And yes, I’m still playing with bread recipes that include sourdough discard. And yes, I have been focusing on sandwich breads, because sandwich breads are so very versatile. They can be used to build sandwiches. (In a former life, I was the head of the Department of Redundancy Department in the city of Jersey City! Just kidding! I just always wanted to use that statement on a job resume, but never got the opportunity.) And sandwich breads makes great toast. (They fit in a toaster as if they were built just for that purpose.) And their square shape make griddle frying French toast easy peasy. But best of all – sandwich breads are stinkin’ easy to build. Especially this sandwich bread.

No fancy ingredients. And no special handling required. Just pat the dough into a regular old loaf pan. So, no fancy clay bakers or pizza stones required. (Not that I don’t advocate making breads that are a bit more difficult to make, and require a bit more trouble in the shaping and baking department. It’s just that everyone needs a simple bread recipe in their repertoire for busy days.) And this is definitely a busy day loaf.

This is also a loaf of bread that everyone in your family will enjoy. Not a lot of tang from the sourdough, just a soft crumb absolutely crying out to be spread with mayonnaise, mustard, deli meat, cheese, lettuce, and tomato. Or baked chicken or turkey. Or toasted and spread with butter and jam, or peanut butter and honey, or just buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

So do yourself and your family a favor, and bake up a loaf at your earliest convenience. It really is a quick and easy bread to produce. And the taste is wonderful.

As always, keep baking, keep learning, and keep growing as a person.

And although I started this as a food blog, I simply can’t refrain once in a while (actually it’s becoming more and more often) from sharing inspirational tidbits with you all. And yesterday, after working on a new recipe and writing a post for this site, I decided to watch the video of Michelle Obama’s speech from the democratic national convention.

The speech was so well prepared, so relevant, and so humble, that for the first time in a long time, I actually felt some hope. Because Michelle was speaking for most of us. Just regular people who believe in kindness, compassion, empathy, and for whom a social conscience has been ingrained from birth. I definitely needed to hear the words coming out of her mouth. I needed to know that someone else understood exactly how I was feeling. Because I’ve been sad. Sad because I know that we Americans are so much better than we are being portrayed. We are not being fairly represented in Washington DC. We are not all racist, or bigots, or greedy. We don’t all lie, cheat, and steal to get ahead. We care about others and genuinely want them to have as good a life as we wish for ourselves.

Even if we were not experiencing this horrific pandemic, and as much as I love to travel, I don’t think I would want to travel overseas right now. I’m embarrassed for America, even if I have done nothing personally to feel embarrassed about. But that’s not what is being propagandized. We are all being painted with the same brush. So why would I want to expose myself to some other nation’s ridicule? And frankly, I truly resent that.

And finally, I don’t want to be divided from others because of my political beliefs. I truly don’t give a flying fig if a person is a republican or a democrat. But I am sick and tired of watching our current political leader demonstrating daily, the worst possible traits of humanity. Greed, cheating, racist rhetoric, demeaning comments about fellow politicians, strong women, and verbal assaults aimed at anyone who is unwilling to bow and scrape to his every whim or thinks differently than he does on any subject. What kind of political leadership does this represent to other nations? What kind of leadership example is this for our youth? What kind of adult acts this way? So I’ve had it. And know that many of you feel exactly the same way.

I sincerely hope you will forgive me if I have in any way offended you. Or at the very least understand why I felt compelled to express myself through this rant. But sometimes it’s just better to set your feelings free rather than let them stay inside and fester. Peace and love to all.    

1 c. sourdough starter discard 

2 tsp. active dry yeast

2 tsp. granulated sugar

¾ c. slightly warm whole milk

⅓ c. instant potato flakes

1 tsp. kosher salt

1¾ – 2 c. bread flour, or as much bread as needed

cooking spray

Combine the sourdough starter discard, yeast, sugar, milk, potato flakes, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add 1½ cups of the flour and knead for several minutes until the dough is silky smooth. Add additional flour as required. (The dough should be slightly tacky, and there should be a bit of dough that sticks to the bottom and a couple of inches up the side of the bowl.)

Pour a bit of veggie oil alongside the dough. Using a stiff rubber spatula and your hands, shape the dough into a ball, making sure the entire ball is lightly coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about an hour or until doubled in size.  

Place the dough in a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan. Pat the dough into the corners of the pan and flat on top. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap that has been lightly coated with cooking spray, (spray side down over the pan), and allow the dough to rise for another 30 minutes or so. (Dough should be just at the level of the pan rim.) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  

Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray. Bake for 38-45 minutes or until the top is a light golden brown and the internal temperature reaches at least 200 degrees.

Remove from oven and turn bread out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. (Do not be tempted to slice the bread when it is still warm. It will turn to mush.) Store in an airtight container.