It’s National Sourdough Day!

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.

Goodbye, Facebook

April 2020. This is my 55th birthday month and I decided to follow my extreme athlete friends’ example and do a birthday challenge. I sat in my comfy rocker by the fire the other day and kept asking myself, what could I do that would challenge my habits? That would be a little bit scary? And I don’t mean, scary like jumping out of a plane, scary. No, I’m talking more about habits. What should I do without for 30 days to see how it affects me?

Facebook. I need to not post on Facebook for 30 days. That was my decision. And I’m going to document on my new blog, that I start once a year and never continue. Because, who really blogs anymore?

I will, this month. And I’ll tell you why. I have discovered, in my life, when I want to change a habit, I can’t just drop it. I have to have a plan, an alternate route.

For instance, when I decided I wouldn’t drink Dr. Pepper every day, I had to have something else in place as an alternate habit, until I got over reaching for a Dr. Pepper. Make sense? I had to rewire before I could retire that habit. I could be all wet, but it’s worked for me many times now.

So, let’s see what a month without Facebook looks and feels like.

Before we go further, let me tell you, this is not exiting from social media. If anything, it’s simply narrowing down where I am on social media, which is primarily Instagram. That’s where I will be, publicly.

Let’s do this thing!

Your friend,
Anne Dovel

How to keep baby greens fresher, longer...but not too long.

I frequently buy greens packaged in the plastic boxes at the store. Power greens, like kale and baby bok choy store much longer, but baby greens go bad quickly, due to the more delicate nature of those greens. Baby greens—-tender. Make sense? Even with the method below, you should plan to use up baby greens within a few days of buying them.

Three things I do to increase the storage of baby greens:

1. When shopping, choose from the back of the stack. Look for the expiration date and choose the later one. 2. When you get it home, take a minute to look inside for any little leaves that are going bad....frequently happens to ones that get smashed. 3. Put a clean paper towel on top, snap the lid on, and turn upside and store that way in your fridge.

The paper towel absorbs extra moisture. And if there is condensation at the bottom of the container, the greens won't be in contact with it once you invert the box.

Most of the time, if I’m not shopping at farmer’s market for greens, I’ll buy baby spinach, arugula, kale, and power green mixes because they do keep better in the fridge, longer, and since we live out in the boonies, that’s important to me.

Anne C. Dovel - @thefitquilter