Unearthing kitchen goods from stored boxes, I found a 4-year old packet. It contained less than a teaspoon of gluten-free sourdough starter. It had been through an outrageous amount of freezes and thaws, but was, apparently cozily and cryptobiotically safe in his foiled envelope.
Having the required rice flour and ignoring the call for distilled water, I attempted to revive Thomas. “Revive” is not the correct word, activate or excyst would be better choices. A few teaspoons of rice flour and tap water, a few days by the warm wood stove and Thomas farted. It was a wee fart. A mere blip of a bubble in the cloud of canine flatulence that frequently spoils the air at Mons Domus, but none the less, there was life actively respirating.
Thomas, today tried to escape his glass cell (jar). I had the woodstove roaring to keep up with the 15°F weather, and fed him twice as I used him twice for various snacks. I noticed he was rallying for adventure and even snapped a picture at one point, and indeed, after turning my back, he urped his way out of his jar and onto the kitchen counter.
Thomas is great at making pancakes. His biscuits are a bit pucklike, but I may learn how to help that at some point. His crackers are delicious, too. Thanks, Thomas. I’m glad you finally came around.
Cracker Recipe
- Some sourdough discard.
- Add some herbs and salt or spices and honey or molasses, and a bit of baking soda or powder- about half a teaspoon for a cup of dough or so.
- Add flour of some kind and mix to a rollable consistency. If you have to add water in balance, do so.
- Roll it out thinly (1/8′) onto a floured surface.
- Sprinkle any additional salt/pepper/dried herbs/sugar crystals etc and roll into surface.
- Cut into crackers, poke with a fork if you anticipate forceful leavening.
- Bake at 375°F for about 15 minutes until there are brown edges.