Sourdough Bread

Well...I've been busy baking bread and I want to share a piece of it with you. A piece of my journey, that is. I was introduced and inspired to the art of baking bread by a dear friend and his wife, Kari and Roberta. Kari is an enthusiastic maker of bread and other delectable baked goods. Roberta happily praises his love for the art of bread baking, and when you taste his fare you can't help but be impressed and inspired. So it all started in their cabin up north when Kari introduced us to the art of baking bread at home.

But to say that was my only inspiration wouldn't be true. Each of my daughters have problems with wheat and as I researched this growing issue, another friend of mine pushed me in a similar yet different direction... that of sourdough. She gave me a copy of the 2012 September issue of Whole Living magazine. In it was an article written by Todd Oppenheimer titled Our Daily Bread. 

In the article, Oppenheimer  reports that several studies have found some people with gluten issues can tolerate fermented wheat. The studies are small and some believe the data is weak, but in one, it was found... "that when wheat bread was thoroughly fermented, it reduced gluten levels from roughly 75,000 parts per million to 12 - a level that technically qualifies as gluten-free."

The article has a lot of information about the use of ancient grains, long fermentation time and the increasing rise of Celiac Disease around the world. So I've put a link to the article here if you're interested in reading more: http://www.wholeliving.com/183942/our-daily-bread

I've spent more time on this one thing than I ever dreamed. I've read, experimented and shared. I've gone from using organic wheat to heirloom. I've fussed and taken notes and fussed some more... and I've loved it all. You will too. Because at the end of the road there's always a delicious loaf of bread with a very satisfying experience attached to it. I recommend it to anyone!