#sourdough discard granola

[integratedsoul]

✨WEEK: 5/5/24-5/12/24✨

R.E.P.O.R.T.

How did I ✨REALIGN✨ this week?: 

-podcasts: Ed Mylett with Leila Hormozi "Act from your values, not your feelings"; Ed Mylett solo podcast about fear; Katorina Satori (abundance/intimacy wound) on Youtube; profound on youtube; Dr. Joe Dispenza, body wisdom podcast: 3 steps to get out of freeze mode; human design/ gene keys

-learning about Near Death Experiences on YouTube; miraculously inspiring

What did I ✨EAT✨/ What ✨EXERCISE✨ did I indulge in?: -I planted the garden! I made sourdough discard crackers & pizza, granola, meatloaf with billy, beef tacos, fritzs cinny rolls.. lots of: yogurt bowls, deli sandwiches, & protein shakes.

-took a break from my 'normal' routine; had a bit of a lazy week mentally; still showed up physically everyday. Consistency is how progress shows up. 

What did I ✨PRIORITIZE✨ this week:

-Joining masterclasses: putting myself in the room to learn and be a student, to gain wisdom and insight from others! Commit as my higher self!  5/4: Quantum coaching masterclass w/ Ashley 5/5: pause breath work master class 5/6: thriving in midlife w/ Dr. Edie 5/7: sound engineering with the being method 5/8: billy & I cooked meatloaf cups and dessert on zoom with PA cooking class 5/8: Gerrian Jones breakthrough session 5/10 & 5/11: Tony Robbins Unshakeable business 5/12: Dr. Nicolya human design master class 

What did I ✨OBSESS✨ over this week: 

-writing & editing scripts, recording & posting videos: releasing multiple this week

-masterclasses: favorites from the week: Tony Robbins- unshakeable business & Dr. Nicolya- human design 

-podcasts: favorites: Ed Mylett with Leila Hormozi, Body Wisdom podcast how to get out of freeze; youtube- katorina satori & Dr. Nicolya

What would I ✨RECOMMEND✨ for next week: 

-BOOKS: “It didn't start with you”- Mark Wolymn / psychology around quitting substances/addictions -Allen Carr

-meditation book→ get back into journaling my mediations & continue with morning pages in new book! (get book & decorate it→format the front with: gratitude list, your why, your values)

-morning breathwork practice followed by qigong, tapping, movement 

-profound personalized self care: find a ‘strategy’ that you can use to tap into your intuitive→ MUSCLE TESTING (ask very basic questions that you know the answer to, then see how other questions feel after establishing a “specific” expected outcome)

-dive more into the quantum realm and manifest something small to generate positivity on my journey What did I TRY this week: / or What was your favorite ✨TEACHING✨ you learned?

-BALANCE INSULIN* →main hormone to balance for OPTIMAL health (Dr. Edie)

-"THE BREATH IS THE BRIDGE BETWEEN DIMENSIONS” (Katarina Satori) 

-"JUST COMMIT AS YOUR HIGHER SELF AND ALLOW YOUR HIGHER SELF TO SHOW UP (Garrian Jones)

-“LEADERS ANTICIPATE, LOSERS REACT” (Tony Robbins)

-"FEAR (the unknown) IS ALWAYS PRESENT WHEN I’M DOING SOMETHING WORTH DOING” -Leila Hormozi

-"ALIGN YOUR VALUES AND ACT FROM YOUR VALUES, NOT YOUR FEELINGS" -Leila Hormozi

OTHER NOTES:  1. It’s not about how you feel- it’s about how you react to your feelings- how you react to the parts of yourself that are afraid of the situation!!!!!!  2. Be mindful be smart but also be courageous—> know what serves you and what doesn’t but know what has the potential to serve you    3. Treat yourself like a friend to allow parts of you to change!  4. Do things with courage, you can be scared and still do something, and when you’re finished you realize it wasn’t even scary anyway!! Daily breakdown: 5/5/24→my effort is more than nothing. (breath, qigong, workout) 5/6/24→my life is full of devotion. (breath, yoga, workout, 20 yin) 5/7/24→I have powers in my body. (pickleball, lets up wall) 5/8/24→my love ripples throughout the world. (meditation, workout, garden) (end cycle) 5/9/24→we are one beating consciousness. (run, emotional clearing, hips yoga, meditations) 5/10/24→I am here for the full human experience. (tony robbins unshakeable business) 5/11/24→my life is exactly as I make it. (yoga, workout) 5/12/24→my energy lights up around the safest people in my life. (short breathwork practice, insight timer meditation, qigong, yoga, EFT, workout) 

[irish-belle]

After an awful awful bout with all the germs, everyone seems recovered and we can go back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Sourdough Discard Adventures continue with blueberry cake! Really yummy and easy to whip up.

I also popped granola into the oven at the end so we’ll have that as a breakfast option for tomorrow! I’ve seen that you can use discard in granola I’m curious to see how I can incorporate it into our favorite recipe!

[la-quarantine-bakery]

Quick bites: week of 9/7/20

Sourdough discard furikake crackers

Grade: C

I think this happened the last time I tried this too: I need to roll this out more thinly because I ended up with pita bread rather than crackers.

Recipe: sourdough crackers with olive oil & herbs from Love & Olive Oil

Sourdough corn tortilla

Grade: B+

This was fun to make as I’d wanted to make my own corn tortilla for the longest time, and sourdough combatted the lack of masa harina because of the gluten it provided for the yellow cornmeal I used instead.

Again, needed to roll it out more thinly, but I got nice bubbles as the tortilla was frying and it made for some nice pairings:

With eggs and avocado

With pork belly and kimchi

Recipe: home-milled corn and wheat sourdough tortilla from Breadtopia

Sourdough pork leek dumpling

Grade: A-

They aren’t lookers, but they are my cute little dumplings. I finally used this recipe for what it was actually meant for: dumplings! And using up leeks that were stinking up my fridge with some ground pork. Even though I haven’t eaten those dumplings yet, I think the filling tasted quite nice (added the leftovers to soup) so I feel confident about their taste.

Recipe: sourdough discard dumplings from Du’s Doughs

Yang chun soup

Grade: B

Trying out pork lard in soup...you can’t really taste it, but the combination of everything was yummy.

