Breads

I've had a sourdough starter going for about a year now, but the frequency with which I use it has dropped off.

Recently I got a book from the library (Thanks for recommending it, Barb!) called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The initial time is more like 15 minutes, but that happens once a week -- or every other week if you have a larger dough container than I have.

The daily prep on baking day is just five minutes, and I'm busy doing other things during rise time and bake time.
To eliminate one of these containers in my fridge, I plan to slowly incorporate the sourdough starter into future batches of the yeast dough until it is all gone. Perhaps a table spoon at a time.

Old techniques (to bakers) that are new to me (in practice) helped make this the best loaf of bread I've made in a long while. Baking on a stone, and using steam in the oven help give the perfect texture to the crust and protect the soft inside.

The bread machine I received for Christmas will not be unemployed, however. That will allow me to have bread baking while I'm out and about!