Baking Bread....

I've always enjoyed Cooking, ever since I was a kid helping my Mom but wasn't that interested in Baking in general(I don't have a strong "sweet tooth"). It wasn't until the early 80's and my Vegetarian Period that I started Baking Bread.....and found I enjoyed it! While that period of my life is loooong gone, the Breadmaking Love remains.
I was an irregular Baker. That is, I'd Bake at irregular periods. Maybe a "Baker's Dozen" times a yr;>. When we moved back here(well, for me) I started Baking regularly, even to start my own local Sourdough. It was ok, but after a yr I let it die and went back to commercial Yeasts. Then my parents began to fail.
We moved back in "01" because they needed someone they could call on and would be able to come over at a moment's notice. This went until 5 yrs ago when they moved to be closer to my brother and his wife and so we followed. Mom Passed that yr and Dad the next. Needless to say, I wasn't much in the mood to Bake...
Well, it's been a couple of yrs and as the cost of GOOD store bread has skyrocketed, the cost to DYI has come down markedly....so I am!
I made my Mundane Project for this yr to Bake regularly and to improve technique. I've even gone to the trouble of ordering a culture from a commercial source. I picked Sourdough International's French culture because it was supposedly the least tart. If youve lived any amt of time in San Francisco, you'd understand. In some parts they compete for the hottest Chili, In The City they won't be happy till there's no difference to the customer from a slice of bread and a slice of Lemon;>.
So, my culture arrived Saturday and I'm now reactivating it's freeze-dried form. So far it looks better than my homecollected culture!
Cheers,
Pat