Don't cry over spilt milk...or under-baked bread...

So, I set out on another bread making excursion. This time I was intent on baking sourdough bread from starter. Some sweet ladies at the church gave me starter after our bread making class. It took basically all day. Feed the starter, make the dough, let it rise, divide it up, let it rise more, bake it, and then eat it.

Let me tell you, baking in college is all about makin' do with what ya got. I couldn't put the bread in the oven with the light on for 3 hours to let the dough rise considering that the kitchen is all the way downstairs (plus, I don't really trust leaving yummies in the community kitchen unattended if you catch my drift). So, dilemma #1: how to find a warm spot where the dough can rise. How about by the window? Well...it's a chilly 45* outside...so that won't do. In the end, I put a damp towel over the bowl and set my heating pad on low heat over the top of it (true story). I wish I had a picture! It was quite a sight to see.

Finally, it was ready to bake. I sat in the kitchen as it baked. When the timer went off, I took it out and trekked back to my room. I was so pumped! I cut into the warm loaf of bread. And guess what??? It wasn't done :( Wah wah wah....At that point it was too late to take it back and bake it long since I had already thrown the loaf pans away. Now I know what under baked bread looks like! Another exciting kitchen lesson learned!

PS - My roomies still seemed to enjoy the half-eaten doughy mess sitting on our counter at the moment, so it wasn't a complete failure. Stay tuned for attempt #2!!!

Here are the pics anyways!

Happy baking!
Susie