today's all about you, eb!

It's Sourdough Day, or, as I like to call it, Day to Celebrate the Superstar Fondly Known as Ebenezer.

Clearly, I had to make some sort of bread in observance of Day to Celebrate the Superstar Fondly Known as Ebenezer and let ol' Eb strut his stuff. After some serious searching, I ended up picking a recipe that would help me use up some dried apricots, dried plums (that sounds so much better than prunes), and glazed walnuts. It's the bedazzled bread all over again!


Although the bread came together very nicely, I was a little disappointed with the final product. It was very dense, and the overall flavor was just...blah. It's probably just personal preference--I chose to use the dried apricots and dried plums because I don't really care for either and just wanted to get rid of them. Don't tell my co-workers that I'm using them to dispose of foods I have in my cabinets and don't want to eat myself...


Sourdough Apricot Walnut Bread
(based on this recipe)

1 cup Eb
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 dried apricots, diced
8 dried plums, diced
1/2 cup glazed walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt

Combine Eb, water, oil, sugar, apricots, and plums and mix well. Add walnuts and whole wheat flour and blend together. Add 2 cups of the bread flour and mix again. Add the last 2 cups of the bread flour, combined with the salt, and mix again. The dough will be sticky and a little stiff. Put into a greased bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled in bulk, 8-12 hours.

Punch down and divide into three equal pieces. Knead each piece a bit and put into a greased loaf pan and let rise until they reach the tops of the pans, another 12 hours or so.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until browned and pulling away from the sides of the pans.


In other news, have a glorious April Fools' Day! I hope that a)everyone falls for the tricks you have in store for them, but b)no one gets hurt and c)you don't get suckered yourself. I happen to be extremely gullible, so today's motto is: "Trust no one and suspect everyone."