The experiment

Ms. Davidson was my 6th grade science teacher. She was a giant to me and I remember the time she ate a candle that actually turned out to be a lit potato wedge. For me, memories are a weird thing. What is vivid about my memories of that class were the experiments that we conducted relating to the physical sciences... because in elementary school, you got to conduct great experiments but didn't have to calculate molecular mass or observe the spectral diffusion of different light waves. I just got to shoot off rockets and burn things.

What made me think of my science class was my latest expedition into the field of yeast. Michael and I made our first brew of mead this past winter that yielded a hearty drink. Noël frequently makes a fresh loaf of bread-- which always include a joke about the "sound of bread" from Ratatouille. Nonnie (Noël's grandmother) just recently gave us a jar of sourdough starter--which led me naturally to this article. Which naturally led to this:

My first sourdough experiment. Represented here are two attempts to culture naturally occurring yeasts in a sourdough starter that I feed daily. The jar on the right is an attempt to culture yeast from the air in Long Beach. The three jars on the right are my attempt to culture yeast from the skin of grapes picked from Noël's parents backyard. It has been a nice nightly ritual to maintain and feed the yeasty creations. As soon as I am satisfied with my experiments and have tested each batch, I am more than willing to share the wealth--for those brave enough.

Comments

  1. Caleb2/9/09

    That is awesome! Looks unappealing right now... but I hope it tastes good!

    ReplyDelete
  2. megan3/9/09

    you are great, db.
    and by the way, i think it was ms. davidson, not davis. and she was a giant!

    ReplyDelete
  3. noël3/9/09

    I don't ask about the experiments going on in the back room. I just hold my breath when he tends to them in the evenings--Just to clarify :)

    ReplyDelete

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