15 Year Old Sourdough Starter

January is one of my least favorite months, second only to July. It’s cold and dreary, the holidays are over, and there is this obligation to look over the past year and make some changes.

I’m all about improving myself. In the last few years, I’ve made a lot of changes. But one thing that I’ve always been terrible at is setting some sort of routine. Working for yourself will do this to you.

So this past January, one of the ways I decided to do that was by reviving the sourdough starter I made 15 years ago.

How does this help? In a few ways. First, if you know anything at all about sourdough, you know that it requires taking care of it, literally every single day. You have to feed it, you have to keep an eye on it. It’s a labor of love for sure. My routine involves getting up, taking care of the dog, unloading the dishwasher, and feeding my starter, all before having my morning coffee.

I’m also working on the art of perfecting a sourdough loaf, and if you know me you will definitely be getting a loaf of bread here soon. I’ve got several books about bread, but my new favorite is The Perfect Loaf. It does a terrific job of giving you all the science, helping you get into a routine, and taking care of your starter.

What else have I done this past month?

Cleaned out my pantry/fridge. Because of what I do for a living, I buy a lot of different products I probably wouldn’t otherwise. Things like different types of flour (fyi, if you’re a baker these containers are the best), a million kinds of vinegar, and condiments galore. Add that to my collection of cocktail supplies (Luxardo cherries are my jam) and collection of nut butter, and my pantry was pretty crowded. Being extra ambitious, I downloaded an app called Pantry Check and added everything to it. Hopefully, it sticks.

Hit 1000 days on Duolingo. As part of my morning routine, I sit and have my coffee while learning French. It’s gotten to the point that I don’t even think about it anymore, I just do it.

Joined Kindle Unlimited. I read a lot, and while some of the content here is hit or miss, there are some pretty decent books. There are also lots of cookbooks, how-to’s, and audio content you can’t find anywhere else.

Things I see in my future:

Homemade pizzas, starting with a party for a friend at the end of the month. From there? Who knows. Maybe an Ooni pizza oven? We’ll see.

Eating more salads and drinking more smoothies. To be honest, this is an ongoing goal for me.

Trying my hand at garden focaccia. Made with my sourdough starter of course.

Recipes I’m still loving: