I couldn’t believe it! An Instagram friend, messaged me and told me, “you do know it’s National Sourdough Bread Day, right?”

I did not! Nearly every day here is sourdough day, and even though I already had sourdough cinnamon rolls and bread in the works, with this newfound knowledge, I started a fresh loaf of sourdough in honor of the auspicious occasion.

Sourdough. It can be so scientific and technical. And, it can be so simple.

I choose simple.

For years, I wanted to get a sourdough starter going. I picked up books and read blogs, and then saved it for another day, because learning all the terminology was making my head hurt.

Enter this book, Wild Bread. I don’t remember where I saw it mentioned, but it seemed like a good one, so I ordered it.

It was exactly what I was looking for. Flour, water and air. No lists of terms I didn’t understand. Just stir together flour and water and repeat.

It is said that pioneers would protect their sourdough starter from freezing and there are stories that gold miners would “snuggle” with their sourdough crocks to protect them. It was a treasure, because they didn’t go to the store to buy powdered yeast.

It’s just short of 2 years, since I started my sourdough starter. And I make amazing sourdough bread with water, flour, salt and starter. And it’s not rocket science. It finally dawned on me, my ancestors didn’t check the hydration levels of their dough. They did it by feel. A splash of water, a handful of flour, a little salt and slap it around on a table or relatively clean surface. That’s how easy I wanted my daily bread to be.

Starter, flour, water, salt. Knead. Shape. Bake.

Your friend,
Anne Dovel

Here’s a loaf I made recently and gave to my cleaning lady and her daughter. Dutch Oven Sourdough on Instagram.