SOURDOUGH

Today I started my sourdough starter again. It has been a couple of years since I made sourdough bread. When we were young I always had sourdough starter on hand. It kept me from having to buy extra ingredients to make bread, cake, biscuits, and cookies. During those early days of marriage many times we only had $12 to $20 a week for food and this was a necessity.

Times have changed. I now bake sourdough bread as a special treet. We are getting together with friends on Friday. My friends are cooking up soup and I will be bringing the crusty sourdough bread.

The starter is the key to good bread. (Putting a bowl of water in the oven as it cooks is the key to getting crusty bread, however.) Once you mix the ingredients together you need to nurture your starter for 3 to 6 days depending on how sour you want your bread. Then the starter is good forever as long as you take the necessary steps to keep it good.

Sourdough is a lot like friends. They need to be cared for and then they are good forever. Even if you don’t need them all the time you know they are special in your life. But every so often they need to be nurtured and cared for. Maybe it is a phone call or a letter (text, email, facebook).

I thought this weekend that the winter had kept me from walking over and saying hello to my neighbor. I really like her and miss our chats as we see each other. I think I won't wait for spring to see her. Maybe she will enjoy meeting my other friends over a bowl of soup and sourdough bread.