Thanks to Food&Wine’s November issue and Miss Elmlid’s sourdough exchange blog,  I’ve decided to jump on the naturally-leavened bandwagon. I recently discovered this lovely online community of (mostly Australian) sourdough bakers and have been studying up on sourdough theory for weeks now. It’s part addict support group, part training ground for those of us not used to keeping magical baking pets alive in jars.

I baked up my first two loaves last night with mixed results, but man is it fun! Kneading dough is one of the most satisfying (and exfoliating!) things I’ve done in a while, and I’ve already been known to liken yeast and bacteria collection/cultivation to a kind of manky and exciting game of Pokemon.
We christened my yeast products over a bottle of wine last night, and my coworkers finished off one of the loaves in the blink of an eye today. The second loaf seems destined for both some hungry college girls in town and some gamer dudes at DnD game tonight.

PS. Did I mention I bought myself this flame red vintage Descoware cast iron pot for my birthday? I’m so excited! Descoware is a brand that was bought out by LeCreuset in the 70′s and is therefore… kind of the same :p Anyway, stew!