Whining, Wine-ing & Winning

There are a million sourdough recipes online. I’ve used them. I’ve tweaked them. I’ve cussed at them. Some have been incredible and some have made me question preheating the oven.

Today, I’m not following someone else’s recipe. This one’s mine. If you know me, you know cooking has never intimidated me. I can throw a little of this, a little of that, taste as I go, and it all works. The flavors balance each other out, and if something’s missing, I fix it. Baking doesn’t play by those rules. Baking is a cocky little asshole.

I don’t just throw shit together and hope for the best. Every gram matters. Every little tweak changes something. Too much water, too little salt, an extra few grams of starter, changing when I add an ingredient…it all matters. I’m not just making dinner. I’m trying to create a masterpiece.

A month ago, I would’ve been terrified to change a recipe. If it said 100 grams, it got 100 grams. If it said bulk ferment for six hours, I watched the clock instead of the dough.

Now I’m finally starting to trust what the dough is telling me instead of what a recipe is telling me.

Today, I grabbed a blank page. No copied recipe. No “adapted from.” Just my own formula based on everything I’ve learned over the last month.

Will it work? I have no idea, but I wrote down every gram, every step, every stretch and fold, every timing change, and every “what if?” If this loaf turns out the way I’m hoping, I’ll have a recipe that’s actually mine. Right now it’s resting between stretch and folds, and…it’s looking really fucking good.

Maybe I’m onto something, or maybe sourdough is about to remind me who’s really in charge. I’ll find out tomorrow, and so will the rest of you. Wine-d down with me while I figure this out, and do an extra little toast to my husband Jeff and I as we celebrate our 7 year anniversary today. Also, please follow me on my Facebook page (share if you really like me) for reels on sourdough experiments and some OG dinner recipes of my own, with more to come. Thank you!