Sourdough, At Last

I've always wanted to make sourdough bread. I carried around a sourdough cookbook from place to place all my life, never quite getting around to using it. In the big purge before we left New Hampshire to move to New Mexico, a lot of my old cookbooks went to the neighborhood Swap Shop, including the sourdough one.

However, I came across a photo of some beautiful loaves made by a southern cook and I just had to try out her recipe. Please go to Judy's great website, Recipes from a Southern Country Cook, listen to the great food music, and try out her recipes for Sourdough Starter and Sourdough Bread. When you are finished there, you can check out her other blog, Living on the Other Side of the Hill, which features more great music. Sometimes I just tune in for the music as I work around the house.

I made a nice batch of Judy's sourdough starter, and in five days when it was all ready I baked my first loaves of bread (seen in the photo below). Here's something I didn't realize--once you've made your batch of starter, using yeast and a couple of other things, you never have to use any more yeast. Given the way things are going with the economy these days, I'll be glad to not have to buy more of those little jars of dry yeast, which can cost up to $7.00 at some stores around here.

Look what I baked!