day 7

Why is everyone making bread?

Some theories:

• It’s one of those perennial hobbies that people aspire to do but rarely do or are rarely able to do well

• It generally just takes a lot of time: many recipes take 48 hours including waiting for rising

• The ingredients are accessible

• The recipes are deceivingly simple: mix, rise, bake

• There are many variations

• It’s age / gender / socioeconomic / culture independent

• It’s demystifying to understand how bread works

• It’s a homey and comforting activity

• It’s reassuring knowing you can make food to survive off flour + water

• Having a starter is like a pet: each one is “different,” you have to feed it and the owner loves talking about it

• Kneading dough is stress relieving

• Bread goes with many meals

Had my first go at making some sourdough buns last night - shoutout roommate who picked up some sourdough starter from a local bakery :)

It was fun and therapeutic. I become invested right away. Was getting ready for bed and told my boyfriend to take the bread out of the oven lest I fell asleep, but literally couldn’t sleep because I was worried about burning those baby slider buns.

They turned out pretty well! If I had to redo them would’ve given even more time in a warmer location to rise in between the forming and baking (only waited 4 hours this time. on top of the overnight rise sheesh). Maybe next week.