I never even named my sourdough starter. It took almost two weeks to finally see it double in size after religious twice a day feedings of distilled water and flour.

I often take long breaks between baking and not baking because even though it is homemade and healthier - calories are calories. My starter lives in a jar in the back of my fridge with so much hooch I could probably make some moonshine from it!

The beginning

I started baking sourdough after it took over my newsfeed on Instagram for a while. My cousin and I started at the same time. It was exciting to do it together even though she was states away. Her starter did much better and she was able to bake so much more than me as she's a stay at home mother. Working full time limited my baking time to only the weekends.

What baking sourdough has taught me

You will fail. Fail really bad at first. Like flat bread, raw bread, all the things that could possibly go wrong will go wrong. With practice and patience you can and will make a great loaf.

The bread itself teaches patience in the most literal way. The bulk fermentation takes four to six hours. The cold proof in the refrigerator takes overnight. Rushing either produces flat, dense loaves. The process has a pace, and it doesn't negotiate.

The rhythm of it

Eventually I succeeded! I made some beautiful loaves recently, a perfect swirl on the cinnamon roll one. A great rise on the plain loaf. I even made a wheat bread loaf this time. It took a while to get here but it is a great way to spend my time.

I start by mixing my active bubbly starter with water, salt and flour. I did a few stretch and folds just let it bulk ferment overnight on my counter, shaped and baked the next day. The hours of waiting really makes a huge difference.