Carnivorous instincts with an old friend of a friend

Sitting in our kitchen, in the bowels of a Kilner jar rests the only 'living' thing in our household we can refer to as a pet.

I'm referring to our sourdough starter, a mixture of bread flour and water that has worked its magic bonding with tiny things that float in the air, and fuse together to produce a natural yeast that makes the most incredible bread.  

Our starter first came into the house in a small plastic Chinese takeaway container.  It didn't look like much, and my neighbour Will informed me that it was ready for feeding.  He didn't let me know much other than the formula that I follow to this date:

• Take 1/2 a cup of starter out
• Add 1/2 cup of warm water
• Add 1 cup of flour
• Mix everything well together, and leave it to do wonders until you need another 1/2 cup to make another loaf, and repeat the above

The verbal small print, that was obviously unheard was the rate the beast will grow. Left overnight, it opened the plastic Chinese container, and became familiar with various corners of the fridge.  Not deterred, I opted for a very large jam jar... this time it managed to unscrew the top!  I wish I had a picture to prove that one.

As you can imagine, in order to persevere here, I had to wave the white flag, and think on a bigger scale.  So this is how it has come to be tame living in its own Kilner jar, where it has plenty of room for manoeuvre, doesn't escape, but is left sat on the worktop resembling (if you'll pardon my vulgarity) a large volume of vomit in a huge jar.

The night before last, I got to work making a loaf.  Nothing too fancy, just a simple white sourdough.  I hoped to share a picture of it, but in all my excitement at a lovely roast dinner prepared by the delightful Mrs. Banks, I sunk into one of my most vile and depraved states... like a bowl of melted chocolate, and a spoon to lick for an expecting child, my carnivorous instincts instructed me to mop the roasting tray with fresh bread.

I returned to the loaf for lunch this afternoon, and as you can see, it got a helping hand from other sources.