and I'll be working with him to build the skill and discipline that he'll need to play next year.
My latest news is that I joined a gym. I've been a member of one gym or another most of the time since 1999 but this one far outshines them all. Besides about 30 treadmills, each with their own personal TV, they seem to have about every piece of lifting equipment known to man, and a way cool rock climbing wall. What surprised me most, and what I will likely never use, is the full size billiard table in the men's locker room. My new membership came with 3 free training sessions and my trainer just about killed me tonight. I feel great right now but I expect I'll be cursing him in the morning.
I hope to blog about the role of the Law in the Christian life, as soon as I have a few minutes to put the thoughts together carefully. For now, you can read what my college classmate friend Christie (no relation to Christy :) wrote on the subject earlier this week.
My latest news is that I joined a gym. I've been a member of one gym or another most of the time since 1999 but this one far outshines them all. Besides about 30 treadmills, each with their own personal TV, they seem to have about every piece of lifting equipment known to man, and a way cool rock climbing wall. What surprised me most, and what I will likely never use, is the full size billiard table in the men's locker room. My new membership came with 3 free training sessions and my trainer just about killed me tonight. I feel great right now but I expect I'll be cursing him in the morning.
I hope to blog about the role of the Law in the Christian life, as soon as I have a few minutes to put the thoughts together carefully. For now, you can read what my college classmate friend Christie (no relation to Christy :) wrote on the subject earlier this week.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Never trust a bearded man
I never thought I'd be a facial hair guy. My father wore a beard for probably the last 15 years of his life (and I think it took five of those years for it to grow in fully), and the primary reason was to keep his face warm on cold winter mornings during deer season. Since I was not afflicted with a hunting hobby, that was not a good reason for me. And as a morning runner, facial hair can be more of a problem than a help since it tends to freeze up and develop rather uncomfortable icicles. Finally, Christy was pretty adamant that she didn't care much for facial hair.
But then, I realized that the two Red Sox players Christy found most attractive (Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield) both had goatees. I wasn't sure if I could grow one, but during the summer of 2006, I was studying wall to wall for qualifying exams and didn't really care to shave anyway. Why not give it a try? I think it took a full two months to grow in well, but Christy actually liked it and that's all I needed to keep it and learn to groom it well.
Although she's hinted at it in the past, she finally admitted tonight why she thinks it works for me... "It covers a multitude of chins." Ouch. :)
But then, I realized that the two Red Sox players Christy found most attractive (Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield) both had goatees. I wasn't sure if I could grow one, but during the summer of 2006, I was studying wall to wall for qualifying exams and didn't really care to shave anyway. Why not give it a try? I think it took a full two months to grow in well, but Christy actually liked it and that's all I needed to keep it and learn to groom it well.
Although she's hinted at it in the past, she finally admitted tonight why she thinks it works for me... "It covers a multitude of chins." Ouch. :)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Obama
I have sort of liked Obama from the beginning. I still remember sitting in a hotel room in Rockaway, NJ trying to get some work done when I heard his breakout speech at the DNC in 2004. That was the same trip in which we got bad news about the work we needed to do on our house if it was to sell, and in which I almost saw the Yankees get no-hit from the nosebleed section. Definitely one of the best-pitched games I ever saw. Nothing like a Red Sox fan leaving Yankee Stadium to the sounds of "New York, New York" NOT sung by old Blue Eyes (back then, at least, they played the Sinatra version after a win and the Liza Minelli version after a loss).
I think he offers a vision, and a moderating voice for me, a disenfranchised conservative. After Bush II, I am very worried about investing too much hope in a good outcome when the candidate appears to be faith-driven at some level. And of course, the Wall Street Journal is giving him a daily skewering for his vacuous rhetoric.
Obama's rhetoric may be vacuous, but every time I see McCain speak, his head seems vacuous. I know McCain is a genuine American hero, but that itself doesn't make him qualified to be president. And he has a record of working with both sides to achieve common goals. But whenever I hear him speak, it's obvious those aren't his own words. Even Ronald Reagan had a gifted speech-writer, but what made him the Great Communicator was that his speech-writer had a way of getting his words on the page, and he was then able to deliver them passionately and convincingly. I don't get that sense with McCain -- it seems like he's touting someone else's ideas and is not completely convinced himself. Hasn't 8 years of a puppet presidency been enough for one generation?
Count me as firmly undecided. At least until I figure out what Obama actually believes.
I think he offers a vision, and a moderating voice for me, a disenfranchised conservative. After Bush II, I am very worried about investing too much hope in a good outcome when the candidate appears to be faith-driven at some level. And of course, the Wall Street Journal is giving him a daily skewering for his vacuous rhetoric.
Obama's rhetoric may be vacuous, but every time I see McCain speak, his head seems vacuous. I know McCain is a genuine American hero, but that itself doesn't make him qualified to be president. And he has a record of working with both sides to achieve common goals. But whenever I hear him speak, it's obvious those aren't his own words. Even Ronald Reagan had a gifted speech-writer, but what made him the Great Communicator was that his speech-writer had a way of getting his words on the page, and he was then able to deliver them passionately and convincingly. I don't get that sense with McCain -- it seems like he's touting someone else's ideas and is not completely convinced himself. Hasn't 8 years of a puppet presidency been enough for one generation?
Count me as firmly undecided. At least until I figure out what Obama actually believes.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
What they say
People at the office seem to like the bread. Not too many people around today and it was almost gone when I left.
I got frank feedback from a senior faculty member who seems to know something about food. First, it is not sour enough. The starter has been developing yeast well, but is not yet old enough to have the sourness from the bacteria. So time will hopefully address this problem.
Second, the crust is not hard enough. I need to mist the oven. Something I've thought about but didn't think I needed to do. I'm still not sure I want to do that but I'll keep thinking about.
Finally, it was a little underdone. I realized that too and planned to bake the next loaf another five minutes. Maybe I need to mist the oven to keep the crust from overcooking while it hardens.
On the plus side, he said it rose well, which he has never been able to do.
I got frank feedback from a senior faculty member who seems to know something about food. First, it is not sour enough. The starter has been developing yeast well, but is not yet old enough to have the sourness from the bacteria. So time will hopefully address this problem.
Second, the crust is not hard enough. I need to mist the oven. Something I've thought about but didn't think I needed to do. I'm still not sure I want to do that but I'll keep thinking about.
Finally, it was a little underdone. I realized that too and planned to bake the next loaf another five minutes. Maybe I need to mist the oven to keep the crust from overcooking while it hardens.
On the plus side, he said it rose well, which he has never been able to do.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The result
My most recent loaves come out looking very nice indeed. We'll cut one of the loaves to have with spaghetti tonight and take the other to work tomorrow.
The morning rise
I got up to feed the baby at 6:30 and found the dough bursting out of the bowl. I punched it down right away and after feeding the baby, I kneaded it, rolled it and formed round loaves. I put it in the oven on my way out the door for work and anxiously await the report on the outcome -- and the taste test this afternoon.
I've found that it takes about 45 minutes in a 350 oven. We can't put a cold pizza stone in a hot oven or it will crack. The options are to heat the stone and then put the loaves on it or put the loaves and the stone into a cold oven. I do the latter and it works fine.
I've found that it takes about 45 minutes in a 350 oven. We can't put a cold pizza stone in a hot oven or it will crack. The options are to heat the stone and then put the loaves on it or put the loaves and the stone into a cold oven. I do the latter and it works fine.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Bitterness
Am I really a bitter man? Well, I certainly have bitter tastes: dark roast coffee, hoppy beers and high cacao-content dark chocolate suggest that I am bitter, bitter, bitter.
I am bitter about some things, to be sure. I am bitter about substandard math education in Christian high schools. Corporal punishment. Legalism. Poverty. I guess the list could on -- there are some things I could be bitter about but am not and a lot of other things I used to be bitter about but no longer am.
