Even with the heat well above 100 with no end in sight I was determined to move forward with my summer goal of making and perfecting sourdough bread.
I started at the beginning with a sourdough starter; I was inspired by a food show where the bread maker and his family had been using the same sourdough starter for 200 years. The Taste of Home Baking Book provided the perfect recipe for the starter and a couple of bread recipes as well. One of the key parts of the starter is making it and letting it set out for 2 days to get very sour and yeasty. Then it goes to the frig and can be used in any recipe calling for sourdough starter. If you don’t use it in a couple of weeks you just feed it a little more water and flour. It is much easier than feeding the kids and produces lushes loves with that traditional sourdough taste.
Sourdough French Bread

Here is a picture of my loaves; I made both the French bread and savory yeast bread. It was a successful trial and now I am set to be the queen of sourdough in my domain!

During my travels this month I also came across a wondrous site. A giant watermelon! My parents had taken to this festival many, many years ago. With the temp at 115 degrees on this particular day my desire to take a big out of this big beauty was overwhelming. I settled for going to the stand and checking out the mass quantity of melons.
With my chosen melon in hand I headed home to find a new recipe in the new Taste of Home Cookbook, Best Loved Recipes. Here is what I found—and it is a contest winner! Yum

Minted Melon Salad

We are gearing up for the Fall season with a delectable line up of recipes so find a show, get a ticket and let’s have some fun with great home cooking!