*A Good Thing* Vol.10

Starter for a New Year. My favorite sourdough cookbook.

Like so many others, my sourdough journey began over Pandemic. I was living with my parents, nannying a perfect baby, tending a garden patch and sewing a skirt out of an old duvet so OF COURSE I started a starter. It feels appropriately timed, being almost the New Year, to share with you how I began my journey.

Sourdough recipes can be incredibly intimidating. Ratios, temperatures, moisture, time, I was never inspired to try because it seemed SO damn hard. Then I found, Emilie Raffa’s website, The Clever Carrot. Her book, Artisan Sourdough Made Simple, changed it all for me. It is the absolute best source for beginner’s sourdough.

Reading her recipe for making a starter , was the first time I felt confident trying it myself. On my birthday in 2020, Mary Lou Conroy¹, affectionately named for the narrator of the PBS show Great Chefs, my starter, was born. She and I have been through a lot in the past three years. Countless loaves. An 11 month stint where she sat in the back of my parent’s fridge and survived. I love her and I tell her every time I pull her out of the fridge to make bread how proud I am of her.

This book makes sourdough so simple, it’s literally the title. You need 5 ingredients, a fork, a little patience and voilá, you’ll have a loaf of sourdough. It’s a great way to familiarize yourself with the process, you’ll grow as a bread baker as you go. I’ve made almost every recipe in this book including her discard crackers and they’ve all been great. My very favorite is her cinnamon and nut loaf.

I am of the opinion that people take the act of baking, especially bread and biscuits waaaaaay too seriously. There is a time and a place for extraordinarily precise, craft-baking, making sure your measurements and temperatures are perfect. My stunning sister-in-law is a master pastry chef. Folks, when I bake with her I realize how much of an amateur I am. I test guess temperatures with my finger and my measurements are always a little over or under but guess what? I can make a loaf of bread that is not only edible but very, very cute.

Bread baking is a satisfying, sensual, grounding activity AND you can save a ton of money making your own. Not to mention, fermented breads are better for your system anyway. I hope you will consider starting your own sourdough program in 2024, get Artisan Sourdough Made Simple, if you are, it’s a very good thing.

Have a lovely, safe weekend of cheers and celebration, talk to you Monday.

See ya next year! lol.

1. If you’ve never seen Great Chefs do yourself a favor and check it out if not just for Mary Lou’s crooning Southern accent. The way the woman says “buttah” and “peppah” ugh, chef’s kiss. Basically the ASMR of my childhood.