Whining, Wine-ing & Winning

Well friends, after spending the last week raising Cassandra from a tiny bubbling science experiment into what I hoped would become artisanal sourdough perfection, today was the day.

I made the levain.
I did the autolyse.
I performed 47 stretch and folds.
I checked on dough more times than I checked on my actual family.

At some point around hour six, Cassandra decided she no longer identified as “dough” and instead identified as “aggressively sticky wall paste.”

There were moments of confidence.
There were moments of panic.
There were moments where I stood in my kitchen with what appeared to be a pound of dough attached to each hand questioning every decision I’ve made since February

I added flour.
Then I questioned the flour.
Then I questioned myself.
Then I questioned humidity.
Then I questioned whether I actually know how to read.

Despite all of this, through what I can only assume was divine intervention and stubbornness, two loaves made it into their proofing baskets.

Are they beautiful?
Debatable.

Are they structurally sound?
We’ll circle back tomorrow.

Will I sleep tonight wondering if I’ve created artisan sourdough or two very expensive hockey pucks?
Absolutely.

But Cassandra graduated today, and I’m pretty proud of both of us.Please keep us in your thoughts as we enter the overnight proofing stage.  Shes way too sticky so I’m scared.