A new obsession
by Kelli Bowen
So I picked up a new hobby. I am saying hobby because I have successfully pulled it off for over two weeks now: I’m making sourdough bread.
I have tried twice in the past to create a starter. The first time I somehow had the measurements off and made so much it grew outside of the very large jar I had started it in.
The second time it went to the back of my fridge to die…and then I threw it out a couple months later.
This time I was going to do it: I went out to my friend Google and started looking up starter ideas, recipes, blogs, and collected my data. Then as fate would have it, Hubby and I went for dinner and as I checked the take-and-bake cooler, I saw it: “sourdough starter $10”. What are the chances?!???
I picked the brain of the resident chef/baker/sourdough sorceress and she not only told me that she had confidence I could handle sourdough, she gave me laminated instructions to take home (there are angels on Earth).
With a chilly little jar of fermenting goo, a new lease on life, and a sparkle of hope in my eye, I went home to make bread. Even without the correct fancy tools, I etched some designs into the top of my first loaf (because why not). Success!!
I’ve made four loaves now; I’m testing sweetener types and dialing in the baking time for my oven. My favorite sweetener so far has been honey. I’ve also tried using a bread pan versus making a dough on a sheet pan. I think either works, but we like toast, so the bread pan helps keep the bread in shape.
There is NOTHING like the smell of fresh bread. So go ahead and try that new hobby this spring. Get your old pal Google fired up, a knowledgeable local expert in your corner, or crack open a new book, and you too could discover new joy.
I also discovered a new way for my dog to annoy me: by stealing and eating a loaf and a half of bread in the middle of the night. It turns out German shepherds like sourdough too.
Another new hobbyist tip: as I said, nothing smells as good as fresh-baked bread, also nothing stinks up a trash can like sourdough discard, so take the trash out promptly.
Happy baking!!
Kelli, a North Dakota girl through and through, has made her home from the eastern prairies to the western badlands with her supportive Hubby, two daughters, and ever-growing menagerie accompanying her along the way.