I baked my second loaf of sourdough bread today, and it looks delicious! We’ll eat it tonight with grilled sausages, cheese and a spinach salad. Perhaps some red wine? We’ve been tough on the wine rack over the past year. Our local wineries are fantastic, and many are open for socially distanced outdoor tastings. High on our list of post-vaccine activities.
There is hope if you are curious about sourdough but still rather intimidated. Sourdough seemed so formidable to me when I first got the itch to experiment, but even after only two tries, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.
The idea of creating starter scared me the most, but now that little blob of batter is done and sits in the refrigerator until I need him again. This time, I took him out before I went to bed and fed him in the morning. He was good and bubbly when I made the dough later that afternoon.
While there’s not a lot of hands-on labor, making sourdough bread does take at least a couple of days … at least the way I’m doing it. I mapped out sample schedules so I could determine when I needed to be home for a few hours and when the dough could sit there unsupervised while I played golf or otherwise goofed off. The schedules set my mind at ease.
I also tweaked the cooking process. Last time, I used a cold oven and a cold bread pan. This time around I pre-heated both the oven and the pan. I like the color better with the pre-heated pan, but that might just be timing. This loaf was baked at 450 F for 30 minutes with the lid on and 20 minutes with the lid off.
Scoring the bread just before it goes in the oven helps it rise. You can use a razor blade or a little wooden thing with a razor blade on the end called a lame. My technique needs some work, but overall, I am pleased with the appearance.
I finished the book I mentioned in an earlier post – Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning by Tom Vanderbilt. Although his journey to learn new things such as chess, singing, surfing and drawing seemed overly indulgent to me, he told a good story about the benefits of pushing yourself into new territory.
I’m kind of a loner, and when I want to learn something, I tend to get books and check out various websites and then figure it out myself. That’s what I did with sourdough. I rarely take classes, but after reading that book, I’ve been thinking it might be good to explore online educational resources.
As you might guess, I’m thinking about cooking classes.
He also makes a strong case for group learning and the social benefits of connecting with other like-minded beginners. When the pandemic is under control, I could see attending some sort of cooking or baking experience in person. There actually is such a thing as “bread camp.”
In Slovak, Pekar means baker. And I’m married to a Miller, so how perfect is that?
The chapter on drawing was especially interesting. I’ve always said the reason I burn abstract doodles on my rescued wood art is because I can’t draw representations of real things. Apparently, I am not alone. Most children, he reports, discover how hard it is to draw what they see and give up. But there are tricks such as trying to draw it upside down so you’re not looking at the whole but instead a collection of lines and shadows.
Although I was a little tough on the author when I mentioned the book earlier, I ended up liking it, and the book motivated me to think about what I want to learn as I age and how I want to approach lifelong learning. I have a bias toward going it alone, but he opened my eyes to the value of accomplished teachers as well as the atmosphere of people struggling through the experience together.
In the meantime, I will continue to dabble in the comfort of my virus-free home. But I’m still kind of excited thinking about what experiences might be just around the corner.
There must be a zillion types of camps and learning vacations for adults. The author and his family even went on a vacation where they learned to swim in the open water. I might need to make a spreadsheet of all the possibilities.
What kind of camp or learning vacation would pique your interest?
Like you, I am a loner who typically learns from books or Craftsy classes but I have taken and enjoyed a variety of classes with others in weaving, knitting, quilting, drawing (right side of the brain) and baking.
But even in classes, I will often hear the instructor say “let’s see what Nanci is up to” as I’m not a natural sharer and still work the same way that I’ve worked since first grade when on my report card my teacher wrote “Nanci works quietly and alone until she finishes.” I think that’s why I like Craftsy classes because it’s just me and the teacher on my time and however many times I need to repeat sections of the class before I “get it.”
If, however, you are considering a baking school or class or even virtual ones until it’s safe to go in person, I can’t recommend highly enough the Bake With Zing classes at Zingerman’s Bakehouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I lived in Michigan and worked in Ann Arbor for 23 years and Zingerman’s has THE best baking classes (and bread) hands down. (We retired in NM. As a CA native but not wanting to move back to CA, we ended up in Santa Fe for now.) If you one day travel there, there is much to see and do in Ann Arbor. If not for the winters I would still be living there and still miss it after seven years gone.
I am very much enjoying your blog. I found it recommended on Cathy’s blog which for the life of me I can’t remember the name of…
https://www.bakewithzing.com/
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A couple of years ago for Christmas I got my husband a subscription to “Bacon of the Month” from Zingerman’s. I didn’t realize they had so much more to offer — thank you! I was also unfamiliar with Craftsy.
Santa Fe is a great place to land!!
I like to learn through books or online as well. I think it’s because I’m always afraid of looking stupid. But after I went to an intro to T-shirt quilting class a couple of years ago, I decided people don’t care!! I was amazed at some of the things the others didn’t know!!
We have a local woman who came from Italy that teaches Italian cooking. The classes are small and I’ve always gone with a friend. They are so much fun because she’s very entertaining.
I’ve read that you can only teach yourself so much and do need to learn directly from an expert. I’m sure it depends on what you’re trying to learn though. This was in the context of Copic coloring and I can see how having someone show you techniques and critiquing while you go would be better.
Bread camp sounds fun. I’d do something like that!!
Your classes sound great. I think I’ve been missing out by relying on books and websites. I hope both of us get to try again soon.
I enjoy the utibe and craftsy classes. But I am a hands on learner. So I miss the Saturday morning quilting classes or the cooking immersion classes. As well as the traditional meeting groups. When you’re all at a different level and you are knitting (sewing/drawing/cooking or whatever) something different alof of learning new stuff goes on. I have done some zoom classes where everyone shares and I prefer that to the utube.
I can definitely see the value of immersion, especially when you are trying to get better at something you already do well.
Interesting about the drawing and how we give up. We play Telestrations where you draw a picture of a word, then pass it to the next player who tries to guess the word, then the next player draws a picture of the guessed word and so on. Anyway, I can visualize drawing the word, but it never translates to the paper. Kind of like my singing–I sound great in my mind.
I took a quilting class a couple years ago after messing around with quilting for years. I learned so much and completed a gorgeous quilt that I never would have on my own. We also have signed up for environmental lectures that are followed up by art projects. I was really nervous about that. For example, the first hour was someone talking about hummingbirds, and the following hour we did watercolors of hummingbirds based on photos. It was really interesting to see everyone’s interpretation. My husband’s was a very modernistic hummingbird and mine was more traditional. I really have to put aside my tendency to want to be perfect, and if it’s not, just give up.
Wow, those sound like amazing experiences. I could not have imagined there’d be a lecture followed by art projects. I can see that I really need to start thinking about learning in a new way. And I need to make more of an effort to seek these opportunities. Thanks for sharing!