In fact, Christy (the woman who I convinced to marry me) accuses me of being too perky, too optimistic. Someone suggested recently that it is important to embrace both the dark and the light. Even our liturgy brings us through the darkness as we recognize and admit our human plight in confession before hearing the assurance of pardon and the proclamation of the Gospel. The Psalter is full of darkness and light. Perhaps as a result of my background, I am too afraid of the dark. As suggested in Psalm 121, the moon has smitten me and I fear it. But the promise of Psalm 121 is that the sun shall not smite me by day, nor the moon by night.
Sourdough has been a teacher to me in these two weeks. Against the bitterness of the bacteria, the yeast forms, multiplies, grows. I have to allow the starter to sour before I can use it in bread. If I use it before it is sour enough (as I did), I get not bread, but dense cakes of baked, dried playdough. I'm trying to embrace the sour parts of life as a source of fullness.
I am bitter about some things, to be sure. I am bitter about substandard math education in Christian high schools. Corporal punishment. Legalism. Poverty. I guess the list could on -- there are some things I could be bitter about but am not and a lot of other things I used to be bitter about but no longer am.
In fact, Christy (the woman who I convinced to marry me) accuses me of being too perky, too optimistic. Someone suggested recently that it is important to embrace both the dark and the light. Even our liturgy brings us through the darkness as we recognize and admit our human plight in confession before hearing the assurance of pardon and the proclamation of the Gospel. The Psalter is full of darkness and light. Perhaps as a result of my background, I am too afraid of the dark. As suggested in Psalm 121, the moon has smitten me and I fear it. But the promise of Psalm 121 is that the sun shall not smite me by day, nor the moon by night.
Sourdough has been a teacher to me in these two weeks. Against the bitterness of the bacteria, the yeast forms, multiplies, grows. I have to allow the starter to sour before I can use it in bread. If I use it before it is sour enough (as I did), I get not bread, but dense cakes of baked, dried playdough. I'm trying to embrace the sour parts of life as a source of fullness.
New beginnings
I guess I've attempted blogging twice before but soon realized that, like most bloggers, I had little interesting to say. I suppose that hasn't changed much, but the relatively small amount online about sourdough baking suggests that a place where I can log my loaf attempts will serve me at least, and may help others too. Perhaps I'll have the occasional brainwave that I'll feel vital enough to post on any number of other topics, but for the readers' sake, I sure hope not.
Why sourdough? It goes back to a day in 1995 when I heard an ad on the radio for Samuel Adams beer, in which Jim Koch discussed the nature of Sam Adams' production process as small batches, "like those my grandfather brewed on the kitchen stove". My teetotaler roots (family and college both) prevailing, it never occurred to me that someone might be able to make beer in their kitchen. After a bit of asking and searching online (not an easy thing to do in 1995!) I discovered that the nature foods store around the corner from our house sold the equipment and supplies for making my own beer at home. With no kids at the time and some spare time, I started collecting bottles and making my own beer from a can of malt and a pack of yeast.
As I was reading about the history of brewing and homebrewing in particular, I encountered the ancient German beer purity law of Reinheitsgebot. Under this law, the only ingredients allowed in beer were barley, water and hops. With the exception of a Christmas brew in which I used winter spices, I attempted to create my beer as purely as I could, with the exception that I used live commercial yeast instead of relying on natural yeast as the old Bavarians would. Homebrewing was fun -- it was generally cheaper than buying good beer by the case and I enjoyed both the process and the product immensely. Not to mention that it was a hit at parties; just a few months before we left Connecticut, I ran into former colleagues who remember me as "the guy who brewed his own beer".
The problems with brewing is that it is labor-intensive, time-consuming and fills the house with a very strong, rich barley smell that non-beer-swilling wives don't enjoy very much. For a while, I would brew when Christy was away at work for the day and when I could air out the house before she got home. But when child #1 arrived, the days of brewing were sadly set aside, at least for a while.
