Midnight Baking

   Last night was interesting, to say the least.  It was chilly so I had the old woodburning stove chugging away.  Several nice sized hickory logs would slow burn for most of the night keeping the Little Bayou House somewhat warm.  Along about midnight, I awoke to the delightful scent of bread baking.  Hmmm?  Was I dreaming?  Did Son decide to try his hand at baking in the middle of the night?  Had a burglar entered then opt for making cinnamon rolls instead of thievery?  Since the only logical scenario was that I was dreaming, I promptly put my head back on the pillow and tried to sleep.  Nope.  Somewhere in this house, bread was baking and I was hungry!  I might as well get up and investigate.  Plus, the fire probably needed stoking anyway.

  My "dream" was not a dream at all and, no, neither Son nor any intruder was making breakfast.  Instead, I found my delectable aroma.  Earlier in the week, I had longed to bake sourdough bread but had no starter.  I had given my last bit away and needed to begin again.  Well, I did.  My sourdough starter had been put together three days ago and, since the house gets rather cold at night and I was in a hurry, I placed the starter on the back of the old woodstove.  There it would stay a nice 80 degrees and could grow rapidly.  It was far enough away from the heat not to spoil nor scorch yet stay almost lukewarm.  Sourdough starter does not smell like much for the first couple of days but give it a few and it starts to give off that nice, yeasty smell.  That was what I was smelling...not bread baking but yeast making!  My brain just twisted the two together and left me with hunger pangs!

  This morning, the sourdough starter looked divine.  A few more days and this will be the beginning of many tasty treats.  There is something oddly satisfying about creating your own yeast from scratch.  Try it!  It is not hard at all but you do need a bit of patience as it takes a while.  Happy baking, folks!