You may not know this, but a mere year and three months ago was the first time I made a yeast bread...and felt comfortable with it! I was scared of those little yeasties. What was that secret that I wasn't privy to. The secret of the bread bakers. Passed on only during the wee hours of the morning when most mortal beings are deep in the fits of REM. I don't know why it was that Pumpkin Pie Brioche chose to let me into the club. But that day back in November of the year two thousand nine, I felt a whisper tickle the tiny cilia in my ear. And the world has never been the same since.
Fast forward to this month, February of two thousand eleven. I'm feeling comfortable in my breadie skin and I realize that I'm ready to take my bread making a step further. Being comfortable in the deep end was all it took. That, and a little, unassuming book called The River Cottage Bread Handbook
. I originally picked it up at the library, but once I sat down and read it from cover to cover, I knew it would be an invaluable resource to me. I really felt a connection. I think it's a fantastic and informative step-by-step guide for people like me, wanting to get out of the deep end and start climbing that high-dive. While there are many, many things I love about this book, I'm not going into a review today. All I'll say is that I highly recommend checking it out if you're comfortable around yeast and want to go deeper. That deeper for me, was the world of Wild Yeast. I'd heard the words tossed around. Poolish. Levain. Yet, they were elusive to me. A bit scary, still.
Fast forward to this month, February of two thousand eleven. I'm feeling comfortable in my breadie skin and I realize that I'm ready to take my bread making a step further. Being comfortable in the deep end was all it took. That, and a little, unassuming book called The River Cottage Bread Handbook
. I originally picked it up at the library, but once I sat down and read it from cover to cover, I knew it would be an invaluable resource to me. I really felt a connection. I think it's a fantastic and informative step-by-step guide for people like me, wanting to get out of the deep end and start climbing that high-dive. While there are many, many things I love about this book, I'm not going into a review today. All I'll say is that I highly recommend checking it out if you're comfortable around yeast and want to go deeper. That deeper for me, was the world of Wild Yeast. I'd heard the words tossed around. Poolish. Levain. Yet, they were elusive to me. A bit scary, still.
But I was ready. I wanted to bake sourdough. This meant that I needed to create wild yeast...or a Sourdough Starter. Um. How stinkin' cool is that!? Creating a living, breathing thing that needs to be cared for. That, if treated right can live for years. As a matter of fact, many more years than we ever could. Phew. That's quite a responsibility. And here I thought I was done having kids. I suppose that's why people name their starters.
