The Highs and Lows of Sourdough Bread

I mentioned that one of my goals for the year was to learn how to bake sourdough bread.

My mom has baked it and made it for us for years.  She makes homemade bread for holiday gatherings, she'd wake up early to bake homemade cinnamon rolls for our teachers when we were in elementary school and it just felt like something I needed to learn how to do.

She gave me some starter when I was home for Christmas.  She also gave me instructions and some tips.  I've been doing some trial and error for the last three weeks to get it figured out for myself.  It usually involves a group text with my mom and sister who also bakes bread.  I'll ask if something looks normal, send a picture and ask what I did wrong or just ask for clarification.

It's hard for me to do something that I'm not good at right away.

I get frustrated when I put effort into things and they flop.

I don't have a lot of patience for figuring things out.

I usually want to figure everything out ahead of time to ensure that everything will go well. 

Bread making has been a bit of challenge for me.  I've had some flops and some success.  It's been a good lesson for me (and for my kids to witness) that oftentimes it takes a lot of practice to become good at something.  Olive was eager to share bread with our neighbors and I reminded her that I needed a few more weeks to practice before I was ready to share.  I've gotten into a good routine of baking at the beginning of every week.  It has been a fun way to meal prep and meal plan.

Week 1:
2 pretty loaves of bread.  I didn't let them rise long enough so they didn't get very tall.  The cinnamon bread should have baked a little longer and I should have added pecans.  Both tasted delicious and looked delicious.

Week 2:
I opted to make 1 loaf of bread and 1 pan of cinnamon rolls.  They rose beautifully (a problem I fixed from week 1) and then I popped them in the oven.  I used my smaller upper oven without realizing how tall the bread would get while it was baking.  It got too tall and burned on the top of the oven after just 20 minutes.  I took it out and realized the inside was doughy.  Next week I knew I needed to bake in the bigger bottom oven to give the bread room to rise.  The cinnamon rolls turned out perfect!

We've enjoyed homemade bread with our dinners on Mondays this month and then toasted some bread for breakfast in the mornings.

These were the best cinnamon rolls that I have ever made!!  It's Kevin's #1 favorite treat so he was THRILLED.  I was really proud of the end result.

Week 3:
My bread rose like crazy!  I texted to ask a couple questions and then baked them in the bigger oven.  Both loaves turned out great.  We enjoyed one and I'm experimenting with freezing the 2nd one.  Stay tuned to see how that went.

So all this to say, dare to try something new this year!  Don't be afraid to learn something out of yoru comfort zone.  It's uncomfortable at times, but it's very rewarding.  I promise!  What's something you've been putting off trying??