Did you Know -I'm a nutritionist who doesn't like to be in the kitchen, that is until I discovered sourdough?

One of my first nutrition classes covered the history of food through the ages, as well as the cultural traditions and ways of preserving food through the centuries. Our first assignment was to chose and make a food using one of these methods ! Yikes!

Confession time, being in the kitchen is so freaking stressful for me! I have rarely found joy in that place. My husband baffles me, as it's his time to relieve stress and the kitchen has the total opposite effect on me! I thank God everyday for the last 24 years, He gave me a man that likes to cook! I like to choose the ingredients just not put them together. It's a beautiful symbiotic relationship.

So when we were given the assignment to attempt an ancient method of producing a food, that caused my anxiety to soar! Not gonna lie, I tried to find the easiest one to do. Which was sourdough. I have a little bit of a rebellious tendency when it comes to trends and fads, since 2020 everyone was making this bread, I of course didn't want to appear as someone who fell in with the trendy crowd, but I bit my pride and went for it. An Easy A, right?!?!

A friend provided me with a strong starter and wished me well with my new baby, clueless like a first time parent, I named him Sam. Sam was amazing he grew and provided me another good starter I named her Betty, and finally got fed up with managing two starters so I combined them, they had a son named Gerald. I have no idea why we named him this, it just fit at the time. After trying my best to make a good loaf, ( I NEED that A+) I eventually found a recipe that worked! I only make one kind of loaf (sometimes I add

cheddar and jalapenos).

The thing about this stuff, this dough, the process, is that it forces you to slow down. You can not rush the microbes eating their fill. I discovered the longer I waited and worked with a loaf the yummier it became and it brought so much Joy to everyone who ate it! Not a single complaint or whine. If you make food for a family and kids you know what I mean here, there is always pushback in your cooking from someone, but not this beautiful sour squishy moist deliciousness. It began to crack through my stress and release expectation and joy in my kitchen. It's been a gateway to healing for me. Something I never expected. It's official I am a sourdough convert.

It has created new community for me, from passing on to me my first starter (thank you Ashley), to passing it on to others and then being able to make loaves and bless friends with them! No wonder bread has been a staple for so long. It really does bring joy.

I still don't get creative with it and have found one recipe that works for me. Maybe one day when life actually slows down I will do more with it, but I am content with my one way.

Don't worry this isn't a recipe blog, it's just I literally had three people ask me for my recipe today! So now I have an excuse to send them to my website! Suckers! haha!

The Gist of how the magic is made:

Ingredients:

( I couldn't find a recipe with cups, so this gave me an excuse to buy a kitchen scale)

• 140 grams of sourdough starter
• 500 grams flour- I use King Arthur Organic Bread Flour
• 340 grams of room temperature filtered pure water -no tap water!
• 10grams salt- we prefer Redmonds Real Salt Fine Ground

(If you want to add to the yum factor 6 oz cubed cheese and 2 medium sliced jalapenos)

In Bowl:

• Mix together 330 grams of the water, all the starter and the flour then knead together for like 5 minutes
• Let it rest for 1 hour
• Sprinkle Salt over the top and the other 10 grams of water and mix in

(this is my favorite part feels so weird!)

• Rest 40 minutes
• Stretch and Fold 4 times and rest 20 minutes ( do this again 3 more times)

I begin my loaves in the morning and let them rise the rest of the day on the counter, then I put in the fridge overnight

First thing the next morning I take out of fridge and put on counter and wait about an hour

Pour dough or force it onto a floured counter surface and roll into a ball gently

(If you opt for cheese and peppers before forming into a ball stretch into a flat rectangle and sprinkle 1/3 cheese and peppers, fold in half add more cheese and peppers, fold again and finish sprinkling with what have left then roll into a ball- if you don't understand these directions don't worry I didn't either I had to to youtube videos to figure it out)

Place in greased or parchment papered loaf pan and let rise a few hours before putting in oven

I preheat my oven to 450F once it's hit that temp, I turn it down to 400F and put in my bread and let cook for 35 minutes.

Take out, slather in butter honey whatever gets your fancy and experience the Joy!