Guest writer Lyndsey Medford shares her difficulty accepting the problems of an ingredient that holds so much cultural identity. But in learning to bake as a spiritual discipline, she is learning to accept her interdependence with something as minute as a microorganism. Cultivating humility and patience, sourdough teaches the qualities Jesus possessed in his very bones.
Read MoreIn the last moments before Jesus died, He commanded his followers to continue showing radical love. He looked Judas in the face, right before Judas would betray him, to remind him of Jesus' deep love. This love didn't save Jesus' from being betrayed, but it is the legacy He commanded his followers to continue in. In the last moments before the yeasts die, they have the option of leaving behind a beautiful, open loaf, or a dense sticky one. When a baker creates the right environment, they choose the route of beauty.
Read MoreI’m a bit of a perfectionist and incredibly independent. I’ve already admitted that I hate letting go of control, so I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I prefer to have everything together and in its place before I invite others into my life. But the purpose of this Lenten practice was only in part to learn to bake bread. Even more importantly it was to give this bread away.
Read MoreI like to tell people that gluten is like a toddler. It will behave with enough rest and when it thinks an idea is its own. Shaping has to occur in stages in order to build the strength and tension necessary to form a nice loaf. As I shape, I am grateful for the patience of all those who have formed me. Who allow me to slowly shift into the directions that I need to go.
Read MoreThe most complex, nuanced loaves of bread develop through a series of fermentations. Each stage pulls something new out of the dough, evoking sweetness, nuttiness, sourness, and more. But the first phase of fermentation sets the stage for everything to come. It reminds me of the importance of the communities that flavor me, and that everything develops out of the very first community where I met God.
Read MoreI love being in control. I love precision and formula. I love knowing that if I mix together specific ingredients in a specific way I will get the result I desire. But unlike the rest of baking, bread is more art than science. It requires the baker to read and to listen, to react according to the dough's needs. Ironically, it is the tactile practice of making bread that I turn to when life feels out of control. Perhaps because it is the very form through which I've learned to release control.
Read MoreAs soon as water hits flour, transformation begins. Gluten begins to form and starches slowly release their sugar. When given enough time, gluten forms a powerful net. In the tension between two qualities--the plastic and elastic--the dough begins to grow. When I watch a loaf of bread rise, I'm reminded that the Holy Spirit lives in the tensions of the Christian faith.
Read MoreBread is the most forgiving of foods. It is infinitely complex and yet it is also so very simple. Flour, water, salt, and yeast. Combined in so many different ways to evoke different flavors from the grain. Today we'll make our first loaf of sourdough, a small, simple round to put our new starter to the test.
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