Trial and Error

I have always wanted to bake bread.  I have tried breads of many kinds and in most cases have either failed or wasn't quite satisfied with the outcome.   When I say bread, i mean anything from cinnamon rolls to a loaf of bread to various breakfast breads. So, I am at it again!  I started a sourdough starter in hopes of baking some delicious sourdough bread (one of my favorites).  I visualized myself enjoying pimento cheese and chicken salad sandwiches on this sourdough bread that I planned to make.  First I am praying that the starter will get 'wild' enough to produce the yummy bread that I am dreaming of!

So, now its been a few weeks and I have finally gotten around to making the bread.  I am thrilled to say that it wasn't a disaster!  I wouldn't say that it is the best bread I have ever tasted but it is pretty good. My biggest fears of it either falling in or being really hard and chewy are now cleared.  The part about this bread stuff is that it really isn't hard to do but it is time consuming...fixing, resting, rising, resting, baking!  A few weeks ago I made the bread and it had to rise for 8-12 hours which was perfect for overnight and then I got up and baked it the next morning.  I then cut a slide of that sourdough bread and made myself a sandwich to enjoy for lunch.  Sadly I didn't have either Pimento Cheese or Chicken Salad but that is certainly planned for the very near future.  My sandwich was yummy and I know that just a few more tries and it must get even better. Plus a friend at my bible study makes the MOST delicious sourdough bread I have ever tasted and I checked with her and her recommendation was to add a little more sugar than I did.  I also decided I cut my slices to big and that may have been a problem...to much bread!  Does anyone else have any sourdough tips and tricks that you would like to share..I'm all ears!

Before the 12hour rise