The Little Gifts Along the Way…Sour Times- Sourdough
My COVID19 Journey
My reputation in business was “make lemonade (or lemon bars) out of lemons. I was famous for telling my sales team the Acres of Diamonds story by Russell Conwell. It is a parable and if you don’t know the story you should find it and read it. But at the core of the story is the reminder of the biblical Parable of the Prodigal Son as Russell Conwell tells it “the Prodigal Son, who was wiser because he at least had the common sense to return home and beg forgiveness. Your diamonds are not in far-away mountains or in distant seas; they are usually in your own back yard if you will take the time to look for them.” You see the thing about diamonds is that they are not obvious, they aren’t always sparkly in the beginning or perfectly cut! Unless you know what you are looking for or are in fact “really looking for them” they can be hard to find sometimes. The message is Conwell’s writing is don’t assume diamonds are everywhere but where you are…diamonds are everywhere. So this is my COVID19 journey over the last 48 days and the little gifts I have found along the way. My diamonds during difficult times.
I started this BLOG to share recipes that worked for me and that were tried and true. But more than that I wanted to open up conversations, create a community with my friends and visitors along the way. I love to cook and I had always wanted to BLOG about food but it wasn’t until I was faced with staying put in my home did I turn that want into a “do”. From this the Culinary Shut In was born.
The past 48 days have not been easy. I have worked hard to keep busy but it has been painful to watch people lose their jobs, loved ones separated, loved ones lost to this horrible virus. I miss my family, I haven’t seen my daughter Alex or son Phillip in over 48 days. I miss my grandsons Liam and Gabriel and my son-in-law Josh and Phillips girlfriend Alysha. I miss my brother and his wife and seeing my friends and going out for wine or lunch or shopping now that I am not working. Thankfully my family and friends are all safe, no one thus far affected by COVID19 …and not because it is a conspiracy theory but because we have buckled in, locked down and sheltered in place. I mean let’s face it, over 61,000 deaths in the US in less than a three month period. More casualties than the entire Vietnam War. In my 66 years I have never seen an action like this - sheltering at home, closure of businesses, loss of jobs. So as much as I miss the beach I would miss my friends and family a lot more if they were affected by this virus so I take the precautions asked of me.
There is no question we all have been impacted, inconvenienced and scared but there have been lots of little gifts along the way. Gifts that I would not have received or noticed until I was forced to slow down and look around me. This past 48 days I have stopped and smelled the roses. Sometimes Roses I was unaware were blooming in my own backyard. I have had more time at home with my son, Bryan, daughter in law Laura and grandsons Cole and Jack. My husband and I enjoy each others company more than usual because we have a lot more time to do so Without “seeing” my friends I have forged deeper personal relationships with women I have known 45 years because we have the time to text, talk, and FaceTime. We aren’t running off and too busy to really communicate. I have learned to bake Sourdough Bread…something I would have never taken the time to do. But more than that Sourdough baking has become a community of people doing the same thing as we share our trials and tribulations with Sourdough starter, and how to feed it and when to discard it and what recipes are better than others. I have learned how to make sourdough crackers something I would never in a million years have made the time to do. But now I not only have the time but I have the desire to turn something I might normally have discarded into something delicious like a simple cracker. I have found how much people care…because when one of my friends or family doesn’t have toilet paper “all” of us are looking for toilet paper for them. I have learned that I live in a “neighborhood” and not on a street. It is a community filled with people that until 48 days ago I waved at. Now it is a community of people looking out for one another. My neighbor across the way living by herself. I took the time to make her a loaf of sourdough bread (which isn’t a stretch because all I have is time) and now she is more than the lady across the street, she is a friend sharing the apples in her backyard with me. The neighbors down the street buying cookies for my grandsons and when I reciprocated with a loaf of sourdough bread immediately responded by delivering dinner, dessert and candy the next day. I think we may have been adopted! My daughter shared the story of her neighbor who saw how challenging it was for her to harness the energy of her two little boys and showed up at the door with a trampoline to help them get their energy out. Chats with our neighbors some of whom are heading to work each day in the hospital and celebrating little wins because they didn’t have to intubate anybody yesterday. Everybody is stopping and making the time to chat (6-10 feet apart) and to check in and we are all asking ourselves why did it take this to happen for that level of caring and community to occur. The diamonds were indeed in our own backyard.
But more than all of that I have had the time to connect with each of you through food and recipes and debates over whether measuring or weighing ingredients are better. Some of you have shared pictures of the loaves of bread and cookies you have made. We are a community. I have spoken to people I haven’t talked to in years. I am cultivating my garden both figuratively and literally. I am branching out and learning to grow Aeroponic produce. None of these things would have ever happened without the time the past 48 days have given me to really look at how simple things matter. Sadly, I also became acutely aware that I wasted a lot of time and wasn’t Stopping to Smell the Roses. So as much as I wish NONE of this had ever happened there are good things that have come out of it. Look at the sky…it is clear for once.
At any rate, no video with this BLOG. Instead I will share some Sourdough resources in case you have an interest in getting started. The links below include how to create a starter, how to maintain a starter, beginner sourdough recipe favorites, and links to great recipes to use with discarded starter. Making bread takes your mind off all that is going on in the world…giving bread puts a smile on the face of others. Now if you will excuse me I need to make some bread and put a smile on someone’s face. Mangia!
Resources:
Starter Creation & Maintenance etc.: I like the King Arthur website https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/guides/sourdough/create as well as the Breadtopia website. https://breadtopia.com/sourdough-starter-videos/
Beginner Sourdough Recipes: @HostessatHeart. https://hostessatheart.com/sourdough-bread-recipe/ as well as the Rustic Sourdough Recipe in the King Arthur link above and @LittleSpoonFarmsTN recipe https://littlespoonfarm.com/sourdough-bread-recipe-beginners-guide/. She has good tips on starter as well.
Great Recipes for Discard:
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-crackers-recipe for Sourdough Crackers
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/old-fashioned-maine-sourdough-waffles-recipe for Waffles
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/blueberry-sourdough-muffins-recipe for Blueberry Muffins…not too sweet and very healthy!
The list goes on and on. Check any of the websites above for great ideas.
Finally I recommend some glass containers for containing your starter. Checkout Weck jars on Amazon and also invest in a 2L jar because starter is very prolific.
