When I decided to make our new sourdough experiment Jesse’s responsibility, I told him it would be like having a pet: he would have to feed and water it night and day. It would be good practice for the dog he dreams of. He was all for the it.
First he ground some flour. This is already one of his regular chores that he loves. In fact, it may be time to delegate this chore to a younger sibling–and I might not have to do the training. Jesse demonstrated the entire process to Seth this morning, letting him turn on the switch (which is always an exciting moment for a toddler)
(FYI fresh ground flour is not necessary to the sourdough process, it’s just what we have)
Then we mixed a little flour with a little water. I’m thinking this is awfully simple so far…
Jesse thought we needed to add more. I told him not to worry–it would grow!
I’m using the very easy to follow yet comprehensive instructions for starting your own sourdough in Wardeh’s Sourdough A-Z Ebook (which is on sale this week!)
First step is just to mix and cover. We’ll check on the sourdough before bed tonight, and give it regular lovin’ for a week. At the end of that time we should have successfully captured our own wild yeast, and will be ready to experiment with the amazing variety of things you can make with sourdough (cake! tortillas! crepes! english muffins! pizza dough! Who knew?)
If you have been wishing to experiment with sourdough as badly as I have, this might be the week to start, when you can get Wardeh’s awesome book (regularly $20) and 4 other real food cook books for just $7.40 with the Bundle of the Week Sale. Get yours here!
Do you have any suggestions for what Jesse should name his new pet???
I'm Trina, and I'm so glad you've stopped by. Here in this space we encourage each other to Nourish our Families, Celebrate the Beauty, and Choose to Thrive. See you in the comments.... 
Bubbles?
Aww… Cute kids!
I started sourdough over a year ago and it is going strong. (After one moldy disaster. We are not perfect; no we are not.
) I like to think of it as a pet, as well. Or maybe a cross between a pet and a houseplant. We never named it, though.
Oh, I love my sourdough. We grew up on sourdough pancakes {it’s a big Alaska thing, didn’t ya know?} and then when we lived in Haiti it was my only “yeast” so we had sourdough pizza dough (our personal favorite), bread, tortillas and english muffins.
I’m very, very lazy about mine though. Once it’s started good, I stick it in the fridge and forget about it for weeks at time– but it’s never gone bad on me.
How about naming it Doughboy or Doughdog:)
Hi Trina,
It really does become part of the family! I have heard stories of starters being kept alive for over 50 years!
God bless you and your family today.
Please post about your sourdough adventures! I followed GNOWFGLINS directions for making my own sourdough starter about 2 years and it’s still going strong! It was a fun experiment to do with the kids to get it going and it’s still happily bubbling away on the counter, always ready to dip into to make something nutritious for our meals
I would recommend taking the GNOWFGLINS ecourse about Sourdough for a month or so as you go along with the book if possible, the videos in her courses are wonderful! We love the english muffins the best, and the crackers, cookies, and cakes are wonderful too. I think you’ll just love it, so I’d love to see you post about your adventures with it.
I found your blog just this week after buying the Ebook bundle on sale this week. I’ve been reading your blog and book during all my spare moments this week (with the little I have with cooking real food, 3 kids and homeschooling of course) I’m enjoying it all and learning a lot! I’m looking forward to trying a bunch of your recipes in the coming weeks. Finding some new inspiration is priceless, so I thank you. It’s great to find another kindred spirit out there
Oh how I miss sourdough! We have been a gluten free household for about a year now due to some food allergies in my kids and my husband. Enjoy a piece for me when you are ready to bake
My first experience catching wild yeast was making “Amish Friendship Bread” where you do sugar, white flour and milk I believe. We kept it in a Ziploc bag (a little opening at the top) and squished it (with the zipper closed, mind you) every day. We called this “mushing” and named him Mushy
since I’ve made proper (and unfortunately nameless) sourdough too, that loaf had my walking on clouds for a whole week. *I* had *captured* WILD yeast!! 