Life Lessons From Sourdough Bread
A close-up of four beautifully baked and golden brown baguettes.
If you know me well, you know that my time spent in the kitchen is my precious “me” time. I love to cook. I love to bake. And I have no shame in saying that I am one of those individuals that took up sourdough baking as a new hobby during the pandemic. My sourdough starter, which I’ve lovingly named Victor Crumb (no shame in my Harry Potter game over here!), is truly the gift that keeps on giving.
Aside from dozens of loaves of bread, pancakes, scones and muffins, the journey to creating my own sourdough starter AND learning to bake bread from scratch has taught me alot about what it means to step into something new. Which we are all always doing throughout our lives.
So today I bring you: 4 lessons I’ve learned on my journey to becoming a sourdough baker.
Commit to the feed schedule - Creating a sourdough starter from scratch requires a commitment of both your time and energy. At the risk of this blog post turning into a “how to” sourdough guide, to start making your own starter, you need to combine equal parts water and flour. Then, everyday, for 28 days, you discard half of the mixture and add in a new portion of flour and water. I woke up everyday for 28 days and scooped this thick, sticky mixture into the trash (and sometimes baked from the discard but that’s for another day) before I added fresh ingredients to the mix. This process is called “feeding” your sourdough. I made an unwavering commitment to myself, and Victor, that I would feed him every single day. Some days, I’d wonder “Is this even working?” because I couldn’t see the immediate results. But here’s the kicker: nothing in life worth waiting for will generate immediate results. When you’re working towards something you want in your life, make the commitment to yourself and stay committed. Feed your soul regularly and be patient as you grow! One of my favorite authors, Gretchen Rubin says, “What you do everyday matters more than what you do once in a while,” and it couldn’t be more true. Commit to small steps everyday for the big payout in the end.
Things might get moldy - About 14 days into the 28 day process, things started to get…smelly. I knew from watching various YouTube videos that my sourdough starter would develop a pungent yeasty smell, but I woke up one day and Victor Crumb did NOT smell “pleasantly sweet” like I expected. I noticed that there was some white and green mold growing along the side of the jar. Cue the immediate disappointment. All those days of attention and ingredients. All to waste. But in that moment, I made a choice. I thought, I could sit here and moan about the dang mold that set me back a few days, or I can clean out the jar and start again. And start again I did! And 28 days later, Victor was thriving! Life will throw you curveballs and there will be setbacks. Don’t let them keep you from moving forward. And if you’re feeling discouraged, start back at number 1 above and remember the power of commitment.
Stick with a few simple ingredients - Who knew that you could bake the most delicious homemade bread with three simple ingredients: flour, water and salt. Literally, the only three things you need to make an infinite number of varieties of bread. Could I add honey for a little more flair? Or a mixture of nuts and seeds to take it to the next level? Of course I could. But the foundational ingredients are all I really need to get things started and successfully call myself a home baker. With this realization I began to ask myself: where else in my life am I overcomplicating things? Where else am I telling myself I need this and that and the other thing before I simply get started? Great (and very delicious) results start with a few simple and core ingredients and once you know what they are, the possibilities are endless.
Leverage the expertise of those who have baked before me - When I started this journey, I didn’t know the first thing about sourdough bread other than I wanted to do it and nothing was going to stop me! I watched video after video after video (thanks, Youtube!) to learn as much as I could from the experts who had successfully done what I was trying to do. This goes for your life as well. There are people in this world who share your same thoughts, feelings and emotions. They are succeeding at doing the exact thing you want to be doing. Seek them out. Take them in as your mentor, your coach, your teacher and learn as much as you can from them. The #1 thing that got me feeling more confident in my abilities as a baker, was knowing that others grew in their journey before me and were willing to show me the way and support me as I reached my goals.
My journey to becoming a sourdough baker has brought so much joy to my life. I envision baking bread with my future children and grandchildren and 100% want to be known as the grandma “with the secret recipe.” Leave it to me to find life lessons in baking bread! Food and feelings. That’s me in a nutshell.
On the left: Text reads “It’s time to start living big and living fully, commit to yourself & creating a life you’re proud of.” Below is a radio button that says “Tell me more!” and by clicking the photo, you are directed to a page where you can learn more about coaching with Lauren.
On the right: There is a picture of Lauren, smiling, sitting on a park bench with her laptop.
