Sourdough

I realised I haven't been doing much sewing lately. Or knitting or anything crafty (except for making a fabric boa constrictor for devouring naughty schoolchildren). It could be due to the two small people and one tall one in my life or it could be my newish obsession, sourdough.
I've always had a thing about bread. Good bread. When I worked in a bookshop I read "By Bread Alone" by Sarah-Kate Lynch. It was a bit of a quirky potboiler about a woman called Esme who makes her own sourdough. At the time I thought that one day, when I had the time I would make my own starter and bake my own bread. It's ironic that now with less spare time I did make a starter and have been baking loaves. And so last year I re-read the book and decided to take the leap. The book came with instructions on making your own starter and a recipe for bread. After a shaky start where I wasn't sure what was going on, I managed to get the starter going and not poison anyone.
I was so inordinately proud of my first wonky, quite dense loaf. These days I am able to produce handsome loaves (even if I say so myself) with only a small amount of effort. So satisfying. Imagine my delight when I discovered you can also use sourdough starter in cakes, pancakes, muffins, brownies and well, just about everything.