Sourdough now and forever

I love carbs! After hitting that magical age of 35, I understood that they didn't quite return the affection… but hey, I’m doing it anyway! Enter sourdough, that glorious creation that many of us tried to tame during the COVID lockdown—lovely idea, massively chaotic execution.

There I was, bursting with enthusiasm, ready to play bread scientist and fill my kitchen with the heavenly smell of baking bread. And then reality hit: a tiny human needing milk and snacks on demand, work Zoom calls thrown in for good measure, and my sourdough starter threatening to take over my kitchen like a scene from a horror movie. I waved my white flag and stepped away from the flour-covered battlefield.

Fast forward to now, and my little carb connoisseur—who'd rather have a bagel than a toy—I felt it was time to dust off the mixing bowl. With a generous gift of an established starter from my amazing friend Lauren (shout out to you—bread MVP!), I decided to give it another shot.

Guess what? It’s been SO WORTH IT! My kitchen has transformed into a bakery of sorts, again. From fluffy sandwich bread—the kind that makes your grilled cheese dreams come true—to an artisan loaf that looks like it could grace a Parisian café's display case (not really, but I tried), and let's not forget the bagels. Oh, those glorious bagels! They’ve become an endless supply of breakfast joy in our house.

So, if you thought sourdough was just for Instagrammers and hipster cafes, think again. Grab your starter, roll up those sleeves, and dust off that apron; we're crafting carbs and ditching the carb guilt one loaf at a time! Honestly, I will not go back to store-bought bread unless I am entirely unable to move my body — it is that good. My recipes are lovingly tweaked from this amazing page called Farmhouse on Boone, which was also a recommendation from the ever-helpful Lauren. There are about a million more recipes I’m itching to try from this page, but for now, the bagels and loaves have firmly established themselves as staples in our home.

Sourdough ‘artisan loaf’ and bagels …these were gone in about 3 days