Monday, March 23, 2009

The Staff of Life (A Sourdough Update)

I meant to update yesterday on the sourdough experiment, but after my call shift I was just too tired to blog. The sourdough experiment was a success, I think. But I didn't initially think that.

See, I am accustomed to baking yeast breads that are high and light and fluffy. I'm a bit spoiled by that, to be honest. The sourdough was anything but light and fluffy. This was no dainty bread. It was a heavy, dense, solid brick of a loaf of bread. It had a thick, chewy crust. It did have a good crumb, and it had decent flavor, but who wants bricks for bread?

Still, I am not the wasteful type, so I decided that I would eat this bread in spite of its apparent flaws. I had two slices (and each slice was about 3 inches by 4 inches - not big slices, by any means) spread with a smear of butter at about 5:45 a.m., when I was driving in to the hospital. It was chewy and solid, but, again, it had a nice sour tang that went well with real butter.

And, here's the success part - I didn't get hungry again until close to noon. Weird, huh? So, I tried it again this morning, with the same results - this bread sticks with you. It may not sound like much, (breakfast that keeps you going), but to me this is huge. I start my day in the hospital at 6 a.m. or so (earlier for big cases), and I tend to start working when I get there, and not stop until I get a break - which may not come until noon or later.

And I can't just walk out of the operating room if I get hungry and want a snack. I have to stay with the patient, monitoring and caring for them, until I'm relieved by another anesthesia provider or until I get the patient safely to the recovery room. So, breakfast that poops out by 9:30 is not a good thing.

I've found a few things that stick around like that, but often they're either not very good OR they take too long to prepare. Right now, when it's breakfast vs sleep, sleep wins. So, the bread is a keeper, I think. I'll continue to tweak it and see what I come up with, but overall I'm not unhappy. This is inexpensive, easy to make (and easy to toast on my way out the door) and reasonably healthy. And, it tastes like real food - unlike some nasty breakfast bars whose names I won't mention!

13 comments:

andrea said...

easy to make is good and easy to eat and lasts for hours are all wonderful

your line about not wanting breakfast to poop out by 9:30 made me spew my diet coke ... all I can say is I work with teens all day...

put pictures of little coma kitty up on the post about him ;)

Terri said...

Okay, I didn't mean literally! :) I'm off to check out your baby!

Terri

Anonymous said...

The bread sounds wonderful. I eat "cardboard" bran flakes and I starve by mid morning. My sister and I were just talking about how we love butter on bread.

Anonymous said...

Oooohh! I've been wanting to learn to bake my own bread for a while now and you're inspiring me to take the plunge. Thanks for visiting my blog and leading me here! x

Wolfie said...

Ahhhh.... sounds like a good thing for your breakfast.... even if you aren't totally satisfied with the bread itself.

(((HUGS)))

WOLFIE

Susie said...

My normal breakfast is usually 2 pieces of toast with butter and jelly. Sometimes by 10 or 10:30 a.m. I am starving. But if I am really busy I don't think about it til 11:30. Since I go to lunch at 12:30 I just wait.

amy @ Life in Pink Hi-Tops said...

I like sourdough bread even though I've never been successful making it!

DayPhoto said...

Interesting and timely post! Good for you. It seems like more and more of us bloggers are turning to self-supporting crafts.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Terri said...

Mildred, I know what you mean! And I don't do hungry well - I'm like that Weight Watcher's commercial!

Sarah, you should try it - it's not as hard as you might think. And I love your blog!

Wolfie, thanks for stopping by. Yes, I'll tweak the recipe and come up with something I can live with, I'm sure!

Susie, in a good case I'm busy. Some cases are very routine, though, and then sitting there for 2 hours with your stomach growling is awful!

Amy, I've had varying degrees of success with it. We'll see how it goes as I keep on with it!


Linda, this is true. Part of it is the economy, I think, but part of it (for me, anyway) is that I am just sick of materialism.

Terri

Heidi D said...

I had soda bread for St. Patties and it had the same effect. Really sustaining.

I think I'm gonna make some bread today. You've inspired me. Not sourdough. Just plain ol' wheat bread.

Julia said...

So cool to eat your own bread! When I was just starting to make bread last fall I was not activating the yeast properly and my husband would say, "These loaves of bread would make good bricks. Make 1000 more and we may be on to something..." But they tasted good and the kids ate it. Your bread sounds better than my first efforts by far! I love fresh bread... Carb addict that I am.

Terri said...

Heidi, I might have to try the irish soda bread - thanks for the tip!

Julia, you're right. Just like when I was learning to make regular yeast bread, there's going to be some trial and error here. I'll just have to be patient!

Terri

Connie said...

Sounds like a success to me! Yeah, those breakfast bars just don't cut it for me either.