Heavenly!

Saturday, January 11, 2025

I started making bread from scratch recently after years of not bothering to. I’ve begun by cheating a little and using a bread machine. It does the labor and frees me to apply my energies elsewhere. I’ve been reviving an understanding of ingredients–the currently available choices and how to use them; and I’m gathering those required to recreate my favorite bread types.

On another day off from my part-time job, I’ll make a loaf from scratch and the hard way by myself. I’ll physically mix, knead (my favorite part!), shape, and bake. I’ve been intending to start by making an easy loaf. That might change because I have stumbled across and purchased a 100-year-old sourdough starter. This starter originated in the early 20th Century on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf by a baker whose family kept the starter alive, and now, his grandchildren are selling the descendants.

A living starter brings challenges. Starters need regular feeding to stay healthy and growing. Starters used inadequately will keep growing and may become unwieldy. A solution is to toss portions regularly, but that gets tiring. I’ve “been there” and “done that,” but not with an old original starter. Maybe the new one will encourage me to adapt by baking more often and using it.

There is much baking or tossing ahead. My bread machine turns out pleasing leaves and might also capably “do sourdough,” but early loaves with my new starter will be from doing the work myself.

Dear Friends, I have little spare time, but I am assuming a hefty project! Diana