Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Fiddlin' Around With Sourdough

I started some sourdough about a year ago, and have been using it off and on since then. It's not the first starter I've had, but my previous one was probably ten years ago or so. I enjoyed having it, and I would make pancakes on the weekends, biscuits, and of course, lots of bread. Then life got in the way, and I stopped using it. 
About a year ago, I decided to start another one, and I've been enjoying it immensely. Since it's calmed down a little since all my Christmas baking, and we were out of bread, I decided that sourdough bread was precisely what we needed. The recipe I started with was just a plain white sourdough bread, but one of my favorites. It requires an overnight starter, so last night I put it together before I went to bed. However, this morning I changed my mind and included oatmeal and whole wheat flour. And, just like that, it morphed into something with a life of its own. It needed a bigger bowl to give it more room, and then halfway through the first rise, it needed even more room. I divided it into my two biggest bowls instead of just one. 
Fast forward about 6 hours.... I'm happy to report that five large bread pans will fit in my oven. It's amazing how you can start with such simple ingredients and end up with heaven on a plate. It's kind of like magic.