Mother's Day and My First Loaf of Saint MIchael, Minnesota Sourdough

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms, bonus moms, and people raising their grandchildren. If I missed someone – it is not intentional.

My day was celebrated with a breakfast brunch at The Hog and Hen in Albertville. Megan’s treat! She also gave me Mother’s Day cookies she baked and decorated. Spending time with her was a lovely start to the day.

Jeremy came by this afternoon and helped Joe move a heavy cabinet and put up one of my favorite pieces of art. The art is a decorated door we purchased at a Yolo Arts Education Fundraiser approximately eleven years ago. The door is now mounted to the stairway wall facing our home’s entryway. Jeremy also showed us how the thermostats work in our house. We seem to only understand California thermostats.

Today I designed and printed an open house flyer, inviting our neighbors to stop by this coming Saturday. I know it is short notice. My hope is that even if only one or two people stop by, that works. On the invite I wrote four paragraphs about Joe and me being excited to be a part of the neighborhood and they are always welcome to visit us. I know if I had a new neighbor, I’d be curious. I know, I know, NOT everyone is as curious about the people around them as I am. In my younger years I wanted to be an investigative reporter. Obviously, who, what, when, where, and why are ingrained in my genetic makeup. I assume everyone has the curiosity gene.

The day was also filled with laundry, straightening up around the house, and baking my first loaf of sourdough bread from the starter I began about two weeks ago. I did the starter from scratch so that I would have authentic Saint Michael, Minnesota starter. I started the first loaf process on Friday night. I had no idea of what the mixed dough should look like. When I woke up Saturday morning to begin the next step, the loaf had not risen.

At that point I realized I had used a half-cup measuring cup as the cup would not fit inside the glass jar, we keep the flour in. I did not want to start over and waste the flour and starter I had used in the original batch, so I tossed in the rest of the flour needed and added a little bit more starter because… Well, there did not seem to be any good reason not to add more. This morning after breakfast I did the next steps which included baking.

IT TURNED OUT! It definitely tastes like and has the consistency of sourdough. I am excited to see how  the next loaf, when I measure the ingredients correctly, turns out!