Here’s the thing: Quarantine convinced me I’m a baker

I am a dog mom, great kazoo player and craft beer snob. What I am not is a baker- you've all read my pizza cone story. However, quarantine has convinced me I am one.

I've always liked to bake and experiment with different cookie or brownie recipes sometimes, but that's as far as it goes. I like to be the office hero every once in a while.

Last Tuesday I reached the point in quarantine where I decided I was a bread maker. Aside from a loaf of chocolate zucchini bread a few weeks before, I had never attempted bread. But there were only a few ingredients listed on the recipe card so I figured it couldn't be that hard, right?

Wrong. Apparently sourdough is the hardest bread to make. Everyone forgot to tell me that part.

They also forgot to tell me that before you can make a sourdough, you have to make a starter. I had never even heard of such a thing.

But, I was dead set I could make this bread and it wouldn't be too hard. So I combined the water, yeast and flour for the starter covered the bowl in plastic and went onto the next instruction.

That's when I found out the starter had to sit for five days. Guess I was going to be real hungry for the next little while then.

Then I read the starter needed to be stirred every 12 hours. I looked at the clock. It was 2:13 p.m.

So, Wednesday morning at approximately 2:13 a.m., there I was stirring the starter. This process continued until Sunday and became such a routine that I named the dough Flora because it just looked like a Flora and if I was going to get up in the middle of the night for it I felt like I should treat it with a little more respect.

Finally, Sunday came around and I realized I might need to read a little further into the recipe, just to be safe. The next step was to get out the dough and kneed it then let it rise for 12 hours, which I did Sunday night.

Monday morning I had to get it out again, kneed it some more, then let is sit for another four hours to rise. After, it needed to be transferred to a Dutch oven to bake.

Now here's the thing: I have an air fryer, one pot and one frying pan. I live like a frat kid. I absolutely do not have a Dutch oven let alone even really know what one looks like.

So I go to Walmart. I find one. I then realize there's something else nobody told me: these suckers are heavy. Like 15 pounds heavy. I ended up using it for squats actually. It was quite effective.

But, Flora and I have come this far and I can't give up on her now. So I get the anvil, I mean the cast iron pot, home and clean it. Then I line it with parchment paper, set Flora inside and carefully slice the top.

A little sprinkle of flour, a careful placement of the lid and she's in the oven. I stared at it for the first 20 minutes, just waiting for it to explode. It never did.

Finally, after 30 minutes I took it out and removed the lid. My house smelled divine.

The next 15 minutes go by just as agonizingly slow but soon enough, they do. The pot somehow felt heavier then but it looked good amazing. I mean I have a college degree but this was easily the proudest moment of my life.

I was so excited I even called my Gram to brag. Then she told me to cut it with a serrated knife. Again, I didn't own one, so I had to go get one.

As soon as I got home I performed a taste test which proved that I am, in fact, a decent quarantine baker.

Below is the recipe I used that I originally sourced from Tasty. To anyone who wishes to try, I wish you luck. It's not as difficult as it seems. Just maybe wait until later in the evening to make your starter.

Homemade sourdough

INGREDIENTS-

Starter

2 cups warm water

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast, 1 packet

3 ½ cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

Bread

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

1 ¼ cups water

1 cup starter, stir before using

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a glass bowl add water and yeast. Mix the yeast into the water and let it sit for a couple minutes.

2. Add in the rest of the ingredients for the starter. Mix well until everything is fully incorporated. Wrap the bowl with clear wrap, making sure not to tightly seal the bowl. Let the starter breathe a little and keep it in a dark place at room temperature. Stir every 12 hours until making the dough. The starter will rise and shrink each day and you should see bubbles, letting you know that the yeast is being activated!

3. On day 5, combine all ingredients into a bowl, and knead for 10 minutes on low if using a machine; if kneading by hand, knead for 20 minutes until dough is stretchy yet doesn't stick to your hands.

4. While the dough is kneading, store your starter for future use. Your starter will last forever as long as you maintain and care for it. It can stay in the fridge and be fed once a week with a teaspoon of sugar. To replenish your starter, simply add 1 cup of flour (125g) and ½ cup of water (120ml), mix, and place it back in the fridge. Leave it out overnight to get to room temperature before preparing the dough.

5. Place kneaded dough into a large floured bowl with a towel over the top, then sprinkle flour and let it rise for 12 hours.

6. Place risen dough onto a floured board and knead for a few minutes. Place it into a floured proofing basket or a medium bowl, sprinkle flour and let it rise for another 4 hours.

7. Preheat oven to 480°F (250°C). (Authors note: My oven does not go this high, so I put it in at 450 and just let it bake a smidgen longer than directed)

8. Flip the dough onto a parchment paper, and transfer the dough and paper into a large cast-iron Dutch oven. Score the top of the bread. Place the lid on top and bake for 30 minutes.

9. Take the lid off and bake for another 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

10. Transfer onto a cooling rack and let it rest for an hour. Knock the bottom of the bread to listen for a hollow knock.