Happy to be part of this community! One of my biggest struggles is fitting a regular baking routine into and around the rest of my somewhat busy life. Do others have this problem? How do you handle this?

Hello! Welcome to Sourdough Made Simple. The community for home bakers that want to build confidence and skills in the kitchen. I am so glad that you are here! Introduce yourself, tell us how long you have been baking, and what you are looking forward to the most about this community!

If you are new to bread baking, it can feel like it takes forever to make a loaf of bread. That may be true at first, because you probably are checking the instructions, rewatching the videos, and second guessing yourself. However, you can save some time by dedicating a specific time to learning the new recipes and another time to the doing. While you are going through the course take notes by having a specific "baking journal" - write down the observations, process and tips & tricks in your own words. We tend to learn better when we write things down ourselves. I promise, the more you make bread, the bread baking process becomes second nature.

What is your favorite Holiday baked goods during the holiday season?

Baby it is cold out! Everything is different when the temperature and humidity drops. My baking "sweet spot" happens in October /Early November, then I find myself needing to make some adjustments to my process due to the dry, cold air. Here are some things that I do a bit differently in the colder months: 1. A colder kitchen means longer rise time. I allow another hour or two to let my starter and dough rise. Give yourself time to adjust to changes. 2. Add steam when you bake, in my method I let my dough/bread tell me if it needs steam. If there is already a lot of moisture in the air/dough, I usually don't add steam, but December comes along, and I add some steam while baking to help my dough expand as it should. I think we all could benefit from a good steam! 3. Create a more ideal warmer environment. I usually make my dough/feed my starter around the time that I make dinner. Most days, that is the warmest my kitchen will be. So that helps kick start my dough in the colder environment. Plus, my dough/starter usually have doubled by the time I head to bed. What are some things you have noticed to be different in your process since it has gotten colder? What adjustments did you make?