This is Brunehilde – our awesome, generous starter! Isn’t she awesome?!

File this one under wacky, interesting things I may never have done but then COVID-19 happened. What’s your wackiest thing?

This is another weird different thing, y’all. Sourdough is so dang awesome, and I sure do love it. But it’s always intimidated the heck out of me. You have to keep it alive?! And feed it?! Is it like having another kid? Yikes, kind of! And a name?! What?! No way.

So, sourdough. Yup, COVID-19 made me do it. I’ve baked forever and am not shy about how it’s a form of therapy for me sometimes. And, generally, I’m not a terrible baker (except cookies, bah!). But sourdough?! No way, man, that’s scary and hard.

But, then, you know, quarantine. Stress. Uncertainty. Plenty of time at home. A shortage of yeast. (well, not in mine or a few other kitchens, but generally…) So, I started making calls – surely SOMEONE in my awesome circles would have a starter that I could get some of. *crickets, y’all, crickets* Literally everyone I called felt the same way I did. Bah. Ok, fine. Let’s ask the googles.

Soooo, then Brunehilde happened!

Yeah, I skipped some steps here… Basically, I started with this recipe and had a weird looking jar of whole wheat flour and water sludge on the counter for a bit. Court got thoroughly sick of me talking about her. At one point, he called her a weird alien organism. (<— best husband ever who puts up with my kitchen crazy! But don’t ask me about the detox we’re doing right now!) A few weeks went by and my bread was, well, kinda dense and door-stopish. Yikes. At the 2 month mark, some magic happened though! Brunehilde got super mature and happy AND I took a virtual workshop with Laura and Ashley that was SO fascinating. And bucket filling – the connection to this group of ladies who were all over the US but baking together and BEING together was so beautiful. (If this is a thing for you, check out both of their websites – and they have Sourdough Sisterhood info on them and workshops every few weeks!)

Fast forward to now, and I really just feel like there’s something so grounding and magical about creating bread (and other fun delicious things!) from basically the most basic things – and using techniques that have been used since ancient times. I love that I can nourish my people with something healthier than “just bread” and that the fermentation process makes sourdough bread easier to digest. I adore that there are endless discard recipes out there, too! My kiddos are LOVING biscuits and tortillas, Court and I are digging crackers to go with a fun charcuterie board and wine on the weekends. It’s this magical, giving, endless cycle of a thing, y’all.

Who needs some starter? I want to share this magic with you! Let me know – I’ve seriously got the bug and would love sharing it with you!

What wacky and wild things have you done during this crazy time?!

xoxox,

Dr. Jamie