Today was supposed to be graduation day from Dublin Cookery School, darn it. My classmates and I had reservations (made ages ago) at a very posh Michelin star restaurant in Dublin, L’Ecrivain, to celebrate. It was also the day my hubs was to leave Minneapolis for our dream vaca in Ireland. Whaaaa.
Okay, I’ll stop being depressed. Really, this is it, no more sad posts, I’m trying not to feel too bad for myself, but I must admit, its sort of an emotional day. SO, I said to myself, ‘buck-up girlfriend,’ many, many people have it much, much worse. Let’s bake with friends. Making and baking bread makes all things better. Promise.
Many know about O’Sonny, my sourdough starter. Originally named Sonny because she arrived directly from my friends at Sunrise Flour Mill. I dehydrated her and smuggled her into Ireland with me. Once she was rehydrated, she was fed fabulous Irish flours. Since I didn’t have a chance to dehydrate her for the trip home (if you recall, I left Ireland in a bit of a rush), I just popped the jar of her in my suitcase, and hoped for the best! Happy to say, she made it safely.
Instead of discarding her (part of the process of keeping sourdough alive), I’d love the share her with you. So if you are interested in baking sourdough, I have five-20 gram containers of O’Sonny ready to be picked up on my back porch. I live in St. Paul, ping or email me, and I’ll send you my address. She needs to be picked up soon because she needs to be fed by tomorrow.
Bread baking and sourdough baking is an art. I have yet to master, but sometimes it’s nice to do these things with others, so let’s bake together. I may start a Zoom course, would that be fun for you? I wouldn’t start for about a week since our new bread ‘pets’ need feeding for a few days before they are ready to bake. In the meantime, we’ll start with a very simple white yeast bread recipe. It’s a great starter loaf, and easy to follow along. We’ll make it together.
I’d love to hear your interest level. Note, this is for novice bakers!
If you don’t have a sourdough starter, or can’t make it to St. Paul to pick up, here is a great video on how to get a starter ready to go. I’ll post more info on what is needed etc. soon.
Plan on a fail or two, maybe three. They won’t turn out perfect every time, there are so many variables affecting final results. Practice makes perfect. But also so satisfying whatever the result. I promise they will all be edible if anything, awesome croutons!
If you missed my Bread Day post, this post was during happy times at school! Or, if you’re looking for a great soup recipe to go with your fabulous bread creation, try my Lentil and Chorizo Soup. Pretty darn amazing.
Thanks for reading and have a super Friday.
Marty
When we held Breaf Fest at Mill City Farmers Market last fall, one woman who brought bread for the showcase wrote on her entry form, “it took me 40 tries. Never give up”. Don’t you either big it’s not pretty it will still taste good and be oh so nourishing.
Julie Tye
Wah! Wish I lived closer! I was just reading an Epicurious article about making your own starter. If I do it, I’ll play along with the Zoom class. xoxo