Inspired by: yang chun noodle soup from the Woks of Life

Matcha mochi cookie

Grade: B

Trying to perfect mookies now that I have a scale. Alas, I still don’t have the thin crispy cookies of the recipe author. But you can’t really go wrong with mookies.

Recipe: the matcha mochi cookie: square one from Nichijou Ramen

Miso pork belly and vegetable soup

Grade: B+

Using up miso, pork belly, and vegetables in another soup. Pretty yummy. I do love the pork belly from Katagiri.

Sourdough discard everything mochi cookie waffles

Grade: B+

This was an interesting mochi cookie recipe that doesn’t call for butter. I substituted Puffy for some of the milk and the sweet rice flour, so I could taste it in the final product. I also “baked” the dough in a wafflemaker because it was such a small batch. Decadent.

Recipe: everything mochi cookies from Sook

Sourdough discard granola

Grade: B+

This time, I used dried chopped dates along with roughly chopped almonds (using a rolling pin) and tamari pumpkin seeds. And coconut milk in the preferment (can’t really taste it). Good solid granola, to be eaten with ice cream or Greek yogurt.

Recipe: homemade sourdough granola from 24hourkitchen

Stovetop kinako cookies

Grade: B+

Wanted to try kinako in cookies. Easy to make, small batch “baked” on stovetop.

Recipe: easy quick & luxurious kinako cookies from Cookpad

Lazy huevos rancheros

Grade: A-

Using sourdough crackers in my lazy version of huevos rancheros. Pretty filling breakfast!

Carrot and cabbage two ways

Grade: B

Those have been sitting in my fridge for a while, so tried them in two recipes:

Sourdough discard pancakes with imitation crabs and bean sprouts

Regular stir fry with tofu curd

I need to get better at flipping the pancake so it doesn’t break, but it was a bit fragile because I had to thin it out with water in order to accommodate all the vegetables.

Rose mochi ice cream

Grade: B+

I want to see if I could put rosewater in the mochi wrapper filling in preparation for snow skin mooncakes. The answer is...maybe, but I put way too much and I’m still burning.

Recipe: mochi ice cream from Just One Cookbook

[tightwadspoonies]

The Joy of Raising (and eating) Your Very Own Yeast Child(ren)

I know I am, statistically, late to this bandwagon.

Once a mysterious realm that only seasoned bakers would dare enter, the world of baking with a home yeast starter has become much less foreign to the scores of reluctant public health enthusiasts trying to find a way to use their sudden increase in free time.

It’s also because yeast is both reasonably expensive (like $5 for a jar that lasts a while, granted, but if you make all of your own bread, it quickly becomes the expensive ingredient) and frankly when everyone is making yeasty baked goods and supply chains are disrupted due to a pesky global pandemic, you want to have a backup. Discard also makes the food you eat just a little better for you (see below), and if you’re relying on more starchy things like flour in your diet for budget reasons, why not get everything you can out of all the other ingredients?

I, like everyone else, made like three sourdough starters in the last 12 months. I then let them die because holy crap those things 1, ate way more than I expected them to, and 2, I kept ending up with this stinktastic, slowly-fermenting glob of goo (the discard) in a takeout container on my porch because otherwise my entire apartment would have smelled like it.

I know I’m not doing a great job of selling it, but I wanted to make a post that showed it really was possible to not only sustainably and economically grow and maintain your own edible bacteria-and-yeast colony in an old jam jar, but really make it a part of your family.

1- How to Make a Starter:

Before we can really get into the joys of raising a pet sourdough starter, you have to actually get your hands on one. It’s actually way, way easier than I thought:

First, you get the following:

A jar with a lid (preferably glass- my first one was a pasta sauce jar from Aldi, but anything that’s clear-ish and around a pint/500ish ml will work great)

A half cup or so of whole wheat flour (if you don’t use whole wheat flour often, it will only be a few cents if you buy it in the bulk section)

6-7 tablespoons of tap water

A clean spoon

A rubber band or dry erase marker (optional but recommended)

All-purpose white flour to feed

Second, you put the flour and water in the jar and mix until it forms a thin, sticky paste

Third, cover loosely with the lid, and mark the level of water-flour paste either by putting the rubber band around the jar or marking it with a dry-erase marker.

Fourth, wait like 24 hours for bubbles to appear. These are CO2 bubbles released as the wild yeast and bacteria that is naturally present in whole wheat flour eats the wheat starch.

Fifth, once your flour-water-yeast goo doubles in size, scoop out half of it and discard (it should be stretchy, sticky, and bubbly in texture and smell pleasantly yeasty and ferment-y), place a quarter cup of all-purpose flour and 3 tbsp of water in the jar and mix with the remaining starter. Repeat every time the mixture doubles in size.

Note: if you go too long without feeding your yeast baby, it will form a watery layer and start to stink. All you have to do to save it is get as much of the watery stuff out as possible, discard half, and feed it until the smell and texture return to normal.

Once you start having to do this multiple times per day, congrats! You have a live and active sourdough starter!

2- What to Do With All That Goo (or ”discard”):

So basically now you have a boring, hungry toddler that really likes flour and outputs a lot of gooey discard.

First, don’t think of discard as a waste! You should think of your starter as a yeast farm and the throw-away portion (the “discard”) as the product.

Using discard in recipes not only lends a deeper flavor and chewier texture to baked goods, but helps partially digest the wheat starches (making discard slightly lower in quick carbohydrates than traditional flour), acts as a prebiotic (the fiber in discard-laden baked goods is better for feeding your gut bacteria, which helps you digest things more thoroughly), decreases the amount of gluten, and the lactic acid bacteria in discard increases the amount of nutrients like folate, potassium, and magnesium that the body can absorb during digestion. Basically, it lets you get more out of the food you eat and makes baked goods (slightly) better for you!

Here’s how you can use it (remember that measurements shown below are “stirred down” discard, meaning you have to stir the bubbles out of your discard before measuring):

Bread/bagels/english muffins- replace the active dry yeast portion of the recipe with a quarter cup of discard, and let the dough rise 12 or more hours after kneading. This longer rise time is required because the wild yeasts are not quite as active (or voracious) as their cultivated cousins, and you want time for the whole thing to get nice and sour from the lactic acid bacteria.

Crackers/thin-crust pizza dough- replace half the flour in a cracker/pizza dough recipe with discard and omit yeast.

Crepes/pancakes/waffles- replace up to 3/4 of the flour in a crepe, waffle or pancake recipe with discard, and omit yeast.

Quickbreads- replace up to 3/4 of the flour in a quickbread (pumpkin, apple, zucchini, banana bread, etc...) with discard and adjust liquid to desired consistency.

Brownies- replace as much as all of the flour in your brownie recipe with discard and adjust the liquid to the desired consistency.

Granola- replace the binder (usually honey or sugar) in granola and granola bar recipes with discard, and sweeten to taste.

Pie crust- replace half the flour in your pie crust with discard, add the discard when you would normally add the water, and omit the water.

Batter for fried fish/chicken/potato wedges/veg, etc...- water down the discard with some beer or water, dip your fried things, and fry.

3- Preserving Your Starter Colony When You Have More Bread and Crackers Than You Can Comfortably Eat:

As much as you’d like to think you’ll use discard for every recipe, you might find that your creativity (or just your tolerance for discard-flavored things) gets stretched a little thin over time.

That’s okay!

Here are a few great ways to save your starter without needing to feed it every 12 hours:

Fridge it- If you just want less discard, put your whole starter colony in your fridge- the cold slows down the yeast’s digestion so you only have to feed it once per week.

Freeze it- if you have a few days that you don’t have anything to do with your discard or want to save up for a bigger recipe, portion it into greased ice cube trays, freeze it, and then pop the discard chunks out and store in a ziploc or jar. Thaw it to use in larger recipes down the line.

Dry it- spread your discard on parchment paper-lined baking trays and let it air out at room temperature for a few days, then chop it up and store in an airtight container (with some burnt flour in a little cloth envelop if you live in a humid climate).

Gift it/sell it: You’d be surprised at how many people feel the need to buy an existing starter. Feed your starter and then portion it into small jars (baby food, etc... with labels removed), then freeze the jars. Gift or sell these frozen portions by tying a little ribbon around them (feel free to name them and write the parent starter’s date of birth on the ribbon) and sending them off with a little printout of how to care for them.

[monaut]

hello millie, i remember seein g you post about sourdough before, do you have any recipe recs ?

hello anon! yes i love sourdough!!! 

I trust all recipes from king arthur flour with all my heart so i would start there for ideas! my first ever loaf was this one which also used commercial yeast bc i didn’t have faith in my starter lol. 

other than KAF my personal favorite is this one for “crack bread” (jalapeno cheddar lol)! It was actually one of my first sourdough recipes and turns out great each time. I also liked this cinnamon roll recipe :-) in general i think all sourdough brioche recipes turn out really well!!!

once in a last ditch attempt to use up my discard i made pasta after i saw this reddit post and honestly…. it wasn’t bad? oh also i’ve made this sourdough granola and it was ok if not kinda hard lol. probably would have been good if i ate my granola with milk but i hate milk so… recommend 4 u lactose-tolerants. i will say that everybody says to make crackers with discard but i have NEVER been able to make good crackers for some reason :/

my apartment isn’t warm enough to sustain a starter rn but when it gets warm again i’m gonna try this scone recipe 👀 please let me know how your sourdough goes!!!!!!!!!!! i want more baking friends lol

***edit i forgot to mention that i follow the #サワードウ hashtag on instagram bc i prefer... asian bakery bread? don’t know how to describe this but i loooove shokupan and stuff so that tag is always fun to look through! ppl never post their recipes there though -_-

[ecotone99]

[RF] Santino's Interview

Brisk October air ruffled the leaves on the trees and flowed between the towering buildings as Santino strutted down Market Street in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district. Men and women in suits littered the busy sidewalks as they paced hurriedly to work, but none looked quite as good as Santino did that cool morning. Sporting a fresh shave and haircut, a pressed navy blue suit with an equally blue tie and his polished Italian leather shoes, Santino looked and felt like the finest young professional the city had ever seen.

If there was every day on which Santino needed this confidence, it was today. In just one hour, he would head to the 31st floor of the tallest building on Market to interview for the sports agency firm he had longed to work for since his days as an undergrad slaving away at his legal studies coursework. Night after night he had worked tirelessly to assure his papers were perfect, leaving no t uncrossed or i undotted. When he wasn’t focusing on his coursework, he spent hours in the depths of the university library studying for the LSAT, a test he needed to ace in order to earn admission to a Top-14 law school. The remainder of his time was spent interning at a local court nearly an hour away from his off-campus apartment. Though the commute and workload exhausted him, he knew the experience he was gaining would give him a great leg up on the other applicants. Sure enough, he was right.

Through his hard work and dedication, Santino nailed the LSAT, maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA and earned himself an admission to the law school of his dreams.

Throughout his time in law school, he worked as hard as he ever had, excelling in his classes and spending hours on end interning for one of the most esteemed sports agents in the area. After graduating summa cum laude, he scored nearly perfect on the California Bar Exam and returned to the golden state where the air was warmer and the girls were prettier. After weeks and weeks of perfecting his resume and cover letter and gathering recommendation letters from his professors and employers, Santino submitted what had to have been the most robust application the firm had ever received. Then, he waited.

And he waited.

And he waited.

As morning turned to day and day turned to night, Santino incessantly watched his phone for any email or phone call from the firm. He even went as far as sleeping with his phone ringer on full blast at night, just in case they called him at one in the morning to schedule an interview.

With each passing day, Santino grew restless. It crossed his mind to submit other applications in the meantime, but he decided against it because he saw it as settling. Santino was the best candidate out there, and he would aspire for nothing but the best.

So he waited.

