Being Old; Being Happy

My pal Barbara send me a link to a New York Times article, “What Makes Older People Happy?” The author cites several studies that show the difference between happiness in young people and happiness in older people. Basically, while youth find happiness in extraordinary experiences, older folk find it in familiar routines. I couldn’t agree more.

I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime and traveled to both Europe and Asia. I’ve gone camping in the mountains and visited countless museums. I’ve attended concerts and expositions. At this point in life I hope to never tour another damp cathedral or endure another corny opera.

Nope, my happiness lies in doing the most mundane of tasks. Currently baking whole wheat sourdough bread makes me very happy. When I sliced the bread for our breakfast this morning I was pleased to see that it soon will be time to bake another loaf.

Thinking about why bread baking makes me happy I realize that a lot of pleasure comes from my symbiotic relationship with my sourdough starter, or, as some in the sourdough trade call it, my “mother sour.” Starter consists of lactobacilli and wild yeasts., two life forms very different from me. I nourish them; they nourish me. We keep each other going. In this way it is like keeping chickens.

I love watching the bread dough slowly rise, observing the fermentation process as the starter transforms the wheat gluten, making it more digestible for me. The wheat feeds both of us.

I love the aroma of the bread as it nears perfection in the oven. I love the texture and consistency of each slice. I love the slight sourness its taste.

Successfully getting the starter going and working out the recipe and process for this bread gives me a sense of achievement, a boost to my self confidence. I'm thrilled that I've made it work. The whole miraculous process makes me happy. 

In the end, the simple life is the best life. You young ones, get out there and explore. Please send postcards. I’ll be here baking bread.

Copyright 2014 by Shirley Domer

I Think I've Got It!

About a month ago I succeeded in getting sourdough starter going in my kitchen. Capturing and cultivating wild organisms to ferment flour is a kind of farming in my mind. Whether I’m growing crops or raising livestock isn’t clear to me. All I know is that I take care of my starter organisms and they take care of me. We have a nifty symbiotic relationship going, feeding each other.

Once the starter got going I had to learn how to use it. Right away I was in trouble because sourdough bread is traditionally made of white flour and baked as a round loaf. I wanted to use whole wheat flour and make rectangular loaves of sourdough, so most recipes were irrelevant. A few home bakers are making whole wheat sourdough and several have posted their recipes on line. I’ve been trying various ones like Goldilocks, looking for the flour, starter, and water combination to produce the perfect 9-inch rectangular loaf of sourdough bread.

I made recipe after recipe, tinkering with ingredients and proportions. Some were too small, some were too hard, some were too messy, and none of them filled the bread pan just right. I’ve made so many loaves. I’ve given loaves away to friends and even shared some with Annie and the chickens. Finally, Ta-Da! I think I’ve worked it out, using a little bit of commercial yeast to boost the rise.

Whole wheat sourdough will never look like white sourdough, with its loft and big holes. That’s because white flour is pure starch while whole wheat flour contains not only the starch, but also the heavier grain elements, such as bran. Its rise produces only small holes and the loaf weighs a ton, but it has the characteristic sour taste of fermentation and a firm structure.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread

1 cup lukewarm water

½ teaspoon commercial yeast

2 tablespoons oil

1¼ cups of whole wheat sourdough starter

2 teaspoons salt

3 to 3½ cups of whole wheat flour or whole wheat bread flour

Starting in the late afternoon, pour the water into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. When the yeast has dissolved, add the oil, salt, and starter. Stir to mix well, then add the flour, one cup at a time,. If 3½  cups of flour make a stiff dough, stop there. If not, add more flour up to another ½ cup. If you use an electric mixer with a dough hook to mix the dough, further kneading is not needed. If you mix the dough by hand, knead the dough for a few minutes and replace it in the mixing bowl.

Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic. Let the dough rise overnight. This bread is incredibly slow rise! The next morning, punch the dough down and form it into a loaf. Put the loaf in a buttered 9-inch bread pan, cover it with a dishtowel, and leave it to rise again.

When the dough is nicely rounded over the top of the pan, bake it in a preheated 375º oven for 40 minutes. Turn the loaf out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Try not to cut that first slice until the bread is just warm, not hot.

Copyright 2014 by Shirley Domer