So lately I have been really into baking bread. 

The only motivation can be attributed to a book I recently read  "Invisible Allies: Microbes That Shape Our Lives" It talks about bacteria and the microbes that are everywhere in our day to day life. It is a science that has been around since the dawn of time. There was a specific chapter that talked about the sourdough from the past and how in a much simpler time sourdough and the starter culture that followed were unique. The much coveted strains of yeast and starter culture intrigued me. S I wanted to culture my very own. I did a quick little google search on how to start my own culture of lactobacillus. Here is the link I found to create the sourdough starter culture. Then I went to work. As luck would have it, there is very little work involved in this process. Time is the biggest factor, nature really does most of the "heavy-lifting"

 My results for the first few attempts were so/so. I have had previous experience with dough making and thought this would not be that difficult. I made some adjustments to the "rustic sourdough" recipe I found, if you try it I suggest the same. The beauty, I thought, was the simple ingredients needed to make this recipe. Flour, salt, sugar, water, yeast, starter culture ( fermented flour and water) and BAM! Although I have never been all that good of a baker, with my recent schedule change, I figured why not. Finally I had found a way to 1/2 the recipe and *snap. I believe to have found success.

The following picture is my fourth attempt at the "rustic sourdough". Also I would like to mention that this bread tastes better and seems to last a bit longer than normal store bought.

#getbaked