In order to preserve his sanity and keep his mind off the application, he had to find ways to occupy his time. Every morning at precisely 5:30a.m. he would wake up and prepare a breakfast consisting of two eggs over easy, one scrambled, three egg whites, two pieces of sourdough toast garnished with gluten-free margarine, a short stack of chocolate chip pancakes, a bowl of strawberry yogurt mixed with granola, two chicken-apple sausages and a bowl of Frosted Flakes, washed down with a cup-and-a-half of black coffee, two glasses of filtered water from his parents’ state-of-the-art Kitchenaid refrigerator and a smoothie consisting of a banana, two spoonfuls of Skippy super chunk peanut butter, twenty grams of vanilla protein powder, a cup of blueberries, exactly three strawberries and a light drizzle of organic honey. Once he finished his feast, he washed his dishes and headed straight out the front door and over to his local 24-Hour Fitness where he engaged in a rigorous workout regimen consisting of stretching, running on the treadmill, weightlifting, swimming and more stretching. When his workout was completed, he went back home to prepare his parents’ breakfast, which was the least he could do considering they were letting him live in their home rent-free. After his parents were fed and their dishes were cleaned, Santino would sit under the shady tree at the park down the street where he read classic literature, sipped on an iced green tea and let the summer breeze caress his skin. When he finished his reading, he headed back home, studied NFL and MLB statistics and practiced negotiating contracts based on those stats.

Santino usually finished these activities by one in the afternoon, at which point he would settle on the couch for a midday siesta.

The rest of Santino’s day was typically spent playing solitaire, making hip-hop beats for his friend José, reading the Bible, Quran, Talmud and The Book of Mormon, dominating online strangers in virtual chess, brushing up on his Southern Italian cooking skills and studying more sports statistics.

For a while, this laundry list of activities kept Santino preoccupied and did a fairly decent job of keeping his mind off his job application.

Until it didn’t.

After about the second day of this routine, Santino once again grew restless and was engulfed by anxiety.

Why haven’t they responded? he asked himself.

Did I sound too eager in my cover letter? Too cocky?

Do they not like Italians?

After days and days of insufferable torment, Santino had had enough. It was time to call the firm’s human resources department and ask if they had received his application. He had been reluctant to do so because he didn’t want to appear desperate. But at this point, he was desperate and had nothing to lose.

After finding the firm’s HR phone number, Santino poured himself a glass of room-temperature water to clear his throat and hit the “call” button. As the phone rang, he took a deep gulp of his water and repeated through his head, Sound confident; not cocky. Confident, not cocky.

“The Chang Corporation, this is Clarice. How may I help you?” asked an energetic voice on the other end of the line.

Caught off guard, Santino choked uncontrollably on his water and spit it all over himself.

“Uhh, hi!” he squeaked embarrassingly. “I mean, um, hello,” he stated in a forced tone much lower than that of his regular speaking voice. “My name is Santino Rigoli and I’m calling to inquire about the status of an application I submitted several weeks ago.”

“Okay, Mr. Rigoli,” Clarice responded. “Give me one second and I’ll pull up your application.”

Silence flooded the phone line and Santino nervously paced his kitchen floor, with each passing second looming like an eternity. What if the application hadn’t been received? Or worse, what if it had been received and they had simply discarded it?

“Well, Mr. Rigoli,” Clarice said after some time, “It seems we did receive your application and its status is listed as ‘Under Review.’ I’ll tell you what, though. I’m going to go ahead to transfer you over to DeSean Holman, who is one of our hiring managers, and he can give you further details on what to expect with your application from here on out.”

“Oh, wow!” Santino declared a little too excitedly. “Thank you so mu-

The line clicked and Santino was now listening to Country Roads, Take me Home, by John Denver. After fighting the urge to shout “West Virginia” about eight times, the music stopped and a strong voice took over the line.

“DeSean Holman, may I ask who’s calling?”

“Hello, Mr. Holman, my name is Santino Rigoli and I’m calling in regard to an application I submitted to your firm several weeks ago. I was just told by your receptionist that it was under review, bu-

“Well if you know it’s under review, then what more can I do for you at this time?” Mr. Holman asked impatiently.

“Um, I just wanted to se-

“You just wanted to see what was taking so long, is that right?” Holman asserted. “We have processes here, son, and you need to respect that. Business doesn’t get done at the snap of your fingers. It takes time, and you need to respect that and let us do our job as we see fit.”

Santino was shooketh, rattled like a snake. Before he could muster up the confidence to apologize for being too forward, Mr. Holman began speaking once more.

“But you know what, kid. I will say this: you got ambition. Too many kids your age, man, they’re complacent. They’re not hungry. They would have waited for months on end before we got back to ‘em. And if we didn’t? Oh well. And that’s the problem with you millenials; you expect stuff to come to you. But not you, Sanchito.”

“Santino,” he corrected him.

“That’s what I said, Dorito. But look, you’re not like those other kids. You’re hungry. You wanted something and you went for it, and that’s the type of ambition we’re looking for at this firm. And shoot, I have your resume right here in front of me, and I can tell you’ve got that ambition.”

In just a matter of seconds, Santino had gone from nearly throwing up to smiling like a priest in a boys’ daycare facility.

“I’ll tell you what, Sergio. We’re gonna bring you in for an interview. Tomorrow morning, 9 a.m. sharp. I want you in a full suit, tie and all. You come prepared with your resume, references and any other materials you find necessary. Check in with Clarice on the 31st floor and she’ll take you to Mr. Chang’s office where he’ll conduct your first round of interviews. Got it?”

Nearly in disbelief, Santino had to bring himself off Cloud Nine and confirm he understood the details of the interview. After thanking and saying goodbye to Mr. Holman, he hung up the phone and hurried to his room where he spent the next several hours preparing for his interview.

​

The next morning, Santino shot out of bed at promptly 5:37 a.m., downed two tall glasses of water, performed 50 consecutive push-ups and hopped in the shower. Once he was clean, he ate a banana, ironed his suit, shined his shoes, sytled his hair, brushed each individual tooth as if he were polishing Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture, gathered his interview materials and headed out the door.

He arrived at the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station at 7:01 a.m. and boarded his train almost instantaneously. Scheduled to arrive in San Francisco’s financial district at 7:58, he was afforded nearly an hour to rehearse his prepared responses to any questions his interviewers might throw at him. Right on schedule, the train stopped and Santino deboarded and rode up the escalator to Market Street. Despite the plethora of spectacles and distractions Market had to offer, Santino was not fazed. He was in the zone, locked and loaded, ready to go.

Conveniently, the Chang Corporation’s office was located right next to the BART station and would take less than a minute for Santino to reach by foot. The problem, however, was that he was 57 minutes early. He didn’t want to check in with Clarice too early out of fear of seeming too eager, giving the impression that he was desperate. Of course, he was desperate, but that didn’t matter. What mattered is that he didn’t seem desperate.

As Santino thought of ways to kill some time, he remembered there was a Peet’s Coffee just around the corner of Market and 3rd Street. Suddenly he realized that in the midst of all his excitement that morning, he hadn’t even remembered to brew his morning cup of joe. Not that he needed the boost of energy, for his enthusiasm had him feeling plenty energized. Still, a little jolt of java couldn’t hurt, right? After all, he certainly looked the best he ever had, and he was willing to do whatever he could to feel his best too. So with his chest puffed out and his chin held high, Santino strutted down the sidewalk with a sexy swag and rounded the corner onto 3rd Street.

Immediately after rounding the corner, Santino collided into a careless woman who spilled a piping hot cup of coffee onto his white shirt and all over his face and hair. To make matters worse, she was holding a breakfast burrito that exploded all over Santino and drenched his clothes in bacon grease, avocado and copious amounts of Tapatio. With his mouth gaping in shock, Santino was overcome with horror and wore an expression that looked as if he had seen Harvey Weinstein.

“I… uh… you…” he stammered, desperately searching for words he could not find.

“What in the hell is the matter with you?” the woman yelled as if it wasn’t her inattentiveness that had caused the collision. “Flying around the corner like that, not watching where you’re going! This is unbelievable; I have to be at work soon!”

Still, Santino couldn’t find his words. Perhaps there were no words to express his despair.

“This is unbelievable,” the woman spat as she swiped away egg particles out of her long, black hair. “Unbelievable. How am I going to show up to the office like this?”

She continued her angry tirade as she stormed off into the sea of people and out of eyesight. Stunned, soaked and covered in filth, Santino stood hopelessly on the sidewalk as he watched her disappear.

This was how it ended. He couldn’t walk into his interview with coffee stains on his shirt and face with hot sauce and avocado smeared on his jacket all the way down to his shoes. He looked terrible, and he felt even worse. It wasn’t even 8:30 and all the clothing stores were still closed, so that threw out the possibility of him swapping out his wardrobe. This was the look Santino was stuck with, covered in grime from head to toe. Moreover, there was no way he could muster the confidence to conduct an interview now, at least not a decent one.

As he crouched into a seat on the cafe’s patio, Santino thought about all the steps he had taken to reach this point. All those hours spent in the university library studying for exams and mock trials. The sleepless nights spent reading and memorizing penal codes. The times he sold his belongings when he was short on rent. All the time and money spent on his commutes to his internships that paid little to no wages. So many sacrifices made, all for nothing.

“No,” Santino said softly. “This isn’t how I go down.”

Santino Rigoli was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a quitter. He thought back to those trying nights when his will was tested and his limits were pushed. Although giving up had crossed his mind several times, he had never seriously considered it. It wasn’t who he was. Santino was a go-getter. An ambitious and talented individual who always worked hard to achieve success. He hadn’t sacrificed years of his life and taken on tens of thousands of dollars of debt to be stopped by a little coffee stain and some egg yolk. He ate those problems for breakfast. No, Santino Rigoli was a competitor, and he was going to overcome this challenge just like he had overcome all the others. He had a story to tell, and it was time to start writing it.

Quickly, Santino got up out of his seat and hurried into the cafe to freshen up. He grabbed a handful of napkins out of the dispenser, dampened them under the bathroom sink faucet and began wiping away whatever food residue he could. The scalding coffee had left his face quite red and would perhaps later resemble a serious burn, but all he could do now was splash cold water on it and hope for the best. His hair was dampened and the gel he molded it with had nearly entirely lost its hold. Thankfully his Italian ancestors had granted him dark, sleek hair that looked stylish even when messy, so that was the look he was going to roll with.

When he finished freshening up, he still looked sloppy but at least he knew he had done the best he could. It was now 8:41 and he had to leave the cafe if he wanted to check in with Clarice exactly 15 minutes before his interview.

As he marched down Market, the autumn air cooled his singed face and the foliage on the trees glowed red and orange overhead. When he reached the building, he managed to secure an elevator all to himself, rode it straight to the 31st floor and approached Clarice at her desk.

“Hi, Clarice?” he began. “My name is Santino Rigoli, you and I spoke on the phone yesterday. I’m here for an interview with Mr. Chang.”

Clarice looked up from her appointment book and brushed her bushy hair back with her hands. “Mr. Rigoli, you’re here early,” she said with a tone of satisfaction. “Thankfully, Mr. Chang is…” She stopped her sentence once she noticed Santino’s appearance. Though she saw how dirty he looked, she decided against saying anything as not to hurt his confidence. Thankfully, she was quick enough that Santino didn’t notice. “Mr. Chang is ready to see you right now, so you won’t have to wait. Please follow me.”

With that, she arose from her seat and led Santino through the Chang Corporation’s office, which was a breathtaking space characterized by cool, earth tones and high ceilings.

“Will Mr. Holman be conducting my interview as well this morning?” Santino asked in a strong, professional tone.

“DeSean is actually out meeting with a client today,” Clarice responded. “He’s working on a big contract right now and felt his time would be best spent focusing on that. But let me tell you, DeSean was very impressed with the initiative you showed yesterday, and he made sure to let Mr. Chang know that.��� Trying not to reveal too much excitement, Santino let out a half smile and expressed his satisfaction with a simple nod.

The two continued walking to Mr. Chang’s office in silence, and Santino couldn’t help but stare in awe of the facility as they passed through it. All along the walls were life-sized images of athletes represented by the firm. Record-setting contracts were framed on full display in the most visible places. To Santino’s left he saw a trophy case containing an NFL MVP award, two MLB Cy Young awards and an NBA Rookie of the Year award. To his right, he saw offices, state-of-the-art coffee machines, ping-pong tables, massage chairs, a weight room and a cafeteria that served gourmet cuisine ranging from smoked salmon to grilled bison. Straight ahead stood a gorgeous waterfall that fell from the ceiling down into a shimmering sapphire pool in which koi fish swam.

This is it, Santino thought. This is where I belong. I am going to work for the Chang Corporation.

Inspired, he envisioned himself working in one of the building’s offices, eating at fine restaurants with professional athletes and charging their meals to the company credit card, attending important sporting events and setting record-breaking contracts of his own.

It all starts with this interview, Santino told himself. This is going to be the best interview of your life.

“Okay, Mr. Rigoli, here we are,” Clarice said encouragingly when they approached a large pair of mahogany doors. “Mr. Chang,” she said as she knocked lightly on the door. “Santino Rigoli is here for his interview.”

“Ah yes!” sang an older gentleman’s voice from the other side of the door. “Please, Clarice, send him on in.”

“Well, Mr. Rigoli, best of luck to you,” Clarice smiled before she turned around and headed back to her desk.

Confident, not cocky, Santino reminded himself.

As he pushed the door open and stepped onto pristine cream-colored carpeting, he discovered Mr. Chang’s office was just as grandiose as the rest of the building. The ceilings arched high overhead and the walls were lined with wooden shelves holding dozens of knick-knacks ranging from collector’s edition baseball cards to decades-old bottles of wine. Mr. Chang’s fine mahogany desk sat approximately 20 feet from the room’s entrance. Cool and collected, Santino closed the door behind him and strided toward his interviewer.

“Mr. Rigoli,” Mr. Chang stood up, revealing his tall stature. “It’s a pleasure to have you here.” Although Chang was an older gentleman with gray-turning-white hair and a fair share of wrinkles on his face, he possessed a surprisingly strong frame and boasted the energy of a very young man.

“Please, Mr. Chang. Mr. Rigoli is my father. Call me Santino,” he responded charmingly.

“Well then, Santino,” Chang chuckled. “Go on ahead and have a se…”

Just as Santino was about to place the folder containing his resume on the desk and have a seat, Mr. Chang stopped his sentence and fixed his gaze on Santino’s shirt. He then moved his eyes from his shirt and scanned Santino’s entire torso and what he could see of his pants.

It’s okay, Santino thought. You knew this was gonna happen. Just play it cool and win him over with your confidence.

“I see you’re rather fixated on my attire, Mr. Chang,” he began. “I do hope you won’t call the fashion poli-”

“What in the hell are you wearing, son?” Chang asked in a tone full of disappointment. Santino’s stomach sank slightly.

“You see sir, I was ju-”

“You see? Yeah, kid, I do see. I see that you look like a wreck. What in the hell is the matter with you? Did you get into a food fight before you came over here?” Now rattled to his core, Santino knew he had to act fast.

“I, uh, I kn-know you see, sir. Th-the thing is, I-I-”

“I-I-I-I,” Chang mocked him. “I rolled around in the garbage before I came up here? I used coffee as cologne this morning and combed my hair with hot sauce? What in the hell is the matter with you?” Santino gulped. He was mortified beyond anything he could have imagined.

“Mi-Mister Chang, listen. I-”

“Listen? You’re telling me to listen? No, you listen to me, buddy. You come in here dressed like a slob, you can’t explain yourself and stammer like an idiot, and then you start barking orders at me in my own office? Do you know where you are, or who I am? This is the top sports agency in the world, and I am its founder and CEO. And you have the nerve to come into my office and tell me what do? No. No, I don’t think so.” Seeing his hopes and dreams burst into flames before his very eyes, Santino shook and stood silently, waiting for Chang’s wrath to come to an end.

“You know,” he continued. “This is the problem with you kids nowadays. You don’t have standards. You think that can just cruise to success without facing any trials or tribulations, that you can just enjoy the benefits of hard work without actually putting in the work.”

Santino felt as if his throat was closing. Rage and despair rose within him. Nothing Mr. Chang said had even remotely applied to him. Santino did put in the work, and he wanted to continue to work hard. If Mr. Chang would only hear him out.

“Sir, if you would please just let me spe-”

“No!” Chang barked furiously. “Don’t you dare interrupt me. You had your turn to speak, and you stuttered and insulted me. Now, I speak and you listen. I’ve seen kids like you before. You come in here acting like a hot shot with your fancy degree from this big-name school and act like that will serve as your free pass to do whatever you want to do. Well, guess what, pal? That’s not how it works here. You show up covered in filth, talking like you own the place and expected to get offered a job on the spot. Well it’s not gonna happen. I want you to get outta my office and escort yourself out of my facility, right now.” Chang looked on his desk and saw Santino’s folder. “And what’s this, your resume? Take it with you. I wouldn’t even be able to read it anyway because it’s probably soaked in coffee just like the rest of you. Get out.”

Santino sheepishly took the folder out of Chang’s hand, turned around and escorted himself out of the room without saying another word. On the way out, he thanked Clarice for showing him around and waited in silence for the elevator. Once outside, he walked down the steps leading to the BART station, boarded his train and headed back home.

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[la-quarantine-bakery]

Quick bites: week of 7/20/20

Sourdough discard granola

I had made another sourdough granola recipe before and it was pretty fun eating it with Greek yogurt as a quick, healthy breakfast. This time I added a dash of cardamon and used the last of my dried cranberries as mix-in with sweetened coconut. Tasted okay, the flavors sort of clashed (cardamon and tamari pumpkin seeds especially) but not too bad.

Recipe: homemade sourdough granola from 24hourkitchen

Sourdough discard kimchijeon

Honestly this is probably not the most authentic kimchi pancake. The nice thing about cooking in a frying pan is that it’s pretty forgiving when it comes to the consistency of the pancake batter. I added an egg, a handful of potato starch, and kimchi to some unspecified amount of sourdough starter. It didn’t quite puff up despite how bubbly it seemed - gonna try a simpler pancake to see next time - but came out just fine.

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Using up evaporated milk: week of 8/19/21

Sourdough discard milk buns

Grade: B

Tried this two weeks ago and messed up the recipe, so tried again. I think the sourdough flavor is still a bit strong and the buns are too dense now, so need more work and maybe recipe adjustment. Still a good weekday soup accompaniment. 

Recipe: black sesame sourdough discard buns from Bake with Paws

Sourdough lotus buns

Grade: B+

Using up more evaporated milk (which might’ve made the dough denser and added some milky flavor) and red lotus paste. Flavor is good but dough is too dense.

Sourdough granola with pumpkin and poppy seeds

Grade: B

I think it needed more flavor and the lack of chopped nuts made the flavor more one-note, but otherwise a pretty safe recipe for me by now.

Recipe: sourdough granola from 24hourkitchen

Black sesame mochi cakes

Grade: B

Underbaked. I’m not sure evaporated milk (which is why I wanted to try this recipe) made a huge difference but I would try the recipe again.

Recipe: black sesame mochi cakes from Baking with Jess

Modification: coconut yogurt instead of oil

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Another quiet week: week of 8/2/21

Black sesame sourdough discard buns

Grade: B

I messed up the liquid ratio and can’t say I did a great job of kneading or proofing. The buns tasted pretty good, so it might be my go-to recipe now that I have less time to use Puffy (it uses a pretty high percentage of discard).

Recipe: black sesame sourdough discard buns from Bake with Paws

Modifications: sprinkled black sesame seeds on top; accidentally added too much milk (107g instead of 57g)

Granola with almonds, pumpkin seeds, and poppy seeds

Grade: B

Another iteration on granola with lots of seeds (almost couldn’t find my pumpkin seeds initially).

Recipe: sourdough granola from 24hourkitchen

Modifications: no spices; a lot of almonds, pumpkin seeds, and poppy seeds by weight

Sourdough cherry cake

Grade: B+

I wanted to use up cherries and sourdough. The taste was pretty good, cherries and almond (in the form of almond extract) do go well together.

Recipe: cherry cake from Joy of Baking

Modifications: 63g sourdough in a half recipe; greatly reduced sugar; left out almonds

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Aran to end the year: week of 12/28/20

End of the year which means trying out more recipes from Aran Bakery and using up as many leftover ingredients as possible.

Sourdough cranberry panettone

Grade: B+

Panettone is a holiday bread. I originally wanted to bake it for Christmas but felt it would be too much after the croissant loaf, so I baked it for New Year’s instead. This recipe is a condensed recipe that doesn’t require cultivating a sweet stiff starter over several days, but it was still a complex recipe as it required incorporating 125 grams of butter into 225 grams of flour. I used Miyoko’s vegan butter, which melted faster than butter, became very liquid, and smelled strongly of cashew (although that might be what I was cooking).

Panettone also called for soaking sultanas and raisins in orange juice or liquor. I used cranberries and soaked them in warm water, because I totally goofed and forgot that I have both orange blossom water and actual oranges, which I tried to add after the fact (and Mom seemed to like the taste). Another goof: forgot to take pictures of the finished products, which looked like cute little brioche mushrooms.

Despite the usage of the vegan butter, the bread tasted nice and buttery. My parents liked the cranberries and the oranges, and the fact that the dough was not overly sweet. Next time I would try to play with the ratio of the add-ins and use actual butter.

Recipe: easy sourdough panettone recipe from Foodgeek

Sourdough discard gingerbread

Grade: B+

This was a recipe with a few substitutions made: I used Puffy in place of some flour and milk, heavy cream instead of some butter and milk, vegan butter instead of butter, and more golden syrup than called for to use up my bottle. Oh, and I used dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar, in lower amount.

Alas, still too sweet likely due to the higher ratio of golden syrup. But the warm spices felt comforting all the same.

Recipe: iced gingerbread from Flora Shedden’s Aran

Chocolate oat cookies

Grade: A-

I wanted to try this recipe for a while due to the usage of rolled oats and both white and dark chocolate, but since it didn’t call for sourdough I always skipped it in favor of recipes that would allow me to use up some discard.

Since Puffy went to the gingerbread, I finally got to make this, using more white chocolate chips than called for to use up the bag. The texture was wonderful thanks to the oats, but it was a bit too sweet due to the extra white chocolate chips. I think it would’ve tasted amazing if I kept the original ratios because my dark chocolate baking chunks tasted amazing in those cookies.

Recipe:  chocolate oat cookie from Flora Shedden’s Aran

New Year’s Day cherry shortcake

Grade: A-

Mom bought a cake decorating kit so we baked a cake to test out piping. The cake itself was interesting as it involved heating the eggs (whole, not separated) and sugar together, then beating until airy and tripled, and then folding into flour and fat. We ran out of butter so used vegetable oil, and we ran out of cake flour so used bleached flour. Not sure if that affected the final product.

The pan was a bit big so the cake was thinner than we wanted, which meant no layers. I used cherry syrup to soak the cake, giving it a nice cherry taste, and we beat heavy cream together with sugar to create the frosting, which was a bit soft. The piping wasn’t as hard as I expected since Mom actually put the tip on correctly, but the effect leaves much room for improvement.

The cake tasted nice and light, and the frosting was milky. I would’ve liked more layers as I like frosting and I think it would’ve made the cake itself more moist, so something to work on for the next cake.

Recipe: Japanese strawberry shortcake from Just One Cookbook

Sourdough granola with gingerbread spice

Grade: 

Another sourdough buildup, another variation of sourdough granola, with pumpkin and sunflower seeds, almonds, the last of my cranberries, and new gingerbread spice.

Recipe: sourdough granola from 24hourkitchen

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Quick bites: week of 6/22/20

Most bakes this week were dictated by my sourdough starter. My little guy could really eat!

Sourdough discard chocolate chip cookie

Using wild yeast to leaven cookies is very intriguing. I was impressed by how much the cookies puffed up - wonder if it’s more the baking soda or the sourdough starter. The texture is interesting, less crispy and more bready, and there’s a strong taste of flour (though that could just be because of the whole wheat pastry flour).

I wonder what fermenting longer in refrigeration would taste like.

Recipe: chocolate chunk sourdough cookies from Baked the Blog

Sourdough discard granola

This was pretty straightforward to make, ignoring the part where the spatula kept tipping over, one time falling on the floor and spreading granola everywhere (fortunately thanks to the starter, some of the pieces stuck together). The cooking temperature might’ve also been too high as it browned rather quickly. Overall I’m happy.

Side note: apparently I never refrigerated the hazelnuts I bought and they ended up being expired a few months ago. I’m not sick yet...and hopefully I can use them up this week.

It looks so pretty in my Talenti container!

Recipe: sourdough granola from Cook til Delicious (but chocolate chip stirred in comes from chocolate chip granola from Brown Eyed Baker)

Zongzi filling

I’m pretty proud of this one - who would’ve thought I’d be able to make yummy savory sticky rice? I also got to use up a bunch of ingredients I had lying around, including sweet rice, spam, and quail eggs.

What I would change:

The mung beans added nice chew and I wonder if I should’ve cooked it with the meat (the original recipe had chestnuts)

More mushrooms! The mushroom to meat ratio is off

Recipes:

Mostly came from easy no-wrap sticky rice dumplings from What to Cook Today

Mung beans came from pork zongzi from Omnivore’s Cookbook

Sourdough curry mantou

I accidentally put too much curry powder in the mantou and the end result definitely reflected it. So I stuffed some cranberries inside. But the cranberries were dry and hard and punctured the dough.

The texture was nice and I got nice air bubbles even after overnight refrigeration. I’m not sure if the sour taste is from the yogurt or the sourdough.

I’m excited to perfect sourdough mantou!

Recipe: dual-color yogurt Chinese steamed buns (mantou) from My Little Simple Fun Blog

Sourdough discard brownies

This recipe was interesting: the sourdough discard provided the only source of flour (and I was hoping to use up some teff flour). I did get to stuff it with hazelnuts because apparently I bought nearly expired hazelnuts in March and didn’t refrigerate this whole time.

I was going tor a Ferror Rocher taste but I think adding coffee next time might make it taste even better. Or a coffee ganache once I learn how to do those things.

Recipe: sourdough brownies from Baked the Blog

Coconut flour banana chocolate hazelnut muffin

No sourdough discard in this one, but tried to use up coconut flour, old frozen bananas, and hazelnuts. I also didn’t clean the brownie mixing bowl on purpose, so the muffins also came out chocolatey. Haven’t had a chance to try them yet but I think the ingredients can’t go wrong.

Recipe: coconut flour banana chocolate chip muffins from 24 Carrot Kitchen

Sourdough discard kimchi pork bun and dumpling

I was stockpiling too much sourdough discard and this discard dumpling recipe uses up 100g of them! I didn’t make them into dumplings though. Instead I made them into 8 large buns and used up a small container of kimchi along the way.

I did make some of the bun skins too thin in order to stuff too much filling. So the filling was breaking through. And I still ended up using dumpling skin. And I understuffed the dumpling skins to try to use up the whole packet and didn’t manage that. Need to get better at my dough and filling ratio!

If my eczema wasn’t acting up, probably would’ve mixed in more sourdough discard and made pancakes. Mmmm.

Recipes:

Bun wrapping from sourdough discard dumplings from Du’s Doughs

Filling inspired by kimchi ppang from Maanchi

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Mung bean: week of 9/26/22

Sourdough granola with hazelnuts and mixed seeds

Grade: B+

I managed to avoid burning it this time, yay, though I couldn’t find dried cranberries so that will need to be added in while eating.

Recipe: sourdough granola from 24hourkitchen

Modification: Greek yogurt for oil; different mix-ins

Sourdough mung bean buns

Grade: B+

Haven’t made steamed buns in a while but wanted to use up more of these homemade fillings. Overproved the first proof but pretty good, not as sour as I’d feared.

Recipes:

Dough adapted from sourdough discard dumplings from Du’s Doughs (added sugar)

Homemade mung bean filling

[la-quarantine-bakery]

Back to basics: week of 5/16/22

Side note: wow 200 posts! I’m glad my love of making food hasn’t disappeared despite the novelty wearing off. 

Sourdough granola with pumpkin and sunflower seeds

Grade: B

Overbaked and too thick but otherwise fine. Used only seeds out of laziness (no crushed nuts) and a feeble desire to be healthy (no chocolate chips).

Recipe: sourdough granola from 24hourkitchen

Modification: Greek yogurt for oil; different mix-ins

Sourdough ground pork and kimchi buns

Grade: B+

I haven’t made steamed buns in a while. Those are fine and a nice return to the familiar, as well as a good way to use up Puffy discards before a slower week.

Recipe: 

Dough: sourdough discard dumplings from Du’s Dough

Filling: ground pork with chopped kimchi, sugar, and garlic powder in some random proportion

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Purely sourdough week: week of 7/19/21

Sourdough milk bread

Grade: B-

Messed up because I miscalculated the amount of egg whites left in the carton. So...the proportions are all off and there was no butter added. The flavor was meh but the texture was surprisingly okay, probably thanks to the egg whites and the bread flour.

Recipe: Hokkaido milk sandwich loaf from This Old Gal

Sourdough granola with almonds and pumpkin seeds

Grade: B

Just another typical batch of sourdough granola. Left out the cinnamon though.

Recipe: sourdough granola from 24hourkitchen

Sourdough cherry muffins

Grade: B+

Wanted to use up some Puffy discard before traveling as well as some fresh cherries from Whole Foods. Tasted pretty good but maybe underbaked despite me baking for longer than indicated.

Recipe: cherry-almond muffins from King Arthur Baking Company

Modifications: 44g sourdough starter in a half recipe; Greek yogurt in place of butter; reduced sugar

Sourdough crab meat kimchi pancake

Grade: B

Sort of an experiment. It’s still a little sour, but I tried adding potato starch for some non-acidified carbs. Tasted rather nice.

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Successes and failures: week of 6/21/21

Sourdough poppy and sesame seeds bagels

Grade: A-

A little burnt on the bottom as I had a meeting, and the toppings were messy also due to me rushing during the meeting and not letting the poached bagels rinse off first, but quite yummy and legit tasting.

Recipe: homemade sourdough bagels from Baking Sense

Sourdough focaccia with crab, corn, and tomatoes

Grade: B-

It’s too bad that this didn’t turn out better considering how good the toppings would’ve tasted and how good previous batches had been. I didn’t do stretch-and-folds (forgot) and proofed it for too long so it was sour. I’ll have to make it properly for the family another time.

Recipe: sourdough discard focaccia from Du’s Doughs

Sourdough granola with almonds, pumpkin seeds, and dates 

Grade: B+

Healthy and I like the almonds.

Recipe: sourdough granola from 24hourkitchen

Modifications: doubled amounts of nuts and seeds; dried dates added midway through baking

Japanese mascarpone cheesecake

Grade: A-

The family loved it, even though the cheesecake collapsed and I added a little too much sugar. So creamy especially when chilled.

Recipe: Japanese cheesecake from Just One Cookbook

Modification: mascarpone for cream cheese; a little too much sugar