The first sunny, 60-degree Michigan day is a highly-coveted and celebrated time of year. Michiganders everywhere rejoice when we finally get a chance to say goodbye to iced water troughs and pitch-black morning adventures in snow-capped barns and coops. We know the thaw is fleeting, and snow is likely to fall again soon, but for those first few warm spring days, we allow ourselves to get lost in dreams of green and bountiful harvests.
I began my sourdough journey as a way to root myself to a simple, ancestral morning tradition. I’d fallen into the nasty habit of starting every day with my cell phone and overwhelming amounts of not-so-mindful content. I felt drained before I’d even gotten out of bed.
Our gift of instant internet connectedness has a very valuable place in our communities, but we also need to balance such connectivity by tending to ourselves, our families, and our homes so we can make healthy decisions and differences once we step outside.
Baking bread became my way of anchoring to a tangible schedule void of screens and distance. It provided a necessary dedication to something greater than my own immediate satisfaction. Steady, consistent, delicious sourdough helped break through my involuntary evolution into a morning tech-addict and allowed me to focus my mind on the present. My hope is that by sharing my routine, sourdough baking can do the same for you.