The joy of the product is self-evident, but the process was even more fun and fulfilling. In many ways, since studying the daily office in college, I have been drawn to some of the monastic methods and at times even wondered if the monastery would have been a good vocation for me (but the costs, perhaps, outweigh the benefits...) I really like the idea of doing menial tasks with the hands to free the mind to focus on higher things: prayer, meditation, just finding space in the day to commune with God and brother. Brewing provided me with some of this monastic focus. When brewing had to go, I found similar space in the very menial work of filling little communion cups at church (you know, the plastic shot glasses of wine/grape juice used in many Protestant churches). I found this a particularly helpful time to pray for members of the congregation, in this particular case, that they would be filled with the presence of the risen Christ in the sacrament.
During the summer of 2006 while in grad school and sharing child care duty during the weekdays, I began to look for ways to break up the day and realized that bread baking provided many of the benefits of brewing, but could be confined to three 15 minute spurts of activity -- easily accomplished with a 3-year old in the house. Mix and knead. Go to the gym. Punch down and knead. Go to the library. Form loaves on the pizza stone and bake. Play with the kid. House fills with a great smell. Bread is amazing.
Christy liked the bread and I graduated from using loaf pans to forming round loaves and baking on a pizza stone. Then, I started baking loaves to use in communion.
Sometime after I started my current job assignment, I was discussing my bread with a senior member of the faculty in my department who sneered at my use of Fleischmann's yeast rather than a proper yeast culture in a sponge. So I started looking online to see where I could find a good starter. What I discovered was that I could order away for a King Arthur New England culture, several different starters claiming to be the authentic San Francisco strain, and of course Carl's starter. Or I could be brave and create my own starter. The old Betty Crocker cookbook has a starter recipe, but it uses commercial yeast. I found other starter recipes that used potato starch, honey, numerous kinds of flour. Then I found a recipe for a starter that used flour and water. This reminded me of the Reinheitsgebot and I gave it a shot.
After two days (and a strong desire to do something productive after a minor surgery) it looked like my starter was appropriately bubbly and so I put it to the test. The result was a couple of moderately tasty hockey pucks. I fed the remaining starter and let it ripen for a full week, feeding it daily. I found that if I increased the volume of flour a bit, I no longer had the watery alcohol layer known as hooch.
I let the dough rise overnight this time, punched it down in the morning and let it rise on the pizza stone until mid-morning when I felt it had risen sufficiently for a successful baking. This time, it came out very nicely, though the taste was a bit heavy and the bread was still a little denser than I liked. I fed the leftover starter and stuck it in the fridge, where it continued to bubble. Today, I took the starter out right after church, fed it and let the sponge form all afternoon. By dinnertime, it was nicely frothy, smelled great and looked quite ready to mix.
At Christy's suggestion, I attempted to use the KitchenAid dough hook, although the result was not quite what I wanted. Seems like a double loaf recipe may be a bit large for our mixer and it overwhelmed the hook. I also lost some of that monastic feel by using a power tool rather than my hands to do the work. I somehow feel a need to put my fingers in the dough to feel like it's my own bread.
This dough is rising quite nicely and I just punched it down to rise again overnight. In the morning, I'll form two loaves and rest them on the pizza stone during the work day tomorrow, and bake them in the afternoon. I'll report back when I taste :)
Why sourdough? It goes back to a day in 1995 when I heard an ad on the radio for Samuel Adams beer, in which Jim Koch discussed the nature of Sam Adams' production process as small batches, "like those my grandfather brewed on the kitchen stove". My teetotaler roots (family and college both) prevailing, it never occurred to me that someone might be able to make beer in their kitchen. After a bit of asking and searching online (not an easy thing to do in 1995!) I discovered that the nature foods store around the corner from our house sold the equipment and supplies for making my own beer at home. With no kids at the time and some spare time, I started collecting bottles and making my own beer from a can of malt and a pack of yeast.
As I was reading about the history of brewing and homebrewing in particular, I encountered the ancient German beer purity law of Reinheitsgebot. Under this law, the only ingredients allowed in beer were barley, water and hops. With the exception of a Christmas brew in which I used winter spices, I attempted to create my beer as purely as I could, with the exception that I used live commercial yeast instead of relying on natural yeast as the old Bavarians would. Homebrewing was fun -- it was generally cheaper than buying good beer by the case and I enjoyed both the process and the product immensely. Not to mention that it was a hit at parties; just a few months before we left Connecticut, I ran into former colleagues who remember me as "the guy who brewed his own beer".
The problems with brewing is that it is labor-intensive, time-consuming and fills the house with a very strong, rich barley smell that non-beer-swilling wives don't enjoy very much. For a while, I would brew when Christy was away at work for the day and when I could air out the house before she got home. But when child #1 arrived, the days of brewing were sadly set aside, at least for a while.
The joy of the product is self-evident, but the process was even more fun and fulfilling. In many ways, since studying the daily office in college, I have been drawn to some of the monastic methods and at times even wondered if the monastery would have been a good vocation for me (but the costs, perhaps, outweigh the benefits...) I really like the idea of doing menial tasks with the hands to free the mind to focus on higher things: prayer, meditation, just finding space in the day to commune with God and brother. Brewing provided me with some of this monastic focus. When brewing had to go, I found similar space in the very menial work of filling little communion cups at church (you know, the plastic shot glasses of wine/grape juice used in many Protestant churches). I found this a particularly helpful time to pray for members of the congregation, in this particular case, that they would be filled with the presence of the risen Christ in the sacrament.
During the summer of 2006 while in grad school and sharing child care duty during the weekdays, I began to look for ways to break up the day and realized that bread baking provided many of the benefits of brewing, but could be confined to three 15 minute spurts of activity -- easily accomplished with a 3-year old in the house. Mix and knead. Go to the gym. Punch down and knead. Go to the library. Form loaves on the pizza stone and bake. Play with the kid. House fills with a great smell. Bread is amazing.
Christy liked the bread and I graduated from using loaf pans to forming round loaves and baking on a pizza stone. Then, I started baking loaves to use in communion.
Sometime after I started my current job assignment, I was discussing my bread with a senior member of the faculty in my department who sneered at my use of Fleischmann's yeast rather than a proper yeast culture in a sponge. So I started looking online to see where I could find a good starter. What I discovered was that I could order away for a King Arthur New England culture, several different starters claiming to be the authentic San Francisco strain, and of course Carl's starter. Or I could be brave and create my own starter. The old Betty Crocker cookbook has a starter recipe, but it uses commercial yeast. I found other starter recipes that used potato starch, honey, numerous kinds of flour. Then I found a recipe for a starter that used flour and water. This reminded me of the Reinheitsgebot and I gave it a shot.
After two days (and a strong desire to do something productive after a minor surgery) it looked like my starter was appropriately bubbly and so I put it to the test. The result was a couple of moderately tasty hockey pucks. I fed the remaining starter and let it ripen for a full week, feeding it daily. I found that if I increased the volume of flour a bit, I no longer had the watery alcohol layer known as hooch.
I let the dough rise overnight this time, punched it down in the morning and let it rise on the pizza stone until mid-morning when I felt it had risen sufficiently for a successful baking. This time, it came out very nicely, though the taste was a bit heavy and the bread was still a little denser than I liked. I fed the leftover starter and stuck it in the fridge, where it continued to bubble. Today, I took the starter out right after church, fed it and let the sponge form all afternoon. By dinnertime, it was nicely frothy, smelled great and looked quite ready to mix.
At Christy's suggestion, I attempted to use the KitchenAid dough hook, although the result was not quite what I wanted. Seems like a double loaf recipe may be a bit large for our mixer and it overwhelmed the hook. I also lost some of that monastic feel by using a power tool rather than my hands to do the work. I somehow feel a need to put my fingers in the dough to feel like it's my own bread.
This dough is rising quite nicely and I just punched it down to rise again overnight. In the morning, I'll form two loaves and rest them on the pizza stone during the work day tomorrow, and bake them in the afternoon. I'll report back when I taste :)
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