Sourdough and Lemon Meringue

In the last post I had made a sourdough bread (one in the oven and one in the bread maker). The one in the bread maker was good, but didn't really taste like a traditional sourdough. The ones that I made in the KitchenAid/oven did not turn out... AT ALL. Unless of course I was looking for a paper weight/brick. For some reason, my starter doesn't rise like it should. Since my starter was having issues, I decided to undergo making a starter (AGAIN). I have never had luck with starting a starter before, but I found a new recipe online that promised starter in 2 1/2 days (normally it can take up to a week or more). The new recipe also uses malt extract and one feeding of rye flour. Amazingly enough, the starter worked! Yesterday I moved the starter into its permanent jar and I kept 100 grams of starter plus fed it 50 grams of water and 50 grams of flour. Prior to feeding it this evening, it had more than doubled (I'll have to take a before and after pic to show the growth, I think its pretty cool.) Last night I decided to re-try the San Francisco Style sourdough from my last attempt. The only problem I had was letting it rise at room temp. which I think was too cold, so this morning I put the loaves in the oven with the light on and they finished rising. As they baked, they rose up even more (a problem with the last loaves) and they blew out a little which is due to the fact that I didn't slash it far enough across the top. Once they were done, Daren and I had to perform a taste test (a thankless job I know) and it turned out really well!! A prominent sour flavor and a very crisp crust...made even better with the addition of some butter. Tomorrow I'll take a loaf to my parents for the final taste test.

Other than bread, I also made a Lemon Meringue Pie for Easter in the Kitchen Aid. It turned out much better than last time, and it would have set up nicely, but we couldn't wait for it to cool all the way. I should have made it in the morning to be ready by the evening, but it still tasted good (really how can you go wrong with a nice meringue), and was good the next day for breakfast (its good for you right? I mean a lemon is a fruit after all!)