First Loaves

Well, today I baked more firsts.  

Yesterday I mixed up my first ever artisan sourdough bread dough. 

The recipe said the first rise could take 12-24 hours.  My dough rose like crazy.  

It was so exciting knowing I had no store bought yeast in it- only the sourdough starter and 

by bedtime I was getting concerned thinking... I'm going to have to get up in the night

and tend to it.  Instead I recovered the plastic wrap I'd covered it with making more room

for it to rise yet still being sealed.  Then I put this whole brown bowl  which as I said had 

into a bigger bowl.  I did this for  just in case.  I woke up at 4 and ran out to the kitchen to check it.  It was topping this brown bowl!  So I got a battenon basket and floured it a little and then started removing the dough from the bowl and formed it back into a nice ball and put it in the basket.  I covered it and set it by the stove to finish proofing.  

Then, 

I tried yesterday's cinnamon raisin bread.  

It turned out so good and I will totally make it again.  

Yesterday I wondered if I used too much cinnamon sugar but it was just right. 

This was my toast for breakfast. To celebrate I used this pretty vintage plate.  

When the other dough was ready this morning I cranked the oven to 500 like the recipe said and put my purple dutch oven Trent bought me when he was on vacation inside to heat up.  

I turned the dough out of the basket onto parchment paper.

I grabbed string and started dividing the dough in equal lines then realized I forgot 

to flour it first.  So I did that then tried to go back over the lines. Then used the bread lame

- I'm trying to use my new bread lingo words.. lame is the little razorblade used to slash the bread. 

Anyways 

this was the dough when I took it out of the basket.  Something wasn't right because the 

cute basket lines were not very noticeable and those cracks... why do I have cracks? I don't know.  If you know why... please email me or comment.  

Okay so I just floured and slashed anyways... 

Then took the piping hot dutch oven out and dropped the bread dough into the pan and put the lid on and back in the oven for the first 20 minutes.  I hung around til the timer went off 

then took the lid off and reset the timer for 20 more minutes to finish baking. 

 ... Then grabbed my jacket to go put out pony and goat hay real quick. 

While I was at it, I fed rabbits, chickens; hayed those ponies n goats and trotted back in..

eeek the oven had already went off.  Guess it takes me longer to do all that then I thought. 

"Leaon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Can yall hear me scolding myself?    I was pretty mad at me  but surely I was only a minute or two late? 

Kinda wanted to cry a little when I opened the lid.  I burnt her.

Well... pushing on the crust it's not hard as a rock... it's crusty but ... I think there's a lot of hope inside. 

I wanted a slice for lunch but I'm saving it to cut for supper tonight.  It might be terrible. lol 

Then I took the starter out of the fridge and fed it and tonight I'm having another go at this. 

I learned alot through my mistakes.  

One: I will make the dough in the evening... and let it first rise over night. I shouldn't need 24 hours ...

12 would be more than enough.  So tomorrow I'm gonna bake the second loaf and ... 

I'll not hay ponies n goats in between.  No... I'll stay inside and babysit my bread.  

Oh one more thing... dingdong I also failed to turn the oven to 450... last 20  minutes.  

No kidding. How did I misread that?  I totally missed that in the recipe.  So surely tomorrow will go even better.  lol  

One more thing I failed to mention... yesterday's sourdough discard whole wheat banana bread... IS THE BOMB DIGGITY.  I think it's the best banana bread Ive ever made so there's that.  

Two successes, and one burnt fail.  

I hope the cooler oven temp will make my dutch oven easier to clean too.  

Omyword I thought my arm would fall off trying to get the brown areas off my pretty purple pan. 

Oh and see the pretty brown parchment paper?  I tore a piece off to document along with photos in my traveler's notebook.  I may need a new insert to use just for my sourdough bread journey in 2021. 

Okay yall, I'm going antiquing..!!!!! 

Have a wonderful day,

Until we meet again, 

<*)))><