This afternoon would have been Day 4. It was marked on my calendar, for quarter past three: Feed Sourdough Starter. The soupy concoction was rising nicely, building in size, growing larger. Yes, indeed. My little kitchen experiment, my first attempt at making starter for sourdough bread, was humming right along.

That is, until I preheated the oven to warm up a couple of slices of leftover pizza. Argh!!

Per the instructions on the website I’m following, it’s important to keep the starter cozy and warm in a 70-to-75-degree environment. The site suggested placing the jar, with the bubbling, potent mixture, in the oven with the light on for short periods of time.

However, I forgot that my sweet, little monster was in the oven when I set the oven temperature. To a scorching 400 degrees.

Ruh-Roh.

So. Back to the drawing board. Begin again. And this time, I’ll place a sticky note over the oven controls every time that space is ocupado!