The Advetures of Koko and Yum Yum

It's been a few weeks since Yum Yum has joined our family and she is quickly becoming adjusted to her new home. In addition to climbing into the refrigerator and being constantly underfoot when we are in the kitchen, she has picked-up Koko's habit of waking us up at 5:30 every morning. On the topic of Koko, they seem to be getting along better each day; it's fun to watch them chasing around the house. Anyway, here are a few pictures for you to enjoy...





What, you talkin' to me...





Bird-watching can be so tiresome...





Do you see a pattern developing here...

Sourdough Starter Update

I understand that many of you have been waiting with bated breath to find out how my sourdough starter is holding up, so I figured that I would provide a quick update for you. This is also a way of saying that I had nothing at all to write about, so I will just bore you with details that you probably could care less about. Now, since I published my article on How to Make Sourdough Starter (yup, shameless self-promotion), I have had the opportunity to bake over 20 loaves of bread and I am happy to report that the bread is continuing to turn out great and the starter is still chugging along nicely.

Since I have gotten more comfortable with the starter, I have started to experiment a little with what I add to the bread. I have begun to add some granulated garlic to my french breads and at some point, I would like to add sun-dried tomatoes. I have also experimented with using wheat flour. This flour kneads differently than the white flour so, if you decide to use it, please be sure to watch carefully as you add it, because one minute it may look too moist and then BAM, you've added too much.

If you have your own starter, don't be afraid to experiment with it. The worst thing that can happen, is that the bread won't rise and you end-up with flat-bread (great for dipping in soups). Remember, don't skimp on the proofing times (yes, I've done that, too).

One thing though, my bread is very dense and I was wondering if anyone out there would know how I can get more air-holes in my bread (making it nice and fluffy)? Would substituting shortening for the olive oil make a difference? If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Sorry for this strange article, but I have been totally slammed this week and have had very little time to devote to writing.

Removing Dead Links from Your Site

How did I spend my Sunday? Well,with the Vikings vs. 49er's game playing in the background (how did you like the end?), I spent the day removing dead links from my site. Personally, I really find it irritating to go to a link and discover it doesn't work. So, in order prevent my visitors from experiencing this same frustration, I like to go in every few weeks and check my site for dead links and clean them out.

I went in today and was amazed to find about 20 links that did not work. Most were from bloggers who left comments on my site and have since left the blogging world. Now, since Blogger does not allow us to edit our comments, I end up going in and copying the original comment and then republishing it with the following comment: "Edited to remove dead link. Original comment posted on: (I give date and time)." When it happens to be a broken link, I go in and do the same thing, but this time I post it using the corrected URL. Today, I not only had to fix and remove links in the comments, but also in some of my articles. I went in and removed the link, then republished the post.

How do I find these dead links? Well, I use a free link checker I found through my Profit Lance course (yes, I broke down and took the course a year or so ago). Even though it's free, it does a very good job of going through EVERY single link on your site. When you find one that is broken or dead, just highlight the link and right-click on properties. It will then tell you where you can find the link on your site.

If you run into any problems trying to remove the little guys, just let me know and I'll do my best to help you.

Xenu Link Checker