Going sourdough turns baking into a lifestyle. I baked a lot of bread even before I started using natural leavening, but the entire process was a lot more spontaneous and less of a commitment. A sourdough starter requires care and attention. Not constant attention and not time-consuming commitment, but it does need to be worked in and worked around. Diligence and care often are their own rewards, but the actual loaves of sourdough, those are what makes it all worth it. Bread person or not, a slice of sourdough bread, with its depth of flavor and creamy, open crumb, toasted with butter or cut for a deli sandwich, cannot fail to please. It is simplicity, it is perfection. It's the daily bread, the bread of life, the bread worth breaking with friends.
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