Of Course We're All Different

There's a young mom I know, who hasn't started homeschooling, but intends to. Numerous times she has commented, in a surprised manner, that all homeschoolers are different from each other. I find it intriguing that this is a surprise, because by it's very nature, homeschooling implies going one's own way and going against the social norm of putting your kids in public school or private school. Even though homeschooling has grown tremendously over the past 30 years, it is still not what most people are choosing for their families. 

So if homeschoolers are unique, which they are, what is it that binds them or forges their friendships? I think what binds is the weight of responsibility for educating and training your children. Taking that on, 100%, as parents, gives a common ground that immediately makes you relate to each other. So we enjoy meeting and talking and being in groups together because of this load we're all carrying...but what makes us choose those select few to call 'friends'? It isn't doing school the same way or using the same materials, though having the same foundation can certainly aid that. Many of my closest friends in our homeschooling years were in the groups I was in and we all transitioned to other groups as well. That said, what helped those relationships grow and continue? Having similar parenting philosophies is a big one. Similar values about life. Are you doers or talkers? That is a big one. There are those who want to talk all day and night every day about everything. Then there are those who go and do, and they do a lot often. 

People are different but there are commonalities that bind us to each other. Notice I'm not even discussing Christianity because to me, that is a given. Those who see the Lord and His word the same get a major in-road to who we are and how we operate, then we move into the lesser issues of education, philosophies and lowest on the list, curriculum. 

Bread

Did my first batch Sourdough bread making! 3 were underfermented and 4 were not...

Exposing Unbelief

Good sermons... not light and fluffy. Stuff that shows we need to redeem the time and be serious about how we interact with the truth that's available to us. 

Exposing unbelief part 1,2,3

https://hopebiblechurch.org/sermons/

The Other FMF Sourdough Bread Pan Attempt

The Pantry Mama, How to Bake Sourdough in a Loaf Pan was my other attempt at FMF. I opted for half KA Bread flour and half hard white/hard wheat. I'm going to get a stronger starter going with just white flour the night before and feed in the AM and plan to mix/bake that same day. I did not have enough hydration so sprayed the dough while it rose in the pan...next time I'll hydrate more before the first bulk rise and really watch the autolyse. I think I went too long. It tasted great and had a nice texture, but isn't as tall or as springy as I wanted. Might add 20 g honey too this recipe also. 

Very soft, nice flavor, good crumb, but I want taller. Baked 1/11/25 very late at night b/c I started too late that morning. 

More Discard! Starting FMF Sandwich Loaves

Made simple discard crackers seasoned a variety of ways on 1/12/25... These are very simple and savory, and would be good with hummus. Easy way to use up extra, I used whole wheat and white starter. They are powerful and have a lot of seeds, and I did feel like my chest was heavy after eating too many without drinking water! Yikes. 

I used Little Spoon Farm's cracker recipe because it is fast, few ingredients, and as always, used a lot of discard! 200 g!

The night prior to making crackers (1/11), I started two different sandwich loaves, trying to start using FMF in my bread and coming up with a loaf for our regular bread. 

Grains in Small Place's recipe, made 2 small bread loaves in normal sized pans. I did not let these rise enough, or over fermented it...not sure. One loaf got weirdly puffy and the other was too flat. Different pans and the one seemed to be part of the problem. Won't use it again, will probably trash it honestly. 

GISP's Sourdough Bread with FMF

Pet-peeve is that she calls fermentolyse, autolyse, which makes me uncomfortable, but I like this recipe b/c you can use olive oil instead of butter and honey instead of sugar... THOUGH, sugar might work better and I'll try it next time since I didn't love my results. I did use all FMF, started 1/11 and baked 1/12. Think I needed more active starter, will take out and feed at night before bed, then feed again early in the morning and get moving on the bread by 8:30 am if possible. Her dough takes 3-4 hrs on first bulk rise and mine took so stinking long I lost track b/c I was also making another sandwich loaf recipe the same day. I did finally put these pans in the fridge at 11:30 pm b/c I had to bake the other recipe. 

I didn't take a picture of these on the table before freezing because they don't look good...definitely need more active starter, will use white, and need more moisture and to watch the 2nd fermentation time. It was getting gassy so I think that was the problem. Maybe I should try one large loaf? The texture was soft though I did rub butter on at the end to help with that. 

3rd Dutch Oven Loaf

I should have started to write this all down sooner, because less than 2 weeks in, I had forgotten this 3rd recipe of DO bread. I used my new banneton and thought the shape would be a rectangle. Shockingly, this is what came out of the DO! We ate this with butter, jams, and ham for dinner one night, oh, it was the pancake Sunday! So much sourdough on Feb 9th! Wish I could remember the recipe but it isn't in my mind. I started out making a few things back to back and then quickly moved to doing multiples at a time b/c of the big time lag. I don't usually have the free time I've had lately, so it was really fun to get to jump in and get rolling. Such a huge thanks to my friend who got me started!