Instead of discarding the extra sludge from day 5, I decided to try making the crackers suggested by Susan McKenna Grant in Piano Piano Pieno. They look pretty good, eh? Hmmm, some of them are perhaps a tiny bit overdone...
Perhaps "tiny bit" is the wrong phrase. Here is the same scene panned back. (The unburned crackers were quite good.)
In an attempt to make bread using a natural starter, I realized I had jumped the gun. The starter wasn't bubbling as much as I hoped so instead of mixing bread dough, I made more crackers. Here is the dough (natural starter, whole wheat flour, allpurpose flour, water, olive oil, flax seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, seasalt) rolled out and ready for baking.
Susan McKenna Grant suggests using coarse seasalt on top of the crackers. We just happen to have an assortment of salts that was part a lovely present from my sister and brother-in-law. After some deliberation, I chose "English Sea Salt".
This time, I baked them at a lower temperature (350F instead of 450F) and placed them on the top shelf. The results were much better, although I think we may prefer the crackers we made at Christmas time. Still, this is a good way to use up the extra sludge when making a natural starter.
