I’m starting a yeast water culture today. Red grapes, water, a clean jar, and a week of patience. Day 1 through Day 7 I’ll post a quick check-in here so you can see exactly what’s happening: the bubbles, the smell, the float test, the moments when nothing seems to be happening and you wonder if you killed it. Day 7 I bake. One loaf, fully leavened with yeast water. No commercial yeast, no sourdough starter. Just wild yeast pulled out of fruit, water, and time. Here’s the thing. Yeast water is one of the most underrated tools in home baking. It’s gentler than sourdough, faster to build than a starter from scratch, and it pulls flavor out of the fruit you choose. Grapes give you a wine-like complexity. Raisins give you steady, rich fermentation. Either works. If you’ve got a handful of grapes or a small box of raisins sitting in your kitchen, grab them and start your own jar today. Post your Day 1 photo in the comments and we’ll go on this together. Side-by-side jars, real-time comparisons, and at the end of the week we all bake. What you need to start: A clean glass jar. About 1 cup of fruit, washed, skins on, no preservatives or wax. 1 to 1.5 cups of non-chlorinated water. A teaspoon of sugar or honey if you want to give it a nudge. Loose lid or a cloth on top. That’s it. Stir it once a day, keep it at room temperature out of direct sun, and watch for bubbles. I’ll have an infographic up shortly to walk through the timeline visually. Drop a comment if you’re in. Tell me what fruit you’re using. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

Some old-fashioned rolled oats, some peanut butter, chopped walnut, semi sweet chocolate chips and instead of vanilla extract, I thought I would use banana extract. Banana goes well with peanut butter and my goodness was that ever a good idea. Now it’s in the refrigerator to make it a little easier